Prawn Curry - Simple Comfort Food

Now with the festive season over for the time being and before we dive into the Christmas - New Year celebration frenzy, how about indulging in some simple comforting everyday dishes. Am sure most of us have indulged majorly during pujas and Diwali and now its time to get back to some easy "ghar ka khana". That ofcourse wouldn't mean that we stop eating tasty food. Sometimes the simplest of meal bring so much respite to our tired souls. I for one is going through a super hectic stressful phase ( would elaborate maybe later sometime ) For now I made this very simple flavourful Prawn Curry with everyday spices and enjoyed it with some boiled rice and a squirt of lime. I made it a little spicy coz I felt like eating a hot curry! You can easily adjust the spice levels according to your taste buds.
Prawn is something immensely enjoyed by us at home and this is a perfect dish which doesn't require much of a preparation.

Ingredients:

Prawns - 500 gms - medium sized - de shelled and deveined

Potato - 1 large or 2 medium sized - cut into cubes

Onion - 1 large - thinly sliced

Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tsp each

Red chilli powder - 1 and half tsp - adjust according to taste

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp + 1 tsp

Cumin powder - 1 heaped tsp

Tomato puree - 2 tbsp.

Bay leaf - 2 nos

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Sugar - half tsp

Green chillies - 4-5

Refined oil - 1 tbsp for frying the prawns and 1 tbsp. for the gravy

Method:

Wash and dry the prawns. Marinate with 1 tsp turmeric and salt.
Heat 1 tbsp oil and lightly sauté the prawns till they turn golden.
Drain and keep aside.

In the same pan add another tbsp of refine oil.

Add the bayleaf. Next add the sliced onion and fry till slightly browned.
Add the ginger garlic paste and fry that too.

Next tip in the cubed potatoes and fry for 2-3 mins.
Add all the dry spices  except the garam masala - cumin powder,red chili powder,turmeric , salt and sugar along with the tomato puree.

Roast the spices well, add a little water if the masalas stick to the sides. Roast on low flame so that it doesn't burn.

Once the spices start to leave oil on the sides, add one cup water and let the gravy simmer for 5 mins.

Add the sautéed prawns , green chilli and garam masala powder. Give it a boil and remove from heat.

Serve with hot rice and some lime on the side. Even some roasted papad would go really well with it #afterthought

 
Notes :

• Don't overcook the prawns as they would turn rubbery.
• You could also add some diced tomates for that extra tang.
• Tomato purees are as it is very tangy so cut out on that if using fresh tomatoes.
• You could also garnish with some fresh coriander leaves.
• Medium sized prawns work best with this dish. But you could use big ones too. You could also replace prawns with either rohu or katla.

 

Royyala Iguru - Andhra Style Prawn Curry

I have been having a lot of fun lately. First it was my mother visiting us and spoiling us silly with her awesome cooking and now with my sister in town its only getting better! I am totally preoccupied with my 2 yr old niece and she is a treat. So as you can understand with family around I couldn't really focus that much on cooking and blogging. However I had to find some time to participate in the ongoing KFB  event "Kashmir to Kanyakumari" where we have to create a dish either from the north or the south.
Now to be honest I have been exposed to a lot of north Indian food be it their tikkas, butter chicken, naan/rotis etc . The challenge for me was to explore the South Indian cuisine which is so vast and rich. I have not really eaten that many south Indian non veg dishes except maybe a solitary Sukka dish or maybe a Prawn Gassi - thanks to Sagar Ratna in Delhi. The only way for me to explore this cuisine before I got down to making a dish was to google. So I googled for Kerala cuisine, Andhra cuisine and also Mangalorean cuisine. The search threw up at me a sea of recipes, most of it so amazing. But as you know I am a stickler for easy everyday recipes. One such recipe that caught my fancy was Royyala Iguru - Andhra Style Prawn Curry that would go so well with rice. My recipe has been broadly adapted from Sailu's Kitchen a treasure trove of authentic recipes. The ingredients used here are again very basic everyday ones , I just added a few more to make it my own.

Ingredients:

Prawns - 500 gms - medium sized - deveined and washed

Onions - 1 large - finely chopped

Tomato - 1 large - finely chopped

Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 tbsp.

Red Chili powder - 1 tbsp.

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Poppy seeds & Cashew nut paste - 2 tbsp

Refined oil - 2 tbsp

Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

Warm water - 1 cup

Green chilli's - 4-5 according to your taste

Salt - to taste

Method:

In a non-stick pan , add the oil. Once it heats up add the curry leaves and the chopped onion. Once the onion is translucent add the chopped tomato and the ginger garlic paste.
Fry till the ingredients are light brown in colour.

Next tip in the cleaned prawns along with the dry spice powders - turmeric , red chili , coriander and cumin.

 Mix the spices well and cook for 5 mins on low heat so that the spices don't burn. Add the poppy seeds and cashew nut paste. Mix well and fry for another 5 mins on low heat. Pour in a cup of warm water , salt to taste and the green chillies. Cover and let it simmer for another 5-7 mins.

Once the gravy thickens add the garam masala powder. Mix well and serve hot with rice.

The family enjoyed this dish for lunch and I am going to be making it often from now on. I was a bit sceptical about adding raw prawns to the masala mix  as I thought it would leave a bad taste in the curry but it turned out just alright.

I am sending this recipe to the KFB event Kashmir to Kanyakumari