Devein, peel and clean prawns/ shrimp. Rinse well and drain them completely.

Marinate shrimp with red chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and salt.

Heat oil in a deep pan for deep frying.

While the oil heats, sprinkle gram flour, cornstarch, more salt and curry leaves.

Mix gently to coat the shrimps well with dry flours. If needed sprinkle 1 tsp. water and mix. The mix must be just moist enough. If there is lot of moisture, the fritters won't turn crisp.

When the oil is hot enough, do a heat test by dropping a small portion of dough to the oil. It has to rise steadily and not brown too quickly. This is the right temperature.

Once the oil is hot, put the flame to medium high, hold each prawn along with some onions, curry leaves batter and gently slide to the hot oil. If you are using smaller kind then, you can group them to 2 or 3 and fry.

Take care not to burn them, flip them to the other side and fry till golden & crisp. Drain them on a colander or absorbent tissue. Fry all the shrimps in batches.

Once you finish frying all the pakora, repeat frying them for a minute, this gives a good crunchy texture to the fritters.

Shrimp fritters are best served while hot, they begin to lose the crunch after a while.