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–+ servings

Prawn Karahi Masala

Prawn Karahi is a delicious prawn curry cooked in an aromatic tomato, ginger and garlic based gravy. This quick and easy recipe is a godsend of a weeknight dinner!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 3
4.61 from 82 votes
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Ingredients

  • 0.5 cup (125 ml) oil or ghee
  • 2 heaped tablespoon minced garlic preferably fresh
  • 2 heaped tablespoon minced ginger preferably fresh
  • 4 medium sized (450 g) tomatoes fresh or tinned, pureed in a blender
  • 1.1 lb (½ kg) raw prawns
  • 4 fresh green chillies halved

Spices

  • 1.5 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 3 teaspoon paprika or Kashmiri red chilli powder (essential for the colour)
  • 0.5 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 0.5 teaspoon kalonji black seeds
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder

Garnishes

  • half a bunch chopped coriander
  • 2 green chillies quartered
  • fresh ginger cut into matchstick slices as much as desired
  • 1 teaspoon kalonji *onion seeds)

Instructions

  • Heat the oil in a pan, wok or pot. Once the oil is hot, flash fry the prawns for one minute. Set aside
  • In the same oil, add in the minced ginger and garlic and fry for 2 minutes
  • Add all the spices and green chillis. Fry for a minute
  • Add the tomatoes. Cook this on high heat, stirring. Allow this to cook for 5-10 minutes, until the gravy is thick and you can see oil separating around the edge of the pan. You'll also see a lot of holes bubbling in the gravy. This is ideal!
  • Once the gravy is ready, add back the prawns and continue to cook this on high for a further 5 minutes (7-8 minutes for jumbo prawns)
  • Your prawn karahi is ready! Garnish with freshly chopped coriander, matchstick-cut ginger, kalonji seeds and green chillis.

Notes

If you don't intend to serve your prawn karahi immediately, do not add in the garnishes. Garnishes should be added just before serving.
Please keep in mind, the longer the green chillis sit in the curry the longer they will have to infuse their heat into the masala. If you do not want a super hot curry, do not allow the green chillis to infuse for long or reduce the number of green chillis added
I have used paprika/Kashmiri red chilli powder due to its vibrant colour and mild flavour. The green chillis should do the job of adding heat to the curry. If you feel it isn't hot enough for you, feel free to increase the red chili powder in the curry.

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