Prawn & Potato Curry ~ Mangalorean Catholic Style
Prep time: 20-30 mins | Cook time: 15 mins | Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
- 1 kg (approx 30) big prawns, cleaned and deveined * see notes
- 4 medium sized potatoes, boiled, peeled and quartered (or cubed if you wish)
- salt to taste
Masala to be ground:
- 3/4th – 1 cup grated coconut * see notes
- 1 medium sized onion roughly chopped
- 4 medium sized garlic cloves
- 1 marble sized ball of tamarind (add a little more if required)
- 4-5 long dry red chillies (Byadge variety) * see notes
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds * see notes
- 1 teaspoon cumin * see notes
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 8-10 peppercorns (adjust to taste)
- a pinch of asafoetida/hing * see notes
For the tempering:
- 3-4 small garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon oil
Method:
1. If desired, sprinkle the cleaned and deveined prawns lightly with salt and keep aside for 5-10mins (or until your masala is ground and ready)
2. Using a little water grind all the ingredients mentioned under ‘Masala to be ground’ to a very fine paste.
3. Transfer the ground paste into a heavy based pan or kadhai and add a little water to the mixer grinder and empty this water into the same pan. Add enough water to make the gravy of medium thickness (adjust this to the desired consistency)
4. Place the pan/kadhai over a medium heat and bring it to a boil. Toss in the pre boiled potatoes and simmer for half a minute
5. Add the prawns and continue to simmer for not more than 2 minutes. Prawns and squid can turn rubbery if you overcook them, so it’s either 2 mins or 2 hours to get them nice and soft – anything in between will lead to hard, rubbery and chewy prawns – totally avoidable!
6. Once the 2 mins are up, remove the pan from the heat and get ready to temper the curry.
7. In a small pan (used for tempering) heat the oil and toss in the crushed garlic cloves, give it a quick stir until they turn light golden (not too brown). Pour this seasoning into the curry and cover the pan quickly.
8. Serve hot with steaming hot boiled rice and any vegetable saute of your choice. Throw in a papad or pickle for good measure and a truly enjoyable Mangalorean meal!
Notes:
1. We used big sized prawns available in Mangalore, not tiger prawns which are too big.
2. We used 1/2 a medium sized coconut
3. To make this recipe easy and quick you may substitute the use of dry red chillies, cumin, coriander and turmeric with 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons of bafat powder without garam masala added to it. Find the recipe here
4. The addition of hing to the ground masala is optional but recommended as prawns are considered gaseous (causing gastric problems) and hence the hing will combat that problem.
The recipe handed down to me by my mom has the same ingredients for the masala. The only difference is we season it with sliced onion and curry leaves in ghee. Sometimes we substitute potatoes with bhendi or mogein
OMG! This looks so tasty and I love the color it's acquired I'm assuming from the chillies your MIL used. Do you know what kinds she uses, I will ask M to fetch me some when he goes down this summer to India?
You know I can't recall a sungta hooman we make in the Saraswat community in Goa with potatoes so this is definitely something new and to be tried for me because next to viswan(surmai for Mumbai folks) I love, love no make that passionately adore prawns(the big bloated shrimp we get here in the U.S. simply don't compare). I think we do add other veggies to prawn preparations though like shengo(drumstick), pumpkin etc. Must ask my mum about the marriage of potato and prawn, whether it's been attempted so far by her.
I'm envying you right now because I see it there you are enjoying some good ole pampering at your mum's and I'm sure MIL's place, getting access to the freshest and the most luscious sea food in Mangalore, enjoying endless cups of tea in the torrential monsoons(used to be my favorite season growing up until I had to brave public bus transport in junior college!!) and palming off the cute brat off to adoring family(I hope the reality is very close and much more fun:-))
BTW are there any special spices, chillies, masalas and food items you like to carry back with you to Dubai from Mangalore specifically and elsewhere in India? I would love if you did a write up on what your's and Roshan's favorite foods are stuffed into your luggage on the way back. When you find time that is:-)
Deepa
this is awesome Shireen. The Bengali in me is salivating big times at the sight of prawns a potato
My mouth is just watering here, this curry looks just simply out of the world.
Tasty curry. Substituted powders for whole spices and coconut powder for grated coconut. Tempered with curry leaf, sliced onion (per Rosy's comment) and crushed garlic. Did not know when to add salt except to prawns. Added a little at a time throughout the process. Thanks for a very good recipe
@ Rosy, Deepa, Sayantani & Priya: Thanks so much!!
@ Tina: Glad you liked it! The tempering sounds great 🙂
thnks for the wonderful recipe- wish you could give us more veggie curries and the veggie substitution for the masala
curries- I am always at a loss as to what veggies to add for which masal!! rgds.
@ Maria: Thanks so much! Please go through my veg recipe index – I have posted lots of veg curry recipes there!
https://www.ruchikrandhap.com/2009/06/recipe-index-pure-vegetarian-curries.html
Thanks Shireen! I hadn't thought of bafat as a substitute and tried it after reading your recipe. Turned out amazing! We (our family) traditionally tempers with curry leaves, and mustard seeds.
@ Janice: So glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for your feedback 🙂
Hi Shireen, lovely recipe… do we need to fry those dry masala or just grind it as it is?
@ Sweedel: Thanks so much! No, just grind all the ingredients for the masala using a little water. There is no need to dry roast them before grinding