🍤 Prawn Balchão

Name: Prawn Balchão
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: India · Goa
Ingredients: 500 g prawns, peeled and deveined; 10 dried red chilies; 100 ml vinegar; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 2 onions, finely chopped; 2 tomatoes, chopped; 6 garlic cloves; 2 tsp sugar; 2 tbsp oil; Salt to taste

Origin: India · Goa

260kcal

per serving · 200 g

130kcal

per 100 g

28 gProtein14 g / 100 g

10 gFat5 g / 100 g

14 gCarbs7 g / 100 g

Prawn balchão is a fiery Goan dish of prawns cooked down in a sweet-sour masala of vinegar, dried red chilies, tomato, onion, sugar and cumin. The sauce is thick, glossy and pickle-like, sharp with vinegar and rounded by a little sugar. It is eaten in small amounts with rice and keeps well for several days.

Diets

✓

No pork

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

Low-carb7 g carbs per 100 g

✓

High protein14 g protein per 100 g — 43% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: shrimp

Not veganbecause of: shrimp

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Crustaceans

What it is made of

shrimpvinegarchili peppertomatoonionsugarcumin

Recipe

4 servings45 min

Ingredients

500 g prawns, peeled and deveined
10 dried red chilies
100 ml vinegar
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 onions, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
6 garlic cloves
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method

Soak the chilies in the vinegar for 20 minutes, then blend with cumin and garlic into a smooth paste.
Salt the prawns and fry them in 1 tbsp oil for 2 minutes; set aside.
Fry the onions in the remaining oil until golden, add the tomatoes and cook until soft.
Add the chili paste and cook for 8–10 minutes until the oil separates.
Stir in the sugar and prawns and cook for 3–4 minutes until the sauce is thick; adjust the salt.

How to make it lighter

Use 1 tbsp oil in total and a non-stick pan; 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.
Serve as a small side with plenty of plain rice and vegetables rather than a main portion.
Reduce the sugar to 1 tsp; the vinegar still keeps the sweet-sour balance.

History

Balchão comes from Goa's Portuguese-influenced kitchen, where vinegar-based preserves were a way to keep seafood. It is often linked to Macau, where a similar shrimp preserve called balichão is made, and the two are thought to share a common Portuguese colonial thread.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →