Coconut Prawn Curry
After a full on week in Chennai, India dodging auto rickshaws, taxis, cows, bikes, trucks and the never ending tooting of horns my senses were reaching for a little respite and culinary adventure. Heading 3 hours south on India’s East Coast Highway to the former French colony of Pondicherry I found a kindred spirit in Chef Kathir at the oasis of the Palais de Mahe, a colonial inspired hotel belonging to the CGH Earth hotel collection. Together with his brigade we cooked, experimented and tasted dish after dish of glorious South Indian gastronomy as well as reveling in progressive Indian food. Moved by our coastal location and the Keralan heritage of his comrades we gave into their spiced zeal and yielded to Prawn Moilee, a Keralan prawn curry recipe enriched with coconut, chilli and life giving ginger.
Gluttony disabled my self control and my appetite showed no shame, not a drop of the shrimp curry remained…even the curry leaves were chewed of their essence. A little extreme? Don’t judge, try it for yourself and you’ll find you might just watch your etiquette walking out the door as you tuck in.
Serves 4
- 2 tbs coconut oil
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
- ½ red onion sliced into rings
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp chopped ginger
- ½ fresh green chilli, chopped
- 1 dried red chilli, crumbled
- 1 stem curry leaves
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 100ml coconut milk
- 250g uncooked tiger prawns
- Juice of half a lime
- 2 slices of tomato
- Salt
How To Make Keralan Prawn Curry
Using a medium sized pan, heat the coconut oil over a medium temperature and fry the mustard and fenugreek seeds until the pop, then add the onion, garlic, ginger, chillies and curry leaves, cook for 3-4 minutes until the ingredients have softened. Now tip in the turmeric powder and mix well for a minute until the ingredients are coloured by the turmeric. Pour in the coconut milk and season with a dash of salt, simmer for 2-3 minutes until the ingredients have formed a thin soup. Add the prawns and for 4 minutes until the flesh has turned pink and cooked through. Finish with the juice of half a lime and dress with a couple of tomato slices.
Serve with flatbread or fluffy basmati rice.
Coconut Prawn Curry
After a full on week in Chennai, India dodging auto rickshaws, taxis, cows, bikes, trucks and the never ending tooting of horns my senses were reaching for a little respite and culinary adventure. Heading 3 hours south on India’s East Coast Highway to the former French colony of Pondicherry I found a kindred spirit in Chef Kathir at the oasis of the Palais de Mahe, a colonial inspired hotel belonging to the CGH Earth hotel collection. Together with his brigade we cooked, experimented and tasted dish after dish of glorious South Indian gastronomy as well as reveling in progressive Indian food. Moved by our coastal location and the Keralan heritage of his comrades we gave into their spiced zeal and yielded to Prawn Moilee, a Keralan prawn curry recipe enriched with coconut, chilli and life giving ginger.
Gluttony disabled my self control and my appetite showed no shame, not a drop of the shrimp curry remained…even the curry leaves were chewed of their essence. A little extreme? Don’t judge, try it for yourself and you’ll find you might just watch your etiquette walking out the door as you tuck in.
Serves 4
- 2 tbs coconut oil
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
- ½ red onion sliced into rings
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp chopped ginger
- ½ fresh green chilli, chopped
- 1 dried red chilli, crumbled
- 1 stem curry leaves
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 100ml coconut milk
- 250g uncooked tiger prawns
- Juice of half a lime
- 2 slices of tomato
- Salt
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