I used the medium prawns that are about 25 prawns to a kilo or half a pound.. These are wild caught, fresh prawns. I am rather fussy about my seafood and will only buy wild caught, not farmed, seafood of any kind. About 10 years ago, I watched a documentary on farmed salmon and shrimp and vowed never to eat farmed seafood again. It might be organic but it simply grossed me out so wild and caught in the ocean directly, it is. Luckily, I am able to buy it here without any problem at all and there is usually way more wild caught than farmed at the local market anyway. So, having stopped in at my friendly open air fishmonger at the Tuesday, Le Bugue market, I looked at what was on offer. Initially, I was thinking scallops but they were very expensive (they are part of the Christmas and New Years dinners here in France, so the price skyrockets during this time) and the fishmonger suggested some beautiful, fat, fresh prawns. So, it was decided – prawn curry was on the menu for dinner. Not being a huge fan of rice, I stopped in at the boulangerie on the way home and bought two fresh, still hot from the oven, naan breads. Side dish, tick.
Prawns and shrimp are sold in a number of different ways. If you are using, as I did, whole fresh ones, with the head and tail still attached, you will need 300g to 400g (11oz to 14oz) per person. If you are using frozen, or peeled ones then roughly half the weight will suffice.
Serves 3
Ingredients:
1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil
Onion, medium, finely chopped
Thumb-size piece fresh root ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
Pinch of chilli flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
250 ml / 1 cup coconut cream
1 tablespoon tomato concentrate purée
Whole medium prawns, 900g / 2lbs
Cilantro, a small handful, roughly chopped
Preparation:
Peel, shell and devein the prawns, set aside
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat
Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent but do not allow to colour
Add the garlic and the ginger and lower heat to medium low
Add the spices and cook for a few minutes, add a drop of water if it starts to burn
Pour in the coconut cream and tomato purée
Stir in the prawns and cook for a few minutes more until they turn pink – take care not to overcook them or they’ll become tough
Sprinkle on the cilantro and serve immediately
Serve with basmati rice or naan bread (or both)
Enjoy!
cindy knoke said:
Oh this looks yummy and visually appealing. I just a fresh vegetable curry with basically the same ingredients and it turned out very nicely served with Pilau Rice and potato somosas
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Nadia said:
I love samosas but always seem to struggle to get them to hold together well.
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Karen said:
Looks scrumptious
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Nadia said:
Thank you. We did enjoy it.😃
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StefanGourmet said:
Great! It becomes harder and harder here to get wild caught shrimp, and fresh (rather than thawed) is even harder. This is a great way to prepare them. I like to marinate the shrimp for an hour or so with the spices.
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Nadia said:
I find wild caught shrimp very easily at my local weekly market but it is often cooked first in France. I now order it and get what I need.
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StefanGourmet said:
Here the wild-caught shrimp is tiny (crevettes grises) and boiled immediately on board in seawater.
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Nadia said:
What a pity.
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Osyth said:
Scrummy! I haven’t investigated seafood here in Grenoble as yet …. when I find some that I am willing to buy I will certainaly consider this as a way of cooking it – it looks simply delicious!
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Nadia said:
The seafood here is very good. Maybe not as much choice as on the coast but better than in Paris, at least at my local fishmonger in the market.
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Osyth said:
In Cantal on a Friday you can get lucky at market but in honesty it is hit and miss – the culture is not geared at all to fish and seafood though they get very excited when our village jumelé come to stay bringing oysters (the village is in the 44) …. it will be interesting to find out if Grenoble is more Dordogne or more Paris – I’ll let you know!
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Nadia said:
Have you moved from the Cantal to Grenoble?
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Osyth said:
No – we are here for 6 months whilst my husband does a piece of work at his old Institut. We are tracking back and forth to Cantal whenever we get opportunity (like this last weekend) to work on our Maison Catastrophe (!) He lived here throughout the 80s and we are very familiar with the city since he generally visits IRAM a couple of times a year but this is the first time I have lived in any city for 30 years … it’ll be interesting!
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Nadia said:
Enjoy! I believe it is a lovely city.
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Osyth said:
I’ve always been fond of it and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to really discover it for a while happy 😊
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chef mimi said:
Looks wonderful. Of course, I could probably eat curried shoe soles!
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Nadia said:
Oh good, another curry fan.
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chefkreso said:
Lovely presentation, looks really yummy, would love to try it right now!
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Nadia said:
You will have to make it very soon then.
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jmaux said:
With boulangerie in Le Bugue sells nanny? Do tell!
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