It's definitely brighter in the mornings, and there have been entire days of sunshine, so Spring must be around the corner. Which means it’s almost time to pack away the comfort food recipes for another six months and start eating lighter.
Rubbish!
Until then, this is the perfect ‘in-between-seasons' recipe. The curry is deliciously light and fresh and feels perfect for early Spring while still delivering that comfort factor. The mustard and cumin seeds add a lovely fragrant note that is a perfect complement to the fresh coriander. Frozen prawns (defrosted first) are fine, but it’s worth pressing your nose up against Something Fishy’s window to see if they have fresh ones in.
The original recipe (in a recentish issue of Waitrose Magazine) uses canned tomatoes but we found that substituting V8 juice instead added a whole other layer of spice and flavour, which is then tempered beautifully by the coconut milk. The curry's heat is down to how strong your red chilli is, so if you want to err on the side of caution then de-seed it before chopping and you can always add a wee bit of chilli powder while the tomato juice is simmering if you think it needs it. (I've read that you can cut the tip off a red chilli and place it against your tongue to check its heat, but I've never been brave enough.)
Serves 2. Takes 25 mins to prepare, 20 mins to cook.
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 white onion, diced
small bunch of coriander (28g bag), stalks and leaves separated
½ red chilli, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
15g fresh ginger, grated
300ml V8 juice (or canned chopped tomatoes)
½ tbsp garam masala
300ml coconut milk
235g raw king prawns, de-veined
The trick to this dish for me is doing all the chopping/crushing/grating/de-veining work before you start cooking. Sorting the prawns takes a bit of time but nobody wants to eat the 'poop chute'. (Sorry!) The tip of a paring knife works a charm, but I find that a toothpick is even easier for teasing out that nasty dark thread. Pop the de-veined prawns into a bowl of ice-cold water and then into the fridge until you're ready to use them. Then finely chop the coriander stalks, dice the onion, mince the garlic, finely chop the red chilli and grate the ginger. (If you freeze your ginger beforehand it makes grating it much easier.)
1. Heat the oil in a large wok or sauté pan over a medium-high heat before adding the mustard and cumin seeds. Cook until they start to pop.
2. Add the onions to the popping seeds and turn the heat down to medium before cooking for a further 3–5 minutes, or until the onions are golden.
3. Add the finely chopped coriander stalks to the pan with the chilli, garlic and ginger, and cook for another 7 minutes.
4. Tip in the V8 juice (or canned tomatoes) and season before cooking for 5 minutes, by which time the sauce should have reduced and be a bit paste-like (you should start to see the oil separate). Then stir in the garam masala and the coconut milk, and taste for seasoning.
5. Pat the prawns dry with kitchen paper and add them to the sauce. Cook for about 3–4 minutes, until the prawns turn pink.
6. Serve on rice and scatter all over with coriander leaves.
There are plenty more recipes, tasty tips and foodie thoughts on Fiona Booth's own blog at www.fifigoesnom.com/