“This is [chef] Naved’s [Nasir] special dish at Dishoom Covent Garden. It’s a light, fragrant and utterly delicious south Indian-style curry, packed with juicy prawns and tempered with coconut milk,” states the new Dishoom restaurant cookbook.
“Although it looks impressive, it is actually very easy to make, so you can serve it either as a week-night supper or as an indulgent dinner. We serve it with idiyappam, the white, lacy noodle pancakes, also known as stringhoppers. If you can’t get these, it goes just as well with steamed rice.”
Prawn moilee
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Small frying pan
Ingredients
- 6 green chillies
- 55 ml vegetable oil
- 2 tsp mustard seeds
- 30 fresh curry leaves
- 300 g Spanish white onions sliced (a little chunky is good)
- 15 g garlic paste (see below)
- 15 g ginger paste (see below)
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1.25 tsp ground turmeric
- 25 g fresh root ginger cut into matchsticks
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 250 ml coconut cream
- 24 large prawns
- 300 g medium tomatoes cut into small bite-sized wedges
For the garlic paste (makes about 170g):
- 3 garlic bulbs, peeled and blitzed with 25ml vegetable oil. Add 2-3tsp water to loosen if necessary. Place in a clean, sterilised jar and cover the surface with a thin layer of oil. Store in the fridge and use within 10 days.
For the ginger paste (makes about 170g):
- 180g fresh root ginger, peeled and blitzed with 25ml vegetable oil. Add 2-3tsp water to loosen if necessary. Place in a clean, sterilised jar and cover the surface with a thin layer of oil. Store in the fridge and use within 10 days.
To serve:
- Lemon wedges
Method
- Remove and discard the stalks from the chillies, then slice each one into three or four long strips. Set to one side.
- Place a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add 40ml of the oil, let it warm for a few seconds, then add the mustard seeds and 20 curry leaves. Let them crackle for a few seconds.
- Add the onions and sauté lightly for 12–14 minutes, until soft but not coloured.
- Add the garlic and ginger pastes, salt, black pepper and turmeric and sauté for three minutes, stirring regularly. Add the sliced chillies and ginger matchsticks and cook for three minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and cream and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the curry is simmering, place a small frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the remaining one tablespoon oil. Toss in the rest of the curry leaves and fry for one minute, until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside.
- Add the prawns and tomatoes to the sauce and simmer gently for a further five to six minutes, until the prawns are cooked; do not overcook or they will be tough.
- Serve scattered with the fried curry leaves, with lemon wedges on the side. Note: If you’d like to prepare the dish in advance, make the sauce (up to and including step 5), chill and refrigerate, then reheat and continue from step 6 just before serving.
Nutrition
Dishoom: From Bombay With Love by Shamil Thakrar, Kavi Thakrar and Naved Nasir, photography by Haarala Hamilton. Author photograph by Jon Cottam. Published by Bloomsbury.
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