Indian Shrimp Curry Recipe
Seafood is a delicacy in the South of India (from where my family originates!) It’s my pleasure to introduce you to one of my childhood favorites, an Indian shrimp curry recipe! This is best served over a bed of fragrant white rice, either plain or infused with cumin.
South India is known for its abundance of fresh seafood which enhances the overall quality of recipes such as this. I’m based in NYC and was born and raised in London, so I’m all too familiar with not being able to purchase seafood that practically smells of the sea. (It usually smells much more foul…) As a result, frozen seafood has become my go-to and when it comes to prawns/shrimp, a lot of the prep work (deveining and peeling) has already been taken care of! This shaves a good chunk off of our cooking time.
One of the major and essential components of the fiery five spice prawn curry recipe is, of course, the paanch phoron (five spice) pack. Paanch means five in Hindi which points to a mixture of five whole spices that make up this special blend. Indian five spice is available at most (if not all) South Asian grocers as well as online, but if you are unable to find it, you can purchase each spice separately and combine!
*Paanch phoron consists of:
Cumin seeds
Mustard seeds
Nigella seeds
Fennel seeds
Fenugreek
Fiery Prawn Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Medium-sized onion
- 1 tsp Ginger & garlic paste or finely chopped
- 1 tsp Indian 5 spice (Paanch Phoron)
- 1 lb Frozen shrimp/prawns preferably peeled and deveined
- 4 oz Tomato sauce or 2 small finely chopped tomatoes
- 1 Indian green chilly optional
- 2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 2 tsp Red Chilly powder
- ¼ tsp Cumin powder
- 1 tsp Coriander powder
- 1½ cups Water
- 2 tbsp Sunflower oil
- *Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp Fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Defrost the prawns/shrimp at least two-three hours before you plan on cooking (the night before is ideal). If your prawns are fresh, then peel and devein them if they haven't been already.
- Once the prawns have fully thawed, peel if necessary. (Most frozen prawns have already been deveined) Wash and set aside.
- Next finely chop the onion, either by hand or in a chopper and do the same with the ginger and garlic if you don't have paste on hand.
- Slit one green chilly down the middle.
- Heat up the sunflower oil in a shallow saucepan on medium/high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the Paanch Phoron* and green chilly. Stir for about 30 seconds.
- Then add in the chopped onions and fry until lightly golden-browned (This will take around 5 mins)
- Add the ginger and garlic and fry for an extra 1 minute to avoid burning the garlic. (It cooks quickly)
- Pour in the tomato sauce (or chopped tomatoes) and stir for 2-3 minutes on medium/high
- Turn the heat to low and incorporate the spices (red chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder a pinch of salt to taste)
- Switch the heat back to high and fry off the spices for another 2 minutes.
- It's time to add the prawns so carefully place them in the pan and stir to make sure each prawn is coated with the dry masala mixture.
- At this point lower the heat and cover the pan with a lid. The prawns may render out fluid which will affect the amount of water you need to add to really make it curry instead of a dry dish.
- After 2-3 minutes, remove the lid and stir. Add water as necessary and cook until the gravy thickens. You want a consistency that is not too thick but also not too watery.
- Once the prawns are cooked, turn off the heat and sprinkle over some fresh cilantro .
- Serve over white Basmati rice and enjoy!