eat like a girl

So, round about the time I started this blog, just under a year ago, I blogged one of my favourite dishes - Prawn Curry. We were eating it about once a week, it’s tasty, healthy and quick, and fit in perfectly on those evenings where you’ve had a long day in the office and all you want is something quick and tasty with a glass of wine. On some of these evenings, the wine may even be the most important part ;)

Now, when I like something, I tend to talk about it, and friends of mine were hearing alot about this prawn curry. Then they started to think that perhaps I was making it up! How can she be making a curry from scratch after work when she only leaves the office at 7pm? How?! So, to salvage my reputation I had to gather some of them together and cook it for them. Then they would see!

The recipe is based on a Goan recipe I found online some years ago. It requires using masses of fresh tomatoes and a fresh coconut. I urbanised it by using a tin of tomatoes and a tin of coconut milk, which makes it quick and convenient - almost a storecupboard dish. It really is super quick once you’ve ground the spices, I would estimate no more than half an hour, although try to buy peeled prawns to save your self time. I vary the amount of coconut milk depending on whether I want the fruity flavour of the tomatoes or the creaminess of the coconut milk to dominate. This time I went with the tomato so used one tin of tomatoes and half a tin of coconut milk. It works well 50/50 though if you prefer that.

The recipe serves 2 hungry people.

Ingredients:

250g raw grey prawns, shells removed & deveined
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin coconut milk
1 green chilli (or more if you like it spicier)
1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped/grated
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
Spices: 2 tsp ground turmeric, 12 black peppercorns, 3 cloves, 1 tsp cumin seeds
1 fresh lemon (or 1 tbsp lemon juice - but do use fresh)

Method:

Fry the onion, ginger, chillies until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes.

Grind the spices in a pestle & mortar and add to the pan. Cook for a minute or so, stirring all the time to temper the spices.

Add the tomatoes and the sugar.

Cook for 5 minutes.

Open the tin of coconut milk. If it has split into thin mlik and coconut cream, pour off the thin milk and add the thick coconut cream to the pan. If your milk is well mixed then add half the tin to the pan. It will still be very good but I prefer to add the thick coconut cream over the thinner milk.

Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the prawns and cook until pink. It will only take a few minutes. Take care not to over cook them.

Add the coriander and 1tbsp fresh lemon juice to lift the flavour. Season. Serve immediately.

I serve this curry with brown basmati rice that’s been rinsed and cooked with twice the volume of salted water to rice. I frequently add a few cardamom pods, cinnamon cloves and some cinnamon bark to the rice as it cooks to lightly flavour it. It complements the cloves in the sauce.