Spicy Cream Prawns

If you’re a regular reader on my blog you’ll know that I love prawns. I could eat prawns every day and not get sick of it. My favourite way of eating prawns involves Garlic and lemon butter, home-made chilli sauce and juices running down your arms. And yes, I do suck on the shells and the heads…it’s delicious and I don’t care if you think it’s disgusting. There is, in my opinion, no other way to eat prawns. Most of the flavour is in the shell after all.

But I also love it in a sauce over pasta or rice. And then of course, I absolutely love Prawn Curry. The best prawn curry I’ve ever eaten is from World Of Samoosas in the Oriental Plaza in Jhb. They call it Cream Prawns and I can tell you now, that when you pop one of those prawns in your mouth followed by some of their Naan bread, you will be in heaven. I wish I could eat bucket-fulls of the stuff! But seeing as I stay 40 minutes away from the Oriental Plaza, it’s not exactly like I can just go there when the craving strikes. So last night, I decided to give into my craving and make my own version of Cream Prawns. It didn’t come out exactly the same but it was delicious all the same. Really, REALLY delicious actually.

With prawns it’s important to remember that you pay for quality. It’s fine to use the already cleaned, headless and shelled prawns that come frozen but they will probably not have much prawn taste and they’ll be quite rubbery. (I’ve tried many of these and Woolworths’ frozen prawns are the best) If you pay more and buy cleaned prawns but with the shells and heads still on, the prawns will be tender and have the actual flavour prawns are meant to have. I cook them with their heads and all in the sauce because it adds amazing flavour to the sauce and for me, it’s fun to peel them. If you prefer not to cook it this way, just peel them and pull the heads off before popping them into the creamy curry. Also remember to only cook them until they go slightly firm and pink. Over cooking will also lead to rubberiness and there’s nothing worse.

Serve this with sticky Jasmine rice or Basmati rice and some Naan bread. Oh so delish!

Serves 4

1 onion, finely chopped
2tsp crushed garlic
1tsp crushed ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1tsp paprika
2tsp Garam Masala of your choice (I used the Mother-in-law spice I buy from the curry shop)
125ml cream
125ml evaporated milk (you could use 250ml cream instead, I just wanted to make it a bit lighter)
1/2 tin coconut cream
100ml milk mixed with 1tbsn cornflour
1kg Prawns, veins removed (and shells & heads if you prefer)
Jasmine/Basmati Rice to serve
Naan bread to serve

• In a large saucepan or wok, fry the onion in some oil until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another minute.
• Add all the spices and allow to fry for 1 minute until fragrant.
• Add the cream, evaporated milk, coconut cream and milk and allow to simmer and thicken for 5 minutes.
• Add the prawns and allow to cook gently until the prawns are pink and slightly firm.
• Serve immediately with rice and Naan bread.

If you love the flavours of India, why not try some of these recipes?

Butter Chicken
Lamb Biryani
Lamb Curry
Lamb Curry Empanadas
Spicy Lamb Soup
Indian carrot soup
Tandoori Chicken
Lamb Korma