Here it is! This is my favourite prawn puri recipe to date!
After I wrote my first two cookbooks, so many people asked ‘but where’s the prawn puri recipe?’
Well, here it is! You can judge how good a curry house meal is going to be by their prawn puri. Some chefs simply deep-fry chapattis and call them puris.
They taste good and I highly recommend doing this if you don't want to go to the effort of making homemade puris.
So if you want to cheat, fry up some chapattis and follow the prawn puri sauce recipe below.
If you want to try this prawn puri recipe the way I love it and make it at home, take some time and make homemade puffy and crispy puris. Here's my recipe.
This prawn puri recipe is one I have been working on for a while. I would like to include it or one like it in my next cookbook.
I like it because it is really easy to make. Oh... and it just happens to be out of this world amazing!
Prawn puri is one of the most ordered starters at curry houses.
Once you make this easy prawn puri recipe, I think you will want to make it all the time. Many restaurants use pre-cooked prawns. Marinated tandoori prawns, for example add a delicious layer of flavour.
I like to cook this with raw prawns until they are just cooked through.
Working ahead
Puris themselves are difficult to make ahead of time. They are always best fresh out of the hot oil.
That said, you could make them an hour or so ahead of time and the results will still be amazing.
As for the curry, you can make this a day or two ahead of time. As the flavours develop, it will actually get better.
I recommend not adding the cream though until you heat it up to serve.
Here are more curry house curry favourites you might like to try!
Chicken Korma
Chicken Madras
Chicken Dhansak
Lamb Rogan Josh
Lamb Vindaloo
Chicken Chilli Garlic
Chicken Patia
Lamb Bhuna
Prawn Puri
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil or ghee
- 1 star anise
- 5cm piece of cinnamon stick
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 1 green bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped
- ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 125ml (½ cup) tomato purée
- 700ml base sauce, heated
- 450g (1lb) small peeled raw prawns (shrimp)
- 2 tomatoes, quartered
- 1 tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- 2 lemons (1 quartered)
- Salt, to taste
- 4 homemade puris or fried chapattis
- 3 tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium–high heat. Add the star anise and cinnamon and let the flavour of the spices infuse into the oil for about 30 seconds.
- Add the onion and fry for about 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and ginger paste along with the chilli and cook for another minute.
- Add the Kashmiri chilli powder and the cumin, followed by the tomato purée and about 250ml (1 cup) of the base curry sauce.
- Bring this all to a rolling simmer, only stirring if it looks like the sauce is catching to the pan.
- Now add the prawns and another 250ml (1 cup) of the base sauce and simmer until the prawns are pink and almost cooked through. The sauce will reduce. You can add a little more base sauce if you like a thinner sauce.
- Stir in the tomatoes.
- When the sauce consistency is to your liking, add the kasoori methi, rubbing it between your fingers into the sauce.
- Squeeze the juice of one of the lemons into the sauce and season with salt.
- To serve, place one puri or fried chapatti on each of four plates. Divide the prawn curry between the plates and garnish with the coriander and a lemon wedge.
Clive Harrison says
Nice recipe. I'm confused about what you say about restaurants frying chapatis though because your separate puri recipe is just made with chapati flour water and salt. What's the difference, apart from the cooking method of deep-frying them rather than cooking them on the tawa?
Dan Toombs says
There is no real difference, just the cooking method and how you prefer to cook them. It's up to you .
Dan
lois kerr says
Where is the recipe for the base curry sauce?
Dan Toombs says
Here is my recipe.
Thanks
Dan
https://greatcurryrecipes.net/2011/06/24/curry-base-sauce/
Mick Taylor says
The base sauce is now a staple item in my freezer. Takes some time to put together but it works! Especially with this prawn puri recipe. Many thanks Mr Curry Guy..
Dan Toombs says
Thank you very much.
Dan
Kat says
For time only I have chosen to use the chapitti’s so how do I cook them?
Dan Toombs says
Just fry them in a little oil.
Thanks
Dan
John Donovan says
Hi Dan, I have been making Prawn and Puri for years, and for the first few years I was missing an ingredient that made the difference from those Curry houses in London. What I was missing was 1 teaspoons of picked lime( I use the Indian style Patak's). This addition transforms the dish into something really special.. Also I put in a tablespoon of Major Grey's Mango Chutney for additional sweet and tangy. try it.. you will see the difference..
Dan Toombs says
Thanks for the advice, I'll give that a go!
Dan
Matt says
Hi Dan,
Been meaning to make your prawn puri recipe for a while and finally had time to make the base sauce, which is simmering in the pot as I write this.
Question: your prawn puri recipe page appears to show photos with fresh curry leaves in with the star anise and cinnamon stage, as well as matchstick ginger instead of ginger garlic paste in the following stages. I realise recipes are refined and modified by chefs as a natural evolution, but is the (assumed) curry leaves something you’ve left out deliberately?
Likewise is matchstick ginger just an earlier iteration of the recipe?
Looking forward to testing out the recipe later.
Thanks again!
All best,
Matt
Dan Toombs says
You can use match stick ginger strips in addition to garlic and ginger paste if you like, I enjoy the extra ginger.
Curry leaves are often hard to find so use them if you can get hold of them.
Thanks
Dan