Annabel Langbein’s Coconut Tamarind Prawns

Curry in a hurry is the best way to describe this delicious recipe of Annabel Langbein. We made this on Sunday and it was so good and easy that I will add this to my standard cooking repertoire for the weekdays. The depth of flavor was so intense that you would expect this recipe to be very complex and time consuming, but it wasn’t at all. You can get this ready in 40 minutes (including making your own curry paste!), so very suitable for making after work.

Tamarind is one of my new favorite ingredients of 2019. I rarely cook with tamarind, but I have used it twice in the past month. It gives such a nice subtle sour taste which is ideal for Asian recipes. You can easily buy tamarind pulp or concentrate in any Asian supermarket and use it in South and South East Asian recipes. This is a recipe for 4p.

Ingredients

1 kg large black tiger prawns (I bought mine frozen- be sure to clean and de-vein)
5 baby bok choy
400 gram rice, cooked as per package instructions (start with the rice first)

Curry

1 large onion, peeled and quartered
6 cloves garlic, peeled
4cm ginger
2 long red chilli, deseeded (original recipe contained 1, but I like it spicy)
½ cup desiccated coconut
1/4 cup tamarind concentrate
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin (original recipe had less coriander and more cumin, but I like the proportions reversed)
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp neutral oil
4 tomatoes, cored and diced
400g can coconut milk (original recipe contained cream which I find too rich)
1 cup water
salt and ground black pepper

To garnish

coriander leaves

Method

Start with the Coconut Tamarind Sauce. Roast the whole spices and grind them in a pestle and morter (the original recipe contains ground spices,but you get more flavor by roasting them and grinding them fresh). Add the spices (including the turmeric) to a food processor and add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli, dessicated coconut and tamarind concentrate. Blend to make a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a wok on medium heat and fry the curry paste for 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the tomatoes, coconut milk and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. I added quite some salt as the acidity of the tamarind neutralizes the salt. After 15 minutes add the prawns and cook for 4 minutes and add the bok choy last and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.