Prawn Penang Curry
This is a great recipe which has saved me so many times when I’m short on time and energy. The paste makes enough for several servings of curry and freezes really well. I love prawns in a curry and they work particularly well with this aromatic, nutty, slightly spicy sauce, however this recipe is delicious with chicken too. It’s fresh, light, and healthy but still has a lovely nutty creaminess from the coconut and peanut butter. Palm sugar adds a caramel maple sweetness, lemongrass and galangal add more heat and aromatics and shrimp paste and fish sauce give the sauce umami depth. With just a few more storecupboard ingredients you’ve got yourself an authentic tasting curry in minutes.
Serves 2 (£3.71 per portion)
For the curry paste, place 8-10 dried red chillies, 5 cloves of peeled garlic, 2 chopped shallots, 2 sliced lemongrass stalks with the outer leaves removed, a thumb sized piece of galangal or ginger, 5 frozen kaffir lime leaves, a handful of coriander stalks, 1 tsp white pepper, 1/2 tsp shrimp paste or 2 anchovies, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 2 tbsps of paprika, 1/2 tsp turmeric, the zest of a lime, a splash of fish sauce and a pinch of cloves in a mini food processor. Add a splash of water or oil and blend until you have a paste consistency. Heat a wok or large frying pan over a medium/high heat. Add a splash of oil then add a finely sliced shallot and a thinly sliced red and yellow pepper. Fry for a few mins until the shallots are soft but not burnt. 2. Add 1 heaped tbsp of the curry paste along with 1 heaped tbsp of crunchy peanut butter. Stir for a minute or so until the paste starts to smell lovely and fragrant. 3. Slowly add 200ml of full-fat coconut milk, stirring all the time so the sauce doesn’t split. Then add half a finely sliced red chilli, a couple of crushed cardamom pods, a pinch of grated nutmeg, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1/2 tbsp of palm sugar or light brown sugar, 2 kaffir lime leaves and 150ml chicken stock. 4. Simmer gently for 15-20 mins, allowing all the flavours to infuse together (you can prepare the curry to this stage ahead of time and just do the next steps before serving). 5. Reheat the sauce when ready to serve and add 250g of raw prawns to cook through for a few minutes (you can use precooked prawns as well). Taste and add the juice of a lime or two (it may need more lime, fish sauce or palm sugar to balance all the flavours). 6. Stir in a handful of torn thai basil leaves and spoon into bowls. Serve with fluffy rice and top with a handful of peanuts, more thai basil and coriander.