KING PRAWN & INTENSELY SWEET TOMATOE BHUNA
AuthorHungry HijabiCategoryBengali Classics, Fantastic Fish, Latest, Recipe“Conjure the fresh flavours of Bangladesh with this super-simple king prawn bhuna – it's a real crowd-pleaser. ”. ...
PREPARE THE PRAWNS: You can choose to shell all the trans, or keep the shells on. I like to go 50-50. The shells are where ALL the flavour are so as i am not making a separate stock i like to use this method. It also allows easy eating for the hungry who do not like to shell whilst eating. BUT you must devein all the shells.... (poop out all the prawns). You can do this easily by using a knife and gently scoring it on the back of the prawn and pulling out a long string of vein and discard it.
Give the prawns a good rinse and drain and dry.
Marinate the prawns in kashmiri power, turmeric and half a teaspoon of salt and set aside.
THE SAUCE: In a clay pot, or frying pan or wok heat the oil.
Once the oil is hot but not smoking on a medium flame, add in all the whole spices: cumin seeds, nigella seeds and coriander seeds salt. Brown the spices very quickly.
Very quickly add the sliced onions with the remaining salt and sugar (optional).
Start to caramalise your onions. Do not be tempted to mash or break up the onions. This process can take up to 15 minutes.
Once softened and golden, add the garlic and ginger. I like to add it at this stage as the flavour and intensity of the garlic and ginger stays in the curry and it also adds the freshness and heat. stir and cook for a further five minutes.
SPICES: Its time to add the spices. I like to add the spices one at a time and giving it a good 30 second stir in the hot pan before i add the next spice. The first spice i add is the chilli powder. The second spice i add is the curry powder and finally the coriander power. Doing it in stages ensures each spice is thoroughly cooked and also gives the curry its lovely deep red earthy colour.
Along with spices add the sweet tomatoes paste. This will encourage the dish to be sweet and the spices not to burn or become bitter.
The next 10 minutes i like to let the spices cook and intermittently i add the water gradually after every 2minutes so it does not burn.
Simultaneously whilst the spices cook i heat up ghee in a tawa (or frying pan) and start to fry and crisp up the king prawns. This is my mothers technique in adding a charcoaled flavoured taste to the prawns.
Once the prawns are fried and the spices have been fully cooked i add the prawns to the sauce and mix it thoroughly so the flavours combine for the final five minutes.
Throw in the vine tomatoes. These will not be cooked for too long, maximum five minutes.
Finally add in the garnish: the coriander and the chillies and turn off the flame completely after two minutes.
Serve immediately with hot white basmati rice alternatively mop it up with some roti/ naan.
Ingredients
Directions
PREPARE THE PRAWNS: You can choose to shell all the trans, or keep the shells on. I like to go 50-50. The shells are where ALL the flavour are so as i am not making a separate stock i like to use this method. It also allows easy eating for the hungry who do not like to shell whilst eating. BUT you must devein all the shells.... (poop out all the prawns). You can do this easily by using a knife and gently scoring it on the back of the prawn and pulling out a long string of vein and discard it.
Give the prawns a good rinse and drain and dry.
Marinate the prawns in kashmiri power, turmeric and half a teaspoon of salt and set aside.
THE SAUCE: In a clay pot, or frying pan or wok heat the oil.
Once the oil is hot but not smoking on a medium flame, add in all the whole spices: cumin seeds, nigella seeds and coriander seeds salt. Brown the spices very quickly.
Very quickly add the sliced onions with the remaining salt and sugar (optional).
Start to caramalise your onions. Do not be tempted to mash or break up the onions. This process can take up to 15 minutes.
Once softened and golden, add the garlic and ginger. I like to add it at this stage as the flavour and intensity of the garlic and ginger stays in the curry and it also adds the freshness and heat. stir and cook for a further five minutes.
SPICES: Its time to add the spices. I like to add the spices one at a time and giving it a good 30 second stir in the hot pan before i add the next spice. The first spice i add is the chilli powder. The second spice i add is the curry powder and finally the coriander power. Doing it in stages ensures each spice is thoroughly cooked and also gives the curry its lovely deep red earthy colour.
Along with spices add the sweet tomatoes paste. This will encourage the dish to be sweet and the spices not to burn or become bitter.
The next 10 minutes i like to let the spices cook and intermittently i add the water gradually after every 2minutes so it does not burn.
Simultaneously whilst the spices cook i heat up ghee in a tawa (or frying pan) and start to fry and crisp up the king prawns. This is my mothers technique in adding a charcoaled flavoured taste to the prawns.
Once the prawns are fried and the spices have been fully cooked i add the prawns to the sauce and mix it thoroughly so the flavours combine for the final five minutes.
Throw in the vine tomatoes. These will not be cooked for too long, maximum five minutes.
Finally add in the garnish: the coriander and the chillies and turn off the flame completely after two minutes.
Serve immediately with hot white basmati rice alternatively mop it up with some roti/ naan.