Prawn Karahi – Tomato Based
- 500 grams Prawns
- 1/2 teaspoons Turmeric
- 3 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder
- 4 tablespoons Ginger (finely chopped)
- 4 tablespoons Garlic (finely chopped)
- 3/4 teaspoons Salt
- 1/2 cups Ghee
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
- 2 teaspoons Cumin powder
- 8 Medium sized tomatoes (Blanched and pureed)
- 1" piece Ginger (Julienne)
- 1/4 cups Cilantro leaves (chopped)
- 2 Green chillies (Split)
- 2-2.5 cups Water
- 1 cup Chicken stock
Devein, wash and pat dry prawns. Measure 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, 1 tbsp chopped ginger, 1 tbsp chopped garlic, 3/4 tsp of salt. Sprinkle over prawns and rub. Keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile boil water in a saucepan. Once water comes to a boil, add 8 tomatoes and cook until skin bursts. Take out tomatoes with a slotted spoon and immerse in a bowl of cold water. Drain, peel the skin, chop roughly and blend in a mixer.
Heat a kadai, add 3 tbsp of ghee and fry prawns. Keep aside.
Now in the same kadai, add 3 tbsp more of ghee. Add the rest of the chopped ginger and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Now add the spice powders and saute for 2 minutes. Add tomato puree. Cook until oil starts to leave the sides of the pan. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of fresh chicken stock or water several times.
Do not skip this step. Cooking the tomato gravy until oil starts to leave the sides of the pan is crucial in this recipe. This gives the dish its flavour. Once the gravy reduces, deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup water or stock and cook until the gravy is thick. Then repeat the process one or two times. And once the tomato gravy is thick and water has evaporated fully, add 2 tbsp of ghee and cook until oil leave the sides.Add 1.5 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add fried prawns and simmer for 10 minutes. Add more water or stock to achieve the desired consistency.
Garnish coriander leaves, julienned ginger and split green chillies.
Prawns - 1 kg of prawns yields 500 gms after cleaning. Use fresh water prawns for best results. Clean and devein the prawns thoroughly before marinating.
Ginger and garlic - Used finely chopped Indian ginger and garlic for maximum flavour.
Tomato puree - I prefer to substitute half quantity of blanched and pureed fresh tomatoes with storebought strained tomatoes. Puree from 4 blanched tomatoes and 200 gms of strained tomatoes tin or pack for rich tomato gravy.
Cumin powder - Dry roast cumin until slightly warm and powder in a dry grinder. Use freshly ground cumin powder for max flavour. Ground cumin can be stored at room temperature in a clean, dry jar for months. But for best results, I prefer to use cumin for 3 weeks.
Spiciness - Add max green chillies to make it more spicy. Or substitute 1 tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder with 1 tsp of regular chilli powder.
Fresh chicken stock - Can be added with deglazing the pan. Substitute 1 cup of water with 1 cup of chicken stock.