Many people ask us how we started catering for Bollywood celebrities. Again, the answer is: honestly, I don’t know. Being a Juhu girl, I had friends who grew up to be movie stars or had something or the other to do with Bollywood. It’s a surprisingly small clique, and everyone is always trading info about caterers, stylists, trainers, plastic surgeons and the like. Word of mouth is the best advertisement in the food business.

  • Serves

    3

  • Cook Time

    45m

    30 minutes for the sauce + 15 minutes for the prawns

Ingredients

Aglio Olio Sauce

  • 150 gm chopped garlic
  • 30 gm chilli flakes
  • 10 gm oregano
  • 1½ cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt

Spanish Paprika Prawns

  • 12-15 pieces tiger prawns (or 1 kg medium-sized prawns)
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup cream

Garnish

  • Couple of sprigs of parsley, chopped
  • Crusty bread
  • Lots of lemon wedges

Preparation

  1. Aglio olio sauce: Add olive oil and chopped garlic to a saucepan, and let it cook slowly on a low flame for 20 minutes while stirring. Take the garlic off the heat and add chilli flakes, oregano and salt. This sauce keeps for two weeks in a glass jar at room temperature.
  2. Prep the prawns: Keep the shell on the prawns. Use kitchen scissors to cut down the middle to remove the vein. Wash and pat dry. Rub salt on the prawns.
  3. Spanish paprika prawns: Take 1 tsp of just the oil from the garlic-and-chilli-flakes mixture. Heat a large, wide pan till very hot. Add oil and prawns.
  4. Press the prawns down so that the shell gets a nice char. After 2 minutes on each side, add about ½ cup of the aglio olio chilli oil and cook for 5 minutes or till done.
  5. Add lemon juice and cream.
  6. Serving: Take it off the heat and top with chopped parsley. Serve with crusty bread and lots of lemon wedges.

Excerpted with permission from Party Like A Star, by Shilarna Vaze, Penguin Random House.

Shilarna Vazé

Shilarna Vazé

Shilarna Vazé (Chef Chinu Vaze on Instagram and TV) is a chef, TV host, writer, influencer and mum. She runs a gourmet catering company, Gaia Gourmet, and was voted one of the fifty most influential people in the Indian food scene by Conde Nast Traveller. She also writes for several publications and blogs.

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