Sri-Lankan style prawn curry

I went to an Indian restaurant recently and had a lobster curry.  The most amazing aspect of this curry was just how delicious the curry sauce itself was.  It was hard to believe the few pieces of lobster served in the curry could give the curry sauce such depth of flavour.

So I started doing some research and realised to make seafood curry truly infused with seafood flavour then it will require more than just adding the seafood into the curry sauce at the end of the dish.  Bear in mind unlike using meats in a curry like you would beef or chicken, seafood requires minimal cooking otherwise it will become tough.  So then the question becomes how do you infuse a seafood curry sauce with the flavours? Quite simply it requires making a seafood bisque or stock and adding that to the curry sauce. Such a simple solution for something that adds so flavour to the dish!  

Below I demonstrate the process using an adaptation of a recipe from SBS.

Ingredients: 

• 15 green prawns, heads separated from the rest of the prawn 
• 2 sprigs of fresh curry leaves 
• ½ medium onion 
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced 
• 3 cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds 
• 5 cardamom pods 
• 1 cinnamon sticks 
• 2 tbsp ground cumin 
• 4 tbsp ground coriander 
• 1 tbsp chilli powder 
• 1 tbsp turmeric 
• 2 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1 red chili, sliced  
• 1 piece goraka (or a tablespoon of malt vinegar) 
• 1 pandan leaf, cut in a few pieces 
• 500ml light  coconut milk
• Salt to taste
• Coriander to serve 

Method:

1. Remove the heads from the prawns, reserving the heads. Remove the shells from the bodies leaving the tails intact.  

2. Heat some oil in a saucepan and add the curry leaves, onion, garlic and ginger. Fry until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the spices, chilli, goraka and pandan leaf.
4. Add the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer.

5. Meanwhile cover the reserved prawn heads in a saucepan with water and add a few sprigs of parsley. Cook until the water turns a pale yellow and the flavour appears to be infused.  Strain the mixture.

6. Add the stock to the coconut milk mixture and bring to the boil. Then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and add the prawns.

7. Cook until the prawns are opaque.  Add the coriander. 

8. Serve immediately with steamed rice or roti.