prawn malai curry

Prawn

Prawn Malai Curry

This delicious, malai curry is so easy to make. The word malai means cream, but this curry gets its creaminess from coconut milk. This is a recipe from Bengal, which is famous for its seafood. Serve it with steamed basmati rice.

Ingredients

¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds
3 whole cloves
3 (1-inch) pieces cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 whole cloves
4 green cardamom pods
2 (1 1/2-inch) pieces stick cinnamon
1 onion, grated
1 ¼ teaspoons ginger paste
1 ¼ teaspoons garlic paste
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ cup finely chopped tomato
½ cup water
1 cup coconut milk
1 pound tiger prawns, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon ghee (clarified butter) (optional)

Directions

To prepare fresh garam masala, in a coffee grinder, grind cardamom seeds, 3 whole cloves, and 3 cinnamon sticks to a fine powder. Set aside.
Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add 4 whole cloves, 4 cardamom pods, and 2 sticks of cinnamon and fry for a few seconds (take care as cloves tend to pop out of the pan). Stir in grated onion and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook and stir until liquid dries and onion no longer smells raw, about 5 minutes. Add ginger paste and garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Stir in turmeric and cayenne pepper. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are soft, about 5 minutes. Pour in water, cover the pan, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Pour in coconut milk and stir well. When mixture is just below boiling, stir in prawns. Sprinkle mixture with almost all of the fresh garam masala powder, reserving a pinch to use as a garnish. Gently stir to combine. Do not cover the pan at this stage, as coconut milk will curdle.
As soon as prawns are pink and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes, add ghee. Remove the pan from the heat. Sprinkle reserved garam masala over the dish and serve.