3.8/5 rating (66 votes)

Tangy Tamarind Prawns

  • Heat Hot
  • Serves 4
  • Dietary Info LACTOSE-FREE
  • Prep 10 mins
  • Cook 40 mins

Spicy prawns cooked in a rich tangy tamarind tomato sauce. Great served with poori.

Hari says

I love this dish not only because it tastes fantastic but also because it's the first dish I cooked in my first cookery class for my first client and it went down a storm! Since then I know that this has become one of their dinner party specialities.

For me food is about sharing knowledge and love, and this dish has done all of that for me. It is a great tomato masala sauce lifted with the tang of tamarind, which provides an amazing freshness that works so well with the sweetness of the prawns.

  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • 500g fresh king prawns
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 200g tinned tomatoes (½ tin)
  • 1 tbsp ginger, grated
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 chilli, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp tamarind paste (alternatively a good squeeze of lemon juice)

Garnish

  • 1 tsp of garam masala
  • 2 fresh tomatoes, finely diced
  • Handful of chopped coriander

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds, when sizzling add the onion and garlic. Fry gently until golden brown.
  2. Once browned, reduce the heat and add the tinned tomatoes, ginger, turmeric, salt, chilli and tamarind paste. Increase the heat and stir so the tomatoes and onions melt together creating a thick masala sauce. 
  3. Once the sauce is shiny, add the prawns and stir to coat them with the sauce. Reduce the heat and cook through for a few minutes.
  4. Add in the fresh tomatoes, stir and cook for a minute then remove from the heat.
  5. Stir in the garam masala and throw in the coriander to add a beautiful freshness to the dish and serve.

Served with

The dish should be beautifully aromatic with the sauce clinging to the prawns.

This can only be served with poori, which are whole wheat flour rotis that are deep fried. I sometimes serve these as little canapés by making a tiny puri puff, using an espresso cup as a cutter. I fry the pooris and top each one off with a single prawn, a smidgen of sauce and a coriander leaf to finish it off - just beautiful.

Nutritional information

Typical values* per Serving
Calories77
Fat (g)3.4
of which saturates (g)0.3
Carbohydrates (g)2.5
of which sugars (g)2.0
Fibre (g)0.4
Protein (g)9.3
Salt (mg)0.90
*Based upon calculated values, supplied by myfitnesspal.com. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated.

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Comments

Comments (3)

  • Maggie

    03 January 2015 at 12:02 |
    tried this last night and it was excellent! I halved the amount of chilli fearing it would be too hot but I should have followed your instructions. I will next time, I promise!

    reply

  • Hari

    23 November 2014 at 08:44 |
    That's fantastic! I do love this dish. Really pleased you are enjoying the site too. Do watch the videos too and let me know what you think!

    reply

  • amy

    22 November 2014 at 13:54 |
    Great recipe! We made this for dinner and it just had the best flavor! Also I want to compliment the design of your website...best layout for recipes/ingredient lists that I have seen...

    reply

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