Abidjan is set astride a lagoon and today is home to about 2,7 million people – it’s a modern city with French as the common language for doing business although most people can speak or, at least, understand English. Whilst there are plenty of restaurants, the street vendors and maquis often serve these prawns as well and they are delicious. There’s no reason why you can’t make these at home some time – just take care not to cook prawns too long because they become floury and soft and prawns need to be moist, fleshy and just cooked. Serve these with drinks  or make a whole lot for dinner on a special occasion.

Ingredients

• 450 g raw king prawns
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin, ground
• ½ tsp ginger, ground – the dried ginger, not the fresh root
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ordinary paprika
• 1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 lemon, zest only
• Lemon wedges to serve
• Fresh coriander, chopped to serve

Method

• Remove the heads from the prawns and shell and clean them.
• Heat the olive and the butter (together) in a heavy based frying pan and as soon as it sizzles, add the garlic and cook for about 20 seconds before adding the cumin, the ginger, both kinds of paprika, a pinch of salt, the lemon zest and the cayenne pepper – stir to combine and then pop in the prawns.
• Cook, stirring continuously until the flesh becomes pink at which point they must be removed immediately.
• Put them in a serving dish, pour over the spicy, butter sauce, sprinkle over the coriander generously and serve with fresh lemon wedges.