Thai Style Prawn-Pepper Curry

Someone so rightly said that you don’t know what awaits you tomorrow. As a kid when studying about mount fuji or Hiroshima-nagasaki I never thought of visiting these places. More so as Japan is not a huge travel destination for us Indians. But when this opportunity came along I was a little apprehensive mostly because we just shifted home and the kid’s schools didn’t allow any more leave than the puja holidays. But am glad that we grabbed it and I must confess that am loving every minute of my stay here.

Every time I travel out of our country the thing that fascinates me the most is the freedom of movement. Which is almost unthinkable back home unless you have your own vehicle. But Japan is safe and has a method for everything. Its so easy to walk on the streets on Tokyo with a kid in a stroller, navigate in the city all alone or board a train to go anywhere my heart desires. Its all so safe with so many friendly people around. Wish things were a little easier for us back home.

Unborn children's garden at Zojoji temple.
Here rows of stone statues of children represent the unborn children of Japan, including miscarried, aborted and stillborn children. Parents can choose a statue in the garden and decorate it with small clothing and toys. Usually the statues are accompanied by a small gift for Jizō, the guardian of unborn children to ensure that they are brought to the afterlife. Occasionally stones are piled by the statue, this is meant to shorten the amount of suffering a child has to go through on the way to the afterlife. Wiki.

The only problem that seems pressing is the availability of familiar food. With CVS and lactose intolerance in the kid we cannot risk feeding him outside food especially most of the menus here are written in Japanese and is really difficult to find out what goes in the dish. And for that reason I have been cooking from day one. But Hubby and I are enjoying the restaurant food as much as possible. The Miso soups, hotpots or Nabe, bento meals and yakisoba tastes awesome and we look forward to try more of Japanese cuisine.

We had brought with us almost all the Indian spices in moderate quantities to survive till we find local sources. But as a food blogger I am using this opportunity to explore local ingredients too. Now that autumn is the best time for various types of mushrooms, am getting varieties of fungus to try. Will soon post some Japanese recipe but today I have a very quick and scrumptious Thai style Prawn curry which I made without the curry paste or the basic Thai curry ingredients like lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves. Try this and you will surely love this hot and spicy dish with a bowl of steamed rice.

Thai style Prawn and pepper curry

Ingredients:

Medium Prawns: 10-12 pieces

Green pepper: 4 pieces (I used small Japanese variety) or 2 medium capsicum

Coconut milk: ½ cup

For the curry sauce:

Onion: 1 medium (Indian variety) or equal amount

Garlic: 2 fat cloves

Ginger: 1/2 “ piece

Lemon: 1

Green chilli: 1

Red chili powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1/3 tsp

Salt

Oil: 2 tbsp

Method:

Peel and clean the prawns. Mix little salt and turmeric and keep aside. Do not throw away the prawn shells, as soon we will make a flavourful stock with that.

Take the washed prawn shells in a deep pot, add ¾ cup water to this and bring it to boil. Lower the heat, cover ad let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. Drain and reserve the stock. (I learnt this from my very talented blogger buddy Pree. This is a great way to intensify the prawn flavour).

In the mean time chop the onion really fine and make a paste of the ginger, garlic and green chili and red chili powder.

Also wash, de seed and cut the capsicum in thin strips.

Grate the lemon skin and Set aside.

Heat half of the oil in a pan and fry the prawns for 30 seconds on each side or till they turn opaque. Take out. In the same oil lightly sauté the pepper strips with a pinch of salt (max. for a minute) and set aside.

Heat the rest of the oil, add a pinch of lemon rind. Stir and add the chopped onion. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and sauté this on low flame till this turn golden and mushy (approx. 5-6 minutes). Add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder and cook for another 2-3 minutes till oil starts to separate on the sides.

Pour in the prawn stock and crank up the heat to bring it to a rapid boil. Add the rest of the lemon rind. Lower the heat and add the prawns, peppers and coconut milk. Mix everything and let it simmer on gentle heat for 2-3 minutes. Do not cover or you will loose the vibrant green colour of the peppers.

Once the prawns are cooked switch off the flame. Add 11/2 tsps of lemon juice, adjust the seasoning and serve hot.

A Homemaker’s Notes:

If you have red curry paste then use that instead of cooking the onion-ginger-garlic. just mix 11/2 tbsps of paste with ½ cup coconut milk and ½ cup prawn stock or regular water and follow the rest of the recipe.

for homemade Thai red curry recipe go HERE.

Make it vegan by using mushroom. Try using meaty varieties like button, shitake or king trumpet.

You can also add mushrooms in this recipe as this recipe which inspired me to cook mine.

I also added some Chinese mustard leaves the second time I cooked this curry. This adds a lot of fiber. To add leafy greens, chop them in medium chunks and add to the curry just before you switch off the heat. 

If you like add more sugar to adjust but the sweetness from coconut milk was enough for us to balance the gravy.

Tags:

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