A Quick, Spicy Supper

Due to popular demand (mostly from Kathryn at Kathryn Cooks With Jamie), here is my recipe for Keith Floyd’s Burmese Prawn Curry.
More of a spicy stew than an actual curry (no curry powder goes into the mix), this is a really quick but tasty supper dish. I used frozen raw prawns because I think they have a better texture and taste than the pre-cooked ones you buy on the chiller in the supermarket but whatever you have would be fine. The flavours of this dish are very bold, incredibly savoury and really satisfying.
I used chopped fresh cherry tomatoes because I didn’t have any large tomatoes but - to ensure that if you replicate this dish all goes well for you - I would recommend large vine tomatoes because the small ones tend to collapse and you’re left with just the skin. This dish would be far better with whole chunks of lovely, fresh tomatoes. Also, my stocks of chilli powder had inexplicably depleted (we NEVER run out of chilli powder for the simple reason that chilli is my husband’s favourite food) so I used Carne Asada, a spicy Mexican rub that contains chilli powder. A warning: don’t use Carne Asada. It is much too salty for this dish that already contains Soy Sauce and Fish Sauce. It is much too overwhelming.
Other than those couple of caveats, this is a wholeheartedly gutsy dish, easy to double for guests and it looks impressive (but then, what prawn dish doesn’t?).
BURMESE PRAWN CURRY serves 4
Ingredients:
550g Large Raw Prawns (or whatever prawns you can get hold of/afford)
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
Dash Fish Sauce (go easy on this, it can over-salt the dish with just a clumsy hand (like mine))
½ Tablespoon Tumeric Powder
Some Vegetable Oil
1 Large Onion, roughly chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, chopped finely
½ Teaspoon Chilli Powder
1 Fresh Green Chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped (use red if you don’t have green)
1” or thereabouts of Garlic, peeled and grated (I used a Microplaner)
4 Large Vine Tomatoes, chopped roughly into eighths
Fresh Coriander (a large bunch, roughly chopped)
METHOD:
In a bowl or tupperware dish, mix together the soy sauce, fish sauce and Tumeric powder. Stir in the prawns, ensuring that they are well coated. Refrigerate for half an hour or so.
About 20 minutes into the prawns chilling out time, pour some vegetable oil in a deep frying pan, and warm over medium high height. Cook the onion until yielding and turning brown but not frying. Add the garlic, chilli and green chilli and cook until fragrant, taking care not the burn them, about 5 minutes. Now add the tomatoes, prawns and half of the chopped coriander. Cook over a gently heat for 5 more minutes or until the prawns turn pink. Add a little water, about 150ml, bring to the boil and cook over a medium high height until the sauce is reduced and thickened to the level you like. Taste for seasoning but you shouldn’t need any salt.
Serve over plain boiled rice and scatter with the remainder of the fresh coriander.