Serves: 3-4
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes minimum
Ingredients:
- 2 potatoes
- 1/2 a red pepper
- 80g mangetout apprx.
- 80g baby corn apprx.
- 400ml cocunut milk
- 200ml hot water
- 1 garlic cloves
- 1/2 red onion
- 600g uncooked prawns
- Coriander
- Basil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 stick of lemongrass
- Salt
- Basmati rice
For the paste:
- 1/2 a red onion
- 1 tspn of dried chilli
- 1 tspn of paprika
- 1/4 red chilli
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1cm squared of ginger
- 4-5 basil leaves
- 1/2 a lime
- Lime zest
- 1 stick of lemongrass
- Coriander stems(not leaf)
- 2 tblspn tomato puree
- 1 tblspn olive oil
- Salt
1. Peel the potatoes and par-boil them (place in a pot and bring to the boil and simmer until beginning to go soft) so they cook quicker in the curry. Once done cube and set aside until later.
2. Roughly chop everything for the paste and place in a food dicer with the fine blade in. If you have an old one like mine you might need to use a pestle and mortar after to get the proper consistency, but remember it doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth. The paste can be put aside for now.
3. Slice your onion and pepper and dice the garlic.
4. Place a large pot on top of a medium heat and add some olive oil along with the garlic and onion. Sweat for a minute and then add in the rest of the vegetables, including the potatoes, and your paste. If you were using chicken you would add that now aswell. After 2-3 minutes add the coconut milk, the bay leaf and the stick of lemongrass and mix. Ensure not to serve anyone the bay leaf or the lemongrass when serving.
5. Add the hot water and stir again. This helps to prevent the curry from going too thick.
6. Bring the curry too a boil and and then reduce to a simmer. Stir the curry every 3-4 minutes and taste to ensure seasoning is correct. I like to leave it simmer on a low heat for as long as possible because it can make a huge difference to the flavour. I would cook the dish a few hours before needing it if possible and just re-heat it when needed because it gives a chance for the flavours to really run through it.
7. Get your basmati rice and check the cooking instructions and time it for when you want to eat. Basmati rice usually takes longer to cook than normal rice so be aware of that.
8. When the curry is nearly ready you can cook your prawns. I don’t cook them in the curry because they can become over cooked easily and become tough. I put them into a pan and cook them for 3-4 minutes depending on wether they are frozen or not. This would only add on a minute or two if cooking from frozen.
9. Once everything is ready place some of the rice on a plate and add a generous scoop of the curry over the top ensuring the lemongrass or bay leaf isn’t put on the plate.
10. Add some coriander, a few thin slices of chilli and a squeez of some lime and your ready to go.
Enjoy.
