Beggars’ purses

Beggars’ purses is the name for an appetizer dish consisting of a mini crepe stuffed with a spicy mix. The edges of the crepe are pulled up into pleats and tied so that the bite resembles a little purse.

I used shrimp in this recipe because it’s a real palate -pleaser, but substitute lobster meat, ground pork, or chicken if you’d like.

Prep Time - 10 mins

Cook Time - 30 mins

Total Time - 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 kg prawns (deviened)

• 2 large onions finely chopped

• 1 medium sized tomato diced

• 1 small capsicum diced

• 2 green chilies finely chopped

• 6-8 curry leaves

• 1 tspn ginger garlic paste

• 1 tspn turmeric powder 

• 1 tspn pepper powder

• 1.5 tspn vinegar

• 1 maggie chicken stock cube

• 1/2 tspn Sugar

• 1/2 cup fresh coriander (chopped fine)

• Salt as per taste, only if require

• Few boiled spaghetti noodles, soaked in fresh beetroot juice

• Microgreens (I've used mustard)

• 8-inch crêpes for the purses

Instruction

• In a skillet, add the onions, tomatoes, chilies, curry leaves, capsicum and oil.

• Mix it well, cover the skillet and place it on medium flame.

• Once the onions turn translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and stir well and cover the skillet.

• Once the raw smell of the ginger garlic paste reduces, add the turmeric powder, pepper powder, sugar, maggi cube, coriander and vinegar and give it a quick stir.

• Let it further cook for about 7-10 mins and then add the prawns.

• Increase the flame to high and keep tossing and stirring and mixing the prawns with the onions for exactly 1 minute only. Check for salt and turn off the flame.

• To assemble, place about 2 tbs. of the filling in the center of each crêpe, gather the sides up to enclose the filling, secure with a toothpick, and tie closed with a spaghetti noodle. Remove the toothpick and garnish with a few micro greens.

Note

• If you cook prawns for more than a minute, it will turn hard and chewy.

• Usually the purses are tied with strips of chive but due to limited grocery availability during the lock down I made use of what I had in store :)