Prawn Curry - simply the best!

Curried prawns or curried shrimp, depending on where you live, is something of a comfort food classic in Tropical and Central Queensland, but it's a real treat that the whole family will love wherever you live. It can be the go-to for an easy mid-week meal to throw together when raw prawns are well priced like they are here right now. At $15 a kilo, it's a reasonably priced meal. Once the prawns are peeled and the preparation done, this meal can be on the table in less than 30 minutes. Or buy them already shelled, simple. It's Father's Day tomorrow, and unless the Dad or the Man in your house is allergic to prawns, he will feel very spoiled if this meal is cooked for him. A Prawn Curry really is a cinch to make for the whole family.

It's no secret that I adore eating fresh seafood, and I was very fortunate when growing up that it was quite inexpensive to buy and easy to find. My family spent many weekends in Summer on the nearby beautiful beaches at Yeppoon and Emu Park, on the Central Queensland coast, swimming early in the morning and late in the afternoon to avoid the heat of the sun, and eating seafood freshly caught by the fisherman on the fishing and prawn trawlers. We also cooked freshly caught mud crabs on the beach at Emu Park over an open fire in a large pot of salt water, now that is hard to beat. I was very young when I was first taught how to peel a prawn and eat mud crab and am happiest now just eating freshly cooked shellfish with my hands without any sauces or adornment at all. Fresh oysters straight off the rocks, freshly cooked mud crabs, cooked tiger prawns, the occasional Moreton Bay bug, and scallops, now that is my kind of seafood platter. Raw prawns need to be cooked though, quickly and simply, and a Prawn Curry is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to eat them. It's a bonus that raw prawns take no time at all to cook. Too much cooking makes them quite tough to eat.

So, let's cook:

Serves 4

 Ingredients:

1 kilogram large green prawns

2 tablespoons coconut oil or any oil

1 medium brown onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon curry powder 

1 tsp. paprika

 1 tsp. cumin, 

1 tsp. garam masala

 1 tsp. coriander

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons plain flour

1 can light coconut milk plus 225 g full cream milk (or enough milk for the right consistency)

1 cup (120 g) frozen baby peas

2 green onions (green shallots) sliced thinly on an angle for garnish

salt and white pepper to taste

handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method:

Shell and devein the prawns.

In a large heavy based pan, heat the oil and sauté the onion over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until transparent.

Add the tomato paste, cook, stirring for 1 minute. 

Add the garlic, curry powder, other spices, flour, and cook stirring for 1 minute.

 Stir in the prawns and the lemon juice and stir to coat with the spices. 

Gradually stir in the coconut milk and full cream milk, until the mixture boils and thickens. The prawns will turn pink, indicating they are cooked.

Add the peas and season to taste with salt and white pepper.

Mix in the chopped parsley just before serving.

Serve with rice, couscous or quinoa garnished with sliced green onions.

Cook's notes:

• To further save time, small, cooked school prawns can be used, but beware unless they are already peeled it is labour intensive to shell a whole lot of small prawns. It's too much for me these days. I'll only buy the large prawns.
• This dish isn't suitable to freeze.
• Mr. HRK and I really enjoyed the leftovers heated up the following night as well. As is often the way with curries, it tasted even better second time around. 
• If you like a bit more spice in your curries, double the amount of paprika, cumin, garam masala, and coriander.
• Using white pepper is underrated, and it's my preference to use white pepper instead of black pepper for this kind of seafood curry.

Happy Father's Day tomorrow to all the Dad's.

Warm wishes

Pauline