Goan Prawn Vindaloo

Friday night was, as it often is, curry night. I guess it harks back to the days when I used to go out on a Friday night and come home grabbing a phone for that takeaway. But these days I prefer to make it myself. If you get up a good collection of spices (my spice drawer is literally overflowing) by buying a new one a week or a month, you can make any curry you like.

Here I have used cooked frozen prawns as we had some in the freezer, but you can use fresh ones. Either way, ensure you don't marinade the prawns in the vinegar based marinade for more than 30 minutes, or they tend to make them go tough if marinated too long.

Ingredients:

2 inch piece cinnamon stick
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2 dried bay leaves
1/4 tsp. black peppercorns
1/4 tsp. fenugreek seeds

3 tbsp. red wine vinegar or plain white vinegar
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 inch piece of ginger, chopped finely
1 tbsp. paprika
½ tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. salt

350g cooked prawns

4-5 dried Kashmiri chillies
3 whole cloves
1 onion, chopped finely
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. butter
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
3 pods of green cardamom, seeds only1 dried bay leaf
few curry leaves, crumbled
1-2 tsp. sugar

Place the first five ingredients (cinnamon, cumin, bay, peppercorns & fenugreek) into a dry frying pan. Toast for a few minutes until fragrant. Then tip into a hand blender and grind to a powder. Put into a bowl and add the next 6 ingredients to the spice mix (vinegar, garlic, ginger, paprika, turmeric & salt). Stir well. Add the prawns and marinade for 30 minutes.

Put the dried chillies and the whole cloves into a hand blender and blend to a powder, set to one side.

Fry the onion in the oil and butter until translucent. Add the ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, bay leaf, curry leaves and the ground dried chilli mix and cook gently, covered, for a further 10 minutes. Add the prawns and any marinade and combine with the onion mix. Pop a lid on the dish and cook on a low/medium heat for about 5 minutes until prawns are heated through. Taste and add the sugar to counteract any bitterness from the vinegar. Now its ready to serve with rice or naan breads. Enjoy!