Goan prawn coconut curry

This dish is a staple food in almost all Goan homes. Every family will make this dish with a slight variation in the spices used. The main ingredients are ground coconut or coconut milk, tamarind and chilli. Everything else can be modified to suit your taste. Below is the recipe for prawn curry that I learnt from my mum who learnt it from her mum who probably learnt it from her mum. The combination of the heat from the chilli, sweet and sourness of the tamarind and the smoothness of the coconut milk and of course the fresh prawns, brings on a wave of nostalgia every time I make this dish!. Nothing reminds me of home and growing up in Goa more!

Ingredients
300ml coconut milk
2 tspns dried red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powdera
1 medium sized chopped onion
2 cloves of chopped garlic
1 tspn tamarind concentrate or lemon sized ball of tamarind(tip: soak the tamarind ball in a cup of warm water and use the strained tamarind water.)
300-400 gms of shelled and deveined prawns(you can replace the prawns with fish or diced chicken if you prefer, but prawns are really the way to go :-))
1 whole green chilli (optional)
Salt to taste

Method:-
Saute onions and garlic until soft. Add the red chilli powder, turmeric. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until the prawns are cooked through. I put in the whole green chilli without slitting it so that it does not get too hot but still has the flavour of the green chilli.

The curry goes really well with freshly steamed rice, and a side of vegetables or fried fish or both!

The leftover curry can be made into another delicious meal the following day by stirring through some chopped coriander, cracking in a couple of eggs, and cooking on a low flame until the eggs are firm and cooked.