Apa de Camarão

Goan prawn pie made with rice

Prep Time 60 min
Cook Time 55 min
Serving Size 4
Recipe Type Steam Oven

Apa de Camarão is a traditional Goan prawn pie where rice replaces pastry, forming a soft casing around a sweet-and-spicy prawn filling. Western in form but coastal in flavour, it reflects how Goan kitchens adapted European ideas using local staples. Baked until just set, this dish carries the taste of the sea and the memory of journeys that shaped Goan food.

Ingredients

For prawn filling:

Prawns – 400 grams
Onions – 2 chopped
Oil – 2 tablespoons
Vinegar – 1 cup (to grind paste + season)
Sugar – 1 teaspoon
Salt
Grind to a paste the following ingredients with vinegar:
Dried kashmiri red chillies – 8
Bedgi chillies – 6
Peppercorns – 8
Cinnamon sticks (2 inch) – 2
Cloves – 6
Large cloves of garlic – 8
Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon

For batter:

Parboiled rice – 3 cups (red or light yellow)
Coconut – 1 cup grated
Eggs – 4 large
Sugar – 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
Lukewarm water – 1 tablespoon
Yeast – 1 ½ teaspoons
Salt – ½ teaspoon

Method

Prawn filling:

Wash prawns, drain, and season with salt.
Heat oil, fry onions till brown. Do not burn. Add ground paste, stir and then add prawns. Season with sugar, balance vinegar and salt. The filling should be spicy, sour with a hint of sweetness to complement the fermented batter. Filling is ready when there is no moisture and prawns are cooked, within 3 to 4 minutes.

Batter:

Wash and soak rice overnight.
Next morning, grind rice with grated coconut, 2 tablespoons of sugar, salt, and minimal water. Place ground batter in a bowl, deep enough for the batter to raise when yeast is added.
Beat eggs and mix with the ground batter.
To activate dry yeast, add it to one tablespoon of lukewarm water along with 1 teaspoon sugar. Stir and leave for a few minutes to froth and foam. Add the yeast mixture to the ground batter. Mix, cover, and leave the bowl in a warm place for batter to raise and double, around four hours. (Do not add extra water than any listed in the ingredients) Heat the steamer with water and lightly grease a 10 inch cake pan.
Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C.
Pour half the batter into the cake pan. Steam for 10 minutes. Then spread the entire prawn filling evenly over the bottom layer. Top with the remaining batter and steam for an additional 10 minutes.
Transfer the cake pan into the oven and bake for 45 minutes till the cake is brown and a tester or toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Cool cake, unmoulded into a plate, cut into wedges and served.

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