This aromatic prawn curry in coconut milk with storecupboard ingredients is a perfect weeknight dinner. Serve it with flatbreads, naan or fluffy white basmati rice. I usually pull it together with a bag of frozen prawns from the freezer (defrost them in plenty of cold running water just before cooking them), so you only need to grab a few fresh ingredients on the way home.
Serves: 2–3 Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 30 minutes
ingredients
- 220g cherry tomatoes on the vine, halved
- 1 green pepper,
- finely sliced 1 onion,
- roughly sliced 2cm fresh ginger, grated
- 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground chilli
- A few curry leaves (optional)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 × 400g tin of coconut milk
- 300–350g raw king prawns
- 100g spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 lime, juice only
- TO SERVE
- A handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. Tip the tomatoes and their vines, the green pepper, onion, ginger, all the spices, salt and oil into a roasting tin and mix really well to coat everything evenly. Transfer the tin to the oven and roast for 15–20 minutes (if your oven runs hot and things start to char, rescue them after 15). Fish out the vines, squash down the tomatoes, add the coconut milk, prawns and spinach and return to the oven for 9–10 minutes, or until the prawns are pink and just cooked through. Taste and season with the lime juice and more salt as needed, scatter over the fresh coriander and chopped chilli to taste and serve with flatbreads or white basmati rice.
CHANGE IT UP: If you prefer a thicker curry, use half the amount of coconut milk, or a 200g can of coconut cream. (Don’t make the mistake I have in the past and buy a cardboard packet of creamed coconut, it’s useful only as a cosh/doorstop.)