Sri Lankan King Prawn Curry with Coconut Sambol
Sri Lankan curries tend to be thinner and spicier than Indian curries with sweet and sour notes from tamarind and citrus and deeply aromatic from Sri Lankan roasted curry powder – a blend of spices including coriander, cardamom, fennel and curry leaves. If you can’t find any, use a medium Indian curry powder and reduce the turmeric.
Method
To make the sambol, add the dried chilli and a pinch of salt to a large pestle and mortar and bash until broken down. Add the shallot and continue bashing until mixed into a coarse paste. Add the coconut and muddle together. Mix in plenty of lime juice to taste.
Heat the oil in a deep-sided frying pan over a medium heat. Add the curry leaves and mustard seeds for 10-20 seconds until they start to sizzle. Add the onions, season with a pinch of salt and cook for 6 minutes, stirring often, until softened and lightly golden. Add the ginger, chilli, garlic and coriander stems and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the curry powder and turmeric and cook for 2-3 minutes, adding a splash of stock to prevent burning if needed. Add 100ml of the stock allowing it to bubble away and stirring all the flavour from the bottom of the pan. Add the coconut milk, tamarind paste, maple syrup and a squeeze of lemon. Season with salt, bring to a simmer and cook gently for 10 minutes
Add the prawns and cook for 4-6 minutes, or until the prawns are cooked through, adding a little more stock and salt if needed. Add the coriander and lemon juice to taste. Serve the prawn curry with basmati rice and the sambol and with lemon/lime wedges for squeezing.
Ingredients
- For the Sambol
- 2 dried red chillies, deseeded if preferred (or 1-2 tsp dried chilli flakes)
- sea salt
- 60g freshly grated coconut (or desiccated coconut soaked in 2 tbsp cold water)
- 1 lime, for squeezing
- For the King Prawn Curry
- 400g raw jumbo King/ tiger prawns, deveined
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 10-15 fresh curry leaves
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced/finely chopped
- thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, grated or chopped
- 2-4 long green chillies (according to taste), deseeded if preferred, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp Sri Lankan roasted curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- handful of coriander, stems finely chopped, and leaves
- 100-150ml hot fish stock or water
- 1 x 400g tin of coconut milk
- 2 tsp tamarind paste
- 1 tsp maple syrup or brown sugar
- 1 lemon or lime, cut into wedges for squeezing