Prawn Curry with coconut rice isn’t something that immediately comes to mind when I bring home a bag of prawns. But sometimes, when my brain isn’t so foggy and I’m not grinding along routinely. My mind sparkles with a temporary brilliance, resulting in 🦐 Prawn Curry and an added bonus of Coconut Rice!
Side note, the brain is an amazing organ. When I make this, I get inspired to cook the coconut rice too. Eating this takes me to the charming South Indian coastal towns. Fresh seafood and 🥥🥥🥥 fresh coconuts, whether grated, milked or both are often eaten together. Make this curry as spicy as you wish by adding more green chillies.
I like to first prepare my wet mix and dry mix! So I first, blend shallots, garlic cloves, ginger, chilli padi, and a little bit of water till smooth. Afterward, I prepare my dry spice mix.
Now, grab a large pot and heat oil up. Once it’s hot, add the wet spice mix and cook for about 5 minutes. Followed by the dry spice and tomato puree. Keeping in mind to continuously stir the pot, cook for another 5-7minutes.
When fragrant, add in tamarind liquid, prawns, coconut cream, and salt, tossing everything together! After about 2 minutes, add vegetables and water and mix again. Reduce the heat to low, with the lid on, slow cook for 15 minutes.
Before turning off the heat, taste to check.
We can now move on to the tadka for the curry! Also known as, tempering. These ground spices are briefly toasted in ghee in order to release their essential oil. This makes the flavor more aromatic.
In a small frying pan, heat oil on medium-high heat and caramelize the onion rings till golden. (For about 5 minutes) Add the chilli padi, curry leaves and Indian 5-spice mix. Increase to high heat and fry until fragrant.
Now, add the contents of the pan into the prawn curry and gently stir together. You can now proceed to make the light and fluffy Coconut Rice following the recipe instruction below.
Iftar Meals: Prawn Curry with Coconut Rice
Prawn curry INGREDIENTS
- Wet Spice Mix
5 shallots
4 cloves garlic
2″ ginger
3-5 green chilli padi
- Dry Spice Mix – Mix with some water to make a paste
2 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 heap tbsp tamarind paste with 5 tbsp hot water, mix
reserve the tamarind liquid
600g large prawns, devein
1/4 cup coconut cream
1/2 – 1 cup water
4 nos long beans, cut into inch long pieces
125g cherry tomatoes, leave whole
Salt to taste
- Temper for Curry
2 tbsp oil
1 white onion, slice into rings
4 strips curry leaves
1 green chilli padi
1/2 tsp Indian 5-spice Blend (panch poran)
- Coconut Rice/ Pulao
2 cups basmati rice
1 cup coconut cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tsp salt
- Temper for Rice
2 tbsp oil
2 strips of curry leaves
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
handful of cashews nuts
1-2 whole dry red chillies
Directions
- Prawn Curry
- In a large pot, heat about 1/4 cup oil in medium-high heat.
Add the blended wet spice mix to the oil and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the dry spice paste and tomato puree. Continue cooking, stirring often, until fragrant for another 5-7 minutes until fragrant. - Add in the tamarind liquid, prawns, coconut cream and salt, tossing everything together. After about two minutes, add vegetables and water and mix again. Reduce heat to low. Cover the lid and slow cook for about 15 minutes. Check seasoning and adjust. Remove from heat and prepare the tempering.
- In a small frying pan, heat oil on medium high heat and caramelise the onion rings till golden, about 5 minutes. Add chilli padi, curry leaves and the Indian 5-spice mix. Increase to high heat and fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add contents of the pan into the prawn curry and gently stir together. Reserve the pan for later.
- Coconut Rice
- Wash and soak 2 cups of basmati rice for at least 1 hour
When ready to cook, drain the rice.
In a large bowl, mix coconut cream and water.
Using a rice cooker, add drained rice, coconut liquid and salt. Cook according to rice cooker. - When rice is cooked, make the tempering for it.
Retrieve the frying pan back to the stove on medium heat and add oil. Toss in cashews and dry chillies and fry until cashews are golden. Increase to high heat and add mustard seeds and curry leaves and fry for about 30 seconds until fragrant. - Add pan contents into the cooked rice and fluff up the coconut rice with the tempering to combine.
- Serve Prawn Curry with Coconut Rice and enjoy!
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Till my next recipe, Mel!
