Indonesian Style Curry Prawns

I was flipping through my old handwritten recipe book last Sunday and I found an old piece of  folded newsprint. I opened it and saw this beautiful pictures of prawns cooked in 3 different style by Amy Beh. I used to keep recipes by her when she writes for The Star Nook's Corner. What caught my attention was this Indonesian Style Curry Prawns.  I knew I had to cook it.  I would have cooked it last Sunday if I had prawns in the freezer.  So when I finally bought some sea prawns , I gathered kaffir lime leaves, galanggal and curry leaves  from my lil space and cooked this beautiful dish.  The curry is so aromatic and so flavorful that hubby asked me to cook this dish again.  It is easy to prepare and I don't mind cooking this dish again.  This Indonesian style curry , you can can substitute crabs in place of prawns, it will taste good too. I am so gonna try cooking crab this style when I get some mud crabs.  This is keeper for sure.

ingredients for making this Indonesian style curry prawns

 

saute dried prawns, curry leaves and lemongrass 

with oil till fragrant

 

once the lemongrass , curry leaves

and  dried prawns are fragrant,

add in the ground spices and

stir fry till fragrant

 

add coconut milk and fresh milk to the spices,

then add in the sea prawns and cooked till the gravy thicken

 and the prawns are cooked....mmmm

it is so aromatic

Indonesian Style Curry Prawns -  Amy Beh (Cook's Nook - 30March 2010)

Ingredients:

400 gm freshwater prawns * I used med sized sea prawns - feelers trimmed
4-5 tbsp oil
1 Kafir lime leaf - shredded
100ml thick coconut milk
50 ml fresh milk

Spice Mix (A)
2 stalks lemongrass - smashed
2 tbsp dried prawns - soaked and coarsely chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves, torn
1 stalk curry leaves

Ground spices (B)
4 shallots
2 cloves garlic
3 red chillies - seeded
5 dried chillies, soaked
1/2 tsp turmeric powder * I used fresh turmeric
2 slices galangal
1 tbsp meat curry powder- mixed with enough water into a paste

Seasoning
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar or to taste
1/2 anchovy stock granules

Method:
Heat oil and saute spice mix(A) until fragrant. Add ground spices (B) and fry until aromaltic and oil separates.  Pour in coconut milk and fresh milk, and add the prawns and seasoning. Cover and simmer for 1-2 minutes or until prawns are cooked and the sauce thickens. Dish out and serve with a sprinkling of shredded kaffir lime leaves.

Enjoy !

Pan Fried Turmeric Chicken With Curry Leaves

With so much homegrown turmeric from my lil space, I used them all in my cooking ..Nyonya Acar, Pan Fried Chicken and the rest, I made ground paste for Assam curry etc which can be kept in the freezer for months before the next batch of turmeric is ready for harvest :)  It takes 9 months before I can harvest the next load, well , nothing comes easy but worth the waiting though. This dish is so simple and yet so flavorful.  I added homegrown curry leaves for extra oomph . Hubby Wild Boar loves this dish and I can cook this often for him if I am too lazy to try out new recipe. He doesn't mind eating tumeric fried stuff which makes homecooking so much easier at times :p  I prefers pounding the turmeric and spices using my inherited mortar and pestle from my dearest Mom than using a blender.  Nothing beats convention methods when it comes to cooking.  No short cuts if you want your food to taste really good.

 pound the turmeric, black pepper and shallots together 

for better taste

 marinade the chicken pieces overnight

or for at least 2 hours for a really good marinated flavor

add cornflour to the marinated pieces 5 mins

before pan frying for extra crispness

pan fried till cooked and crisps at edges

add then curry leaves 5 mins before dishing up

Pan Fried Turmeric Chicken With Curry Leaves
(for 2 persons)

1/2 chicken with or without skin - cut into pieces and drain off excess water

marinade paste - pound together the marinade ingredients

a few pieces of fresh turmeric - scrap off skin and sliced
1 tsp of black peppercorn
3 shallots- sliced

a tsp of salt and sugar to taste
1 tbsp of cornflour
a sprig of curry leaves - wash and drain dry

Method:

1.Cut the 1/2 chicken into pieces , drain off excess water before adding marinade paste, salt and sugar

2. Marinate the chicken overnight or at least 2 hours before pan frying. Add corn flour 5 minutes before frying.

3. Heat up  a non stick deep pan , add a tbsp of rice bran oil and pan fried till chicken pieces are crispy at the edges and cooked through.  Add curry leaves , 5 minutes before dishing up for extra oomph.

4. Dish up and serve with rice.

Enjoy!