Goan Prawn Curry

I’ve always enjoyed a prawn curry but adding enough prawns to make it filling can end up a little pricey at times. That is unless you use the delightful option that is frozen king prawns! A large bag of these little beauty’s in the supermarket is so much cheaper than buying them fresh and so many people say they are actually better quality as they are frozen at sea as soon as they are caught. If you are using frozen, raw king prawns, make sure they are properly defrosted before adding to the dish.

More traditional Goan curry’s often used dried Kashmiri chillies however, since they are mostly used to add the reddish colour to the dish, I’ve tried to use more readily available spices in place of them. If you would like to use the more traditional recipe, replace the paprika, cayenne pepper and chilli powder with 8 red Kashmiri chillies and grind with the whole spices right at the start.

The recipe below makes 4 good potions of curry and it has the most delicious spicy, sour flavour. It’s a little bit different to your regular curry flavour (and for once doesn’t have any fresh coriander in it)! I served my portion with 60g (dry weight) basmati rice so the meal was 11sp in total on BLUE.

Goan Prawn Curry

Serves 4 = 5sp per serving on BLUE and PURPLE, 6sp per serving on GREEN

Ingredients

For the spice mix

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp each cumin seeds and black peppercorns

3 tsp paprika

1 tsp each chilli powder, cayenne pepper and turmeric

½ tsp salt

For the curry

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated (or 1 tbsp Lazy ginger)

1 red pepper, deseeded and finely sliced

4 large tomatoes diced

Chicken stock cube (made up with 400ml boiling water)

2 tsp tamarind paste

½ tsp sugar

400g tin of light coconut milk

400g king prawns, raw (I use frozen king prawns, make sure they are totally thawed)

Large pinch of curry leaves

To serve

Basmati rice

Method

Begin by making your spice mix. Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorns to a pestle and mortar (or a spice grinder) and bash until you have a smooth powder. Add the paprika, chilli powder, cayenne pepper, turmeric and salt and combine.

Next take a large saucepan, spray with 1kal and add the onion. Fry for 5-6 minutes until it starts to soften (add a little water if the pan gets dry). Then add the garlic and ginger and fry for another minute. Next add the spice mix to the pan, stir and add a small splash of water so it doesn’t burn, then add the tomatoes, tamarind, sugar and stock, stir and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the tomatoes have started to break down. Pop the rice on at this point if you are having it. Remove the sauce from the heat and blend the contents of the pan until smooth. Add the sauce back to the pan along with the coconut milk and red pepper, stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes. Finally add the raw king prawn and curry leaves s to the sauce and simmer until the prawns are cooked through (this should only take a couple of minutes).

Serve with basmati rice (remember to add the extra points).

Enjoy!