Prawns Masala Curry, Kolambi Masala, Jhinga Masala

I have always loved seafood especially cooked the Goan or Malvani way. After checking a few blogs and trying out a few recipes I still did not get to the taste I wanted. Then recently, I found this recipe here. I did not follow this recipe as is and made a few changes which I was quick to jot down, lest I forget it the next time I want to make it. I added a few ingredients to the marinade and masala powder and left some out later in the recipe. And now, I think I have my perfect Prawn Masala Curry.

 

So this time when I got tiger prawns at the fish vendor I decided I was going to cook my fave recipe - Kolambi / Prawn Masala. The masalas in this curry tend to dominate the curry so use shrimps or medium sized prawns so that its flavor can compete with the spices.

Ingredients
Tiger Prawns / Kolambi / Jhinga - 15-20 peeled, deveined
Onion / Kaanda / Pyaz - 1
Tomato / Tamatar - 1
Red Chilli / Mirchi powder - 1tsp (optional)
Kokum - 1 petal (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Coriander / Dhaniya leaves - 1 tbsp.
Marinade:
Red chili / Mirchi powder - 1tsp
Pepper / Kali miri powder - 1/4tsp
Ginger / Adrak - 1inch
Garlic / Lehsun - 4 cloves
Tamarind / Imli - 1/2tsp
Salt
Masala powder
Coriander / Dhaniya seeds - 1.5tbsp
Cumin / Jeera - 1tsp
Green Cardamom / Chhoti elaichi - 4
Black Cardamom / Badi elaichi - 2
Cloves / Lavang - 5
Cinnamon / Dalchini - 1inch
Star Anise Chakri - 1.5
Fennel / Saunf - 1/2sp
Grind to paste
Coconut / Nariyal grated - 4 tablespoon
Onion / Pyaaz sliced - 1
Oil / Tel- 1tsp

Wash the prawns, pat dry and keep in a bowl. Grind the ingredients for the marinade - ginger, garlic, tamarind, red chili powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt. Apply the marinade paste to the prawns and keep aside.

Heat a pan and dry roast the whole spices individually. Use only the seeds of the green and black cardamom and discard the peel. Once all spices are roasted, grind them to a powder and keep aside.

Now prepare the paste - Heat 1 teaspoon of oil and sauté the onions till soft and translucent. Then add the grated coconut and fry it till light brown. Take it off the stove and once it is cool grind it to a paste with very little water. 

In the same pan add the prawns with the marinade and sear on both sides. Keep aside.

Then heat the remaining oil and fry the onions till soft and light brown. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry well till the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Add the coconut-onion paste and fry for few minutes till you see oil leaving the sides and it becomes one mass.

Add the masala powder to this and fry for a minute or two. Then add the seared prawns to this and sauté for a minute to mix it all. Add half a cup of water and let it boil. Check if a petal of kokum is needed, most likely it may not be needed since the marinade has tamarind. Also check for salt and heat and add if needed. Check if the prawns are done. Garnish with coriander leaves and it is ready to be served. It goes well with both chapati and rice.

Prawns Masala

 

This recipe goes to "Side dish mela", hosted by cooking4allseasons.