Culinary Hotline - 20 April 2022
Chef Clem solves your culinary conundrums.
Serves: 4-6
Time: 40-45 minutes
Recipe by: Clem Pedro
Ingredients:
Butter Prawn Curry
For the prawns:
1kg large prawns, with the shells and heads still on
(if you aren’t a fan of shelling prawns go for the already shelled prawns, but I always use them unshelled, the flavor is just so much more intense.
2 Tbsp ground coriander
2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground cayenne pepper
4 Tbsp garlic and ginger paste
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the curry sauce:
4 Tbsp canola oil
2 red onions, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
10-15 fresh curry leaves
2 Tbsp mustard seeds (black or yellow)
2 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp turmeric
5 cardamom pods, crushed
1 Tbsp ground cayenne pepper
2 green chills, split
4 Tbsp garlic and ginger paste
1L tomato passata sauce
2 Cups (500ml) plain yoghurt
6 Tbsp roughly chopped coriander, 3 Tbsp for garnishing
4 Tbsp butter, 2 Tbsp for afterwards
For the Date Candies:
1/4 Cup pistachios
1/4 Cup almonds
1/4 Cup cashews
2 Tbsp white sesame seeds
2 Cups dates, pitted, roughly chopped
½ Tbsp ghee
¼ Cup golden saltanas
¼ tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp vanilla paste
½ tsp flaked salt
Method:
For the Butter Prawn Curry:
Preheat oven to 220°C. Add the prawns to a large roasting dish before coating them with the spices, garlic and ginger paste and seasoning. Place in the oven to roast for 10-15 minutes or until the shells are slightly charred but not too black.
For the curry: Heat a large pot or pan with the oil. Add the onions and season with salt to help them soften and caramelise. Once evenly browned add the curry leaves and mustard seeds allowing them to pop and toast for about 1 minute. Add the spices and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute before adding chills, garlic and ginger paste. Cook while stirring to combine before adding the pasta sauce and yoghurt. Add the coriander and 4 T butter and stir slowly to incorporate into the curry.
Reduce the heat slightly and simmer for about 10 minutes. Using a hand blender, blend the curry until a smooth sauce is formed.
Add the roasted prawns and any sauce from the bottom of the roasting dish. Stir through the curry sauce and simmer for 5 minutes before adding the butter and remaining coriander and giving a final stir. Serve with steamed rice or warm roti.
For the Date Candies:
Roughly chop the nuts and toast in a dry pan until they just begin to brown slightly, then add the sesame seeds and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from the pan and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium/low
Add the dates and ghee to the pan along with the saltanas, cook for a few minutes allowing the dates and raising to soften before returning the nuts and sesame seeds to the pan. Mix to combine then remove from the pan and add the vanilla and flaked salt.
Allow the mixture to cool enough that it can be handled then add to cling wrap in a roughly sausage like shape. Roll the cling wrap up, twisting the ends to seal the mixture inside and form the perfect sausage shape.
Place the date sausage in the fridge to set and cool completely, about 3 hours then slice into disks before serving. A pastry knife dipped In hot water makes slicing this delicious treat effortless.