Prawn Malai Curry - Chingri Malaikari

Prawn Malai Curry is one of my favourite prawn preparations. Both my mother and sister in law cook this delicacy superbly. Each morsel of rice mixed with this coconut flavoured gravy is pure bliss and as you put your teeth into the soft fleshy prawns, all the effort gone into preparing this is compensated by that first mouthful.

Ingredients:

6 pieces of tiger prawns

1 large sized onion (made into paste)

1 tsp ginger paste

1 cup of coconut milk (I used canned coconut milk which is thicker in consistency, so I took 1 cup. If you extract fresh coconut juice then you may measure out 2 cups)

5-6 green chillies (made into paste)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp nutmeg powder (optional)

salt to taste

white oil for cooking

For phoron (sauting)

1 bay leaf, 3 cardamoms, 3 cloves, 1 inch piece cinnamon

Method:

1) Rub salt and turmeric on the prawns.

2) Heat oil in a frying pan. When oil becomes piping hot, shallow fry the prawns till they turn golden in color. Take them off the heat and keep aside.

3) Add the ingredients for sauting and saute till they start crackling.

4) Add onion paste and green chillies paste. Carmelize them for 1-2 minutes. Then add ginger paste, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and nutmeg powder. Saute on medium heat for 5 minutes.

5)  Add salt and coconut milk. Add water for good measure and bring the gravy to a boil.

6) When gravy will be bubbling up, slide in the prawns and cook covered for 10 minutes till prawns turn tender.

7) Serve hot with rice.