Prawn and pumpkin curry
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- + marinating
- A little effort
- Serves 4
Skip to ingredients
Ingredients
- 24 large raw tiger prawns, peeled and de veined, tails left on
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 lemon, juiced
- vegetable oil
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
- 100g baby leaf spinach
- to serve steamed basmati
CURRY PASTE
- 3 tbsp tamarind paste
- 3 shallots, chopped
- 1 small tomato, chopped
- 70g ginger, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 green chilli, deseeded and chopped
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp ground fenugreek
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tbsp ground coriander
- 400ml coconut milk
SAUCE BASE
- 700g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into rough chunks
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 200g shallots, finely diced
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 2 small tomatoes, diced
TARKA
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 15 curry leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
Method
- STEP 1
Toss the prawns with the chilli, turmeric, lemon juice, 3 tbsp veg oil and 1 tsp sea salt and chill for 2 hours.
- STEP 2
For the curry paste, whizz the ingredients, with 100ml warm water, in a blender.
- STEP 3
To make the sauce base, heat the oven to 220c/fan 200c/gas 7. Toss the pumpkin in a little vegetable oil and the whole cumin seeds. Bake for 15-20 minutes until tender.
- STEP 4
Put a large pan over a high heat, add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and cook the shallot until lightly browned. Add the turmeric, cumin and coriander and cook for a further minute. Add the tomato, stir and then stir in the curry paste. Season with sea salt.
- STEP 5
To make the tarka, heat another 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a separate pan until very hot. Add the mustard seeds and fenugreek and stand back while they pop. After a few seconds, add the curry leaves, garlic and red onion. Sizzle for 30 seconds and then add to the main sauce.
- STEP 6
Add the baked pumpkin to the sauce, cover and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. You can prep-ahead up to this point. When you’re ready to serve, reheat gently then add the marinated prawns, continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes until the prawns are just cooked. Finally, add the baby spinach and stir into the sauce. Remove the pan from the heat as the spinach will wilt very quickly.
