Coconut Curry with Prawns

This meal begs to made on a lovely warm day, when you lack inspiration and energy and just want something that is fresh and tastes delicious. The recipe is from Sophie Dahl’s Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights.  I know that the show that accompanied the book received mixed reviews (I really liked it, Alex did not). A few of the recipes in the book are a little pretentious, however this one is very simple and accessible. All, but the prawns, were ingredients I had on hand which is always a huge positive in my book (One day I’ll share my experience of cooking from Luke Nguyen’s Secrets from the Red Lantern.)

The ingredient list isn’t daunting at all: 1 tablespoon of Oil, Brown Onion, Clove of Garlic, 1/2 Green Chilli (de-seeded and chopped), 1 teaspoon of Curry Powder, 400ml of Light Coconut Milk, Limes, 1 Tablespoon of desiccated Coconut, Salt and Pepper, Coriander, Brown Rice, and of course 400g of Prawns.

I decided to cook some brown rice to go with the recipe. So before starting the curry (which takes less than 20 minutes to cook) I starting cooking the rice in the handy rice cooker. (Perfect Rice every time!). If you haven’t cooked brown Rice in a rice cooker before, check the instruction manual as it needs double the water as white rice.

The Curry is quite easy to cook. In a large pan heat the oil and sweat the garlic and onion for a few minutes. Add the chilli and curry powder and cook for about 2 -3 minutes. A lovely aroma will fill your kitchen and if you were hungry before hand you will suddenly feel famished. Add the prawns and cover with the coconut milk. Cook for about 10 minutes and ensure the prawns are cooked.

As the curry is cooking, chop up some coriander and cut a lime into wedges. (Gratuitous photo of coriander and lime just because I love the colours!) Place the coriander and lime on the table for people to add to their dish as desired.

Just before you are ready to serve the curry, stir in some lime juice to taste, as well as the coconut (I should admit for this step I used some bottled lime juice). Serve!

The curry has a lovely flavour, that reminded me of laksa and it’s also an extremely satisfying meal that everyone just lapped up (and thus ended my plans for leftovers for lunch the next day).

It’s quick and doesn’t create too many dishes (just a saucepan and a chopping board). This is definitely being added to my regular rotation of quick but satisfying weeknight dinners.