“Prawns are such a convenience food for me. When I manage to find the really big prawns, of which you need only two or three per person, they are pretty spectacular with a simple spice coating. 

“I can’t resist tandoori prawns – they’re one of my all-time favourite ways to enjoy these giant shellfish, so this is my little nod to that spectacular dish,” says award-winning British-Iranian chef, food writer and author Ghayour. Here is her recipe for pan-fried prawns.

***

Serves 2

• 6 giant raw prawns (ideally about
• 70g each, but you can use a larger quantity of smaller prawns), peeled but tails left on
• vegetable oil
• 1/2 lemon, to serve (optional)

For the marinade

• 100g Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• generous squeeze of lime juice
• very generous amount of Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add the prawns and turn until well coated in the marinade.

Heat a large frying pan over a high heat and, once hot, drizzle in a little vegetable oil. Add the prawns and cook for a couple of minutes or so on each side until opaque and firm to the touch (smaller prawns will need a shorter cooking time).

Halve the lemon, add it to the pan and fry the flesh sides. Serve the prawns immediately with the fried lemon quarters for squeezing over. DM/ ML

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