Bengali grilled seafood with crisp okra recipe

Ingredients

• 8 raw king prawns, shell on, deveined
• 150 g (5½ oz) baby squid, cleaned and sliced, tentacles left whole
• 1 green bird’s eye chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 2 tsp Panch Phoron blend
• Generous splash grapeseed oil
• 10½ oz (300 g) live mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ oz (10 g) Kashmiri chilli flakes, for the chilli oil dressing
• 3½ fl oz (100 ml) grapeseed oil, ½ garlic bulb

• 7 oz (200 g) okra
• 10½ oz (300 g) gram (chickpea) flour
• 2 tsp Panch Phoron blend
• 1 tsp amchoor (optional)
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
• 7 fl oz (200 ml) whole milk
• About 1.2 litres (2 pints) sunflower oil, for deep-frying
• 1 pomegranate
• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• ½ orange zest
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 large pinch Garam Masala blend
• A splash mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
• 2 mild fresh red chillies, halved, deseeded and very thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 2 spring onions, very thinly sliced on the diagonal

• Coriander leaves
• 2 lemons, halved

1. Put the prawns and squid in a bowl with the chilli and Panch Phoron blend, mix together, then toss together with the grapeseed oil. Leave for 10 minutes to marinate.
2. Heat a griddle pan until very hot, shake some of the oil off the prawns, then pop them onto the griddle and sear for no more than 2–3 minutes on each side. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Discard any mussels that do not close when the shell is tapped. Put the mussels on the griddle. They’re ready when the shells open. Remove from the heat and set aside. Discard any mussels that remain closed.
4. Wipe the griddle with kitchen paper, then grill the squid over a high heat for no more than 30 seconds on each side. Remove from the heat and set aside.
5. Season the shellfish and squid with a little salt and pepper to taste.
For the Chilli Oil Dressing
6. Put the chilli flakes in a bowl and pour over boiling water to cover. Wait for 5 minutes, then squeeze and pat dry with kitchen paper.
7. Put the softened chilli flakes, oil and garlic in a small saucepan and warm through over a very low heat for 5 minutes.
8. Leave to infuse for at least 24 hours in the fridge, then strain through a fine sieve or muslin.
For the Crisp Okra
9. 7 oz (200 g) okra
10. 10½ oz (300 g) gram (chickpea) flour
11. 2 tsp Panch Phoron blend
12. 1 tsp amchoor (optional)
13. 1 pinch sea salt
14. 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
15. 7 fl oz (200 ml) whole milk
16. About 1.2 litres (2 pints) sunflower oil, for deep-frying
For the Coriander & Pomegranate Dressing
17. For the pomegranate and coriander dressing, first cut the pomegranate in half and, holding it over a bowl to collect the seeds and juice, bash it until the seeds fall out. Pick out and discard any of the bitter white pith. Squeeze the halves to extract more of the juice. Mix all the ingredients together just before serving.
18. To serve, put two prawns on each warmed plate, then add the squid and mussels around them. Drizzle the dressing generously over the squid and shellfish. Delicately (and decoratively) drop 1 teaspoon of the chilli oil in ‘drops’ onto each plate. Serve a small handful of the fried okra on top of the seafood or on the side. Scatter coriander leaves over the seafood and serve with a lemon half on each plate.