King Prawn Balti Curry Recipe

King prawn Balti curry fakeaway served with naan bread.

King Prawn Balti Curry Recipe

I grew up in the same place and roughly at the same time as the Balti curry and whilst the dish is named after the bowl that it is both cooked and eaten from. My prawn version embraces the flavours from the 70's & 80's whilst taking an alternative and more practical approach to the single bowl cooking and eating experience.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Anglo Indian

Keyword king prawn balti, prawn balti, Prawn Curry Recipe, shrimp curry

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

Servings Servings

Calories 542kcal

Author Brian Jones

Ingredients

For the Balti Sauce:

100 g Onion ⅔ Cup
½ Red Bell Pepper
4 Garlic Cloves
15 g Ginger ½ Thumb-Sized Piece
3 Red Chilli Peppers Go as hot or mild as you like
2 tablespoon Mustard Oil
6 Curry Leaves
½ teaspoon Onion Seeds
½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds
3 Cardamom Pods
2 Cloves
½ teaspoon Ground Turmeric
⅛ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Dried Fenugreek Leaves
2 tablespoon Tomato Puree
1 teaspoon White Vinegar
250 ml Water 1 Cup
¼ teaspoon Salt

For the Prawn Curry:

350 g King Prawns 12oz (Shelled)
2 tablespoon Ghee
50 g Onion ⅓ Cup
½ Red Bell Pepper
1 Medium Tomato 100g
75 ml Water ⅓ Cup
½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Jaggery
½ tablespoon Garam Masala
½ tablespoon Dried Fenugreek Leaves

Instructions

Make the Balti Sauce:

Peel the onion for the Balti sauce and chop into a 1cm (½") dice.
Cut the half of the red pepper for the sauce into a 1.5-2cm (½-3/4") dice.
Peel and roughly chop the garlic and ginger.
Cut the stems from the red chillies and roughly chop them. If you are worried about the heat, remove the seeds and membranes.
Heat a wok over high heat and when it is shimmering hot, add the mustard oil, let it sit for 15 seconds, then carefully toss in the onion, red pepper and red chilli peppers and stir fry for 3-4 minutes until everything gets a nice colour.
Throw in the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute or two, taking care not to burn the garlic.
Turn the heat down to medium and remove the wok from the heat.
When the wok has cooled (30 seconds or so) a little, add the curry leaves, onion seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom pods and cloves and begin to stir-fry. After 30 seconds, return the wok to a medium heat and cook for another minute, stirring continuously.
Add the turmeric, nutmeg, and fenugreek leaves and cook for another minute, stirring continuously.
Add the tomato puree, turn the heat up to high and cook for 90 seconds.
Pour in the water and vinegar and add the salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.
Transfer the gravy to a blender and blitz to a smooth sauce.

Make the Curry:

If you are serving this in iron kadai bowls, place them into a very hot oven 10-15 minutes before serving!
If you are using frozen prawns, begin by defrosting them by running them under cold water for 4-5 minutes.
Cut the onion for the curry into a 5mm (¼") dice.
Chop the second half of the red pepper into a 1cm (½") dice.
Cut the tomato for the curry into 8 wedges.
Place the cleaned wok back onto the hob over a very high heat.
When the wok is shimmering hot, add the ghee followed by the onion, red pepper and tomato wedges, then stir-fry for 3 minutes.
Add the defrosted prawns and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
Pour in the Balti sauce, water, add the salt and jaggery, then cook for 2 minutes.
Remove the wok from the heat, add the garam masala, crush in the fenugreek, stir and transfer to the hot serving bowls.
Start with a good ladleful of the sauce first, it should sizzle in the pan and caramelise at the edges in a similar fashion to a real curry house balti!

Nutrition