Goan Prawn Curry (Southeast Asian Style)

One of my favourite things to eat in India was definitely Goan Prawn Curry. A mild, savoury coconut curry it reminded me quite a bit of Indonesian and Southeast Asian curries, and was absolutely addictive. Since I have not been able to find it nearby lately, I have been experimenting with making it on my own. But now that I've taken it into my own kitchen, I couldn't resist changing it up a little. What follows is a slightly tweaked version from WhiskAffair's Goan Prawn Curry: I whizzed all the spices along with the tomatoes in my version, because I wanted a smoother, yet thick curry, and I have added hard boiled eggs (which is the Southeast Asian touch), because I just find most coconut curries more satisfying with a hard boiled egg. Feel free to omit the eggs if you want to make it more authentic. Lastly, I have been eating it with Sambal oelek because I like a little extra kick, but didn't want to alienate anyone who doesn't love spice (another Southeast Asian touch). 

Goan Prawn Curry (Southeast Asian Style)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• For the spice paste:
• 1 tsp pepper corns or black pepper
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 8-10 dried kashmiri red chilies (or 3 tbsp kashmiri chili powder)
• 1 large onion (1 cup)
• 2-3 green chilies (optional)
• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• 1 cup fresh grated coconut (optional, can be substituted for extra coconut milk if you can't find it)
• 3 tbsp ginger garlic paste, or 5 cloves garlic & 1 inch fresh ginger
  
  
• For the curry:
• 500g fresh or frozen prawns 
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste, dissolved in 3 tbsp hot water (let sit for 10 min to steep and then strain)
• 10 fresh curry leaves (optional, but delicious if you can find them)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 hard boiled eggs, shells removed
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sambal oelek or other hot sauce to serve

Directions:

1. First, make the Spice paste: in a blender, grind the dry spices. Add the rest of the paste ingredients and blend until fully smooth. If you need to do this in smaller batches, you can do so, just be sure there is some tomato in each batch, as that adds some necessary liquid to help with blending. 
2. In a wok or dutch oven, heat 3 tbsp oil along with the spice paste. Bring to a simmer and cook until the spices no longer smell raw and the colour of the tomatoes has become a deeper, darker red (about 10 minutes)
3. Add the strained tamarind paste, turmeric powder, salt, curry leaves and coconut milk and bring back to a simmer
4. Add the prawns and cook through
5. Add the hard boiled eggs and season to taste with salt and pepper. The curry will likely not be too spicy, but you can add heat later with hot sauce
6. Serve with rice or flatbread and hot sauce. You can add some cucumbers as well if you want a little more vitamins.