Prawn Curry (Oriya Style)

Abhishek's friend Jorge was dropping in for lunch today. I got to know of this at 12 noon. I had only 1 hour to quickly cook something. He being from Goa - loves and eats sea-food very regularly, so I decided Prawns would be good. I had cooked and ready prawns (frozen) in my freezer so it was going to be no hassle. For a change to him, I thought of making the Oriya style Prawn curry. Some time back, I had eaten this prawn curry (for the first time), at an aunty's place (Kulu Mausi @ Columbia, MO) and I had really liked it. I had been waiting since then to make it. Finally it happened today!!!

Since I made it in such a hurry I haven't taken any pics of the steps. But then, its a pretty straight forward and easy curry, so you won't miss the pics :):)

P.S - May be next time I make this curry, I will take more pics and add in the missing bits.

What to use:

(Serves 4)

• Prawns – 1/2 kg (peeled / de-veined / de-tailed)

• Potato - 1 (large)

• Carrots - 1/2 cup

• Peas - 1 cup

• Onion - 1 (large)

• Tomato - 1 (large)

• Ginger-Garlic paste - 2-3 tsp

• Coriander powder - 1 tsp

• Cumin powder - 1 tsp

• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

• Curry powder - 1 tsp

• Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

• Green chillies - 2

• Mustard oil - 2 Tbsp

• Salt – To taste

How to make it:

• Chop that 1 large onion into small pieces.

• Take a kadhai (wok / pan) and put it on high heat till it warms up completely. Add the oil.

• Once the oil is warm, add the onions. Sauté them on medium heat till they are golden brown (semi cooked).

• Chop that large tomato into small chunks. Add them to the kadhai.

• Sauté the tomato along with the onion for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Keep it covered.

• Make a fresh paste out of 1/2 inch of ginger and 4-5 garlic pods. It should yield about 2-3 tbs of ginger-garlic paste.

• Add the ginger-garlic paste to the kadhai. Keep it covered and cook on medium heat for about another 5 minutes.

• In about 5 minutes, when the strong smell of the ginger-garlic paste is gone, add all the powders - coriander, cumin, turmeric, garam masala powder, curry. Mix well and set it sauté uncovered for about 2 minutes.

• Peel and chop the potato into small chunks (The size is all dependent on you, but mostly it should be complimentary to the size of the prawns you using. Just remember that smaller pieces will cook faster).

• Sprinkle a little water into the kadhai.Now add the potato. Mix well.

• Peel and chop the carrot into small sized pieces. Add to the kadhai. Mix well again.

• Add the peas to the kadhai now. Mix well and cover the kadhai. Cook for about 10 minutes. Keep mixing in between and all this while the heat is on medium.

• If you using cooked prawns then we can add them in a while. If you using raw prawns, sauté them on medium heat in a separate wok with 1-2 tsp oil. This is to be done before we add them to the kadhai of masala and vegetables.

• After we give 10 minutes to the Alu (potato) + Mutter (green peas) + Gajar (carrots) to cook with the masala / gravy, now is the turn to add the prawns (semi-cooked ones / slightly sautéed ones).

• Add salt according to your taste. Mix well and cover it. Give it another 5-7 minutes. (Since the prawns are already cooked / semi-cooked, we just need it to blend in well with the gravy / spices).

• You should be getting getting the lovely aromas by now and the curry should be looking nice reddish brown in colour with the burst of orange from carrot pieces and greens from the peas.

• Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water. Turn the heat to high and boil it uncovered for about 5 minutes.

• Switch off. Cover it and let it settle. It is all ready to be eaten in another 5-7 minutes.

It will go well with rice and dal. It makes a great combo with plain roti also.

Note - 

• I always use mustard oil while cooking prawns - the taste comes out definitely better, but you could use your normal cooking oil also.

• Nothing like fresh ginger-garlic paste. Canned/Bottled paste is also usable though.

• You need not weigh, about 20-30 pieces of prawns will do too. I used cooked frozen prawns. If you using fresh prawns fry them in a separate pan on medium heat (uncovered) for about 5-10 minutes. If you want you can keep the tails on - it's up to you.

• I used frozen peas, fresh green peas is all the more better.

• I took a few baby carrots (that's what I had) and used them after chopping them, 1 large carrot is all the same for use.

• Any brand of curry powder is good to use, just the normal curry powder (not like chole masala, chicken masala etc.).

• Any time you think the curry / masala is sticking to the bottom of the pan, just sprinkle little water and mix well.