Surmai | ashstylegourmet's Blog

In continuation of this months Goan Special seafood curry, I am posting my Prawn Curry recipe that uses fresh coconut.

For a seafood lover, the local fish market here is a delight, with an array of local and from abroad varieties of all types of seafood available for purchase in a single market. The display is so clean with all different fishes stacked neatly in the rows of shops/stalls that are numbered. The visit is always mind-boggling, difficult to decide on what variety to purchase, and most visits end up in huge amount of seafood purchases. The family has no complains as long as they are getting to eat different dishes with interesting recipes.

For this recipe I always use either the small or big-sized prawns. The size of the prawns decides the ingredients added to the gravy, hence the preference. The small prawns are more sweetish in taste, hence the choice. It is a simple gravy, addition of just few ingredients makes it so delicious, a perfect blend of all the different flavors.The prawns and fresh coconut add the sweet taste, the Kokum adds the sour taste to the dish, and the chilies add the spice.

INGREDIENTS:

Small Prawns: 500 Gm

Fresh Coconut: 1/2 coconut (1 Katori grated coconut)

Onion: 1 Small

Red Kashmiri Chili: 3-4

Kokum: 3 pieces

Garlic: 4-5 cloves

Cumin: 1 Tsp

Red Chili Powder: 2 Tsp

Turmeric Powder: 1 Tsp

Garam Masala: 1 Tsp

Salt: To taste.

Cooking Oil: 2 Tbsp

Ingredients for Prawn Curry with Fresh Coconut

METHOD:

Soak the Kokum and Kashmiri red chilies in hot water for 10 min.

Wash, clean, peel and devein the prawns. Apply pinch of turmeric and salt to the clean and towel dried prawns and keep them in the fridge.

Grind the soaked chilies, fresh coconut, onion, garlic, cumin to a fine paste, add water if required to get a fine paste of the masala.

Heat a kadai or pan on the gas stove and add the cooking oil. Then add the paste of the masala and fry till it is cooked. The add the turmeric, red chili powder, and salt and cook till the oil is seen at the edge of the kadai.

Fry the masala till the oil is seen on the edges and then add the prawns to the pan.

Add the prawns and mix with the masala and cook with a lid covering the pan for 5-7 minutes. Then add the soaked Kokum and little water, the quantity added depends on the thickness of the gravy that is desired. Half a glass water would be sufficient to get a thick gravy. Use your judgment to add the required amount of water.

If more water is added to the masala then let the water in gravy boil so the masala gets mixed properly and the gravy consistency is not too thin. Do not keep the gravy boiling on the stove for too long as the prawns tend to become hard and rubbery if cooked for long.

Sprinkle the Garam masala on the gravy and then empty the contents in a serving bowl. Garnish with finely chopped green coriander.

Serving Options: The Prawn Curry can be served with roti/fulkas, hot steamed white rice, or Malvani vade.

Prawn Curry with Fresh Coconut served with hot fulkas/roti and Kokum Kadi and roasted papad, with helpings of steamed rice, my Malvani special weekend Lunch menu.

Ashu’s Malvani Special Weekend Lunch menu, the picture above, also includes fried fish either Surmai (click for-Kingfish Fry) or any other variety.

Click here for finding out how to roll roasted papad.

Click here for other prawn recipe on this blog.

I always enjoy meals that include this Prawn curry, sharing here gives me the opportunity to give you all the same experience. Happy cooking and enjoying your hand cooked meals, friends.

Wishing you all a pleasant day.

ashu.

Fish is a very healthy food, rich in protein and also a major source of the long chain Omega-3 fatty acids, the essential fatty acids required by our body. These fatty acids are called as the essential fatty acids as they are not produced by the body and hence we need to get them from our diet.

Fish flesh is very delicate and hence gets cooked fast. Care should be taken to prevent the flesh from breaking during cooking any of the fish dishes.

I generally use the Kingfish in fried, grilled or for making curry. It can be used to make Kebabas, fishfingers, biryani and a few other dishes too. Using the regularly used Indian spices for marinating the Surmai pieces that are thinly cut and then shallow frying it in pan or grilling it makes it very tasty to eat. The gravy of this fish is also very good to eat with hot steamed white rice, I prefer the Goan style of cooking for the curry. The fish gravy recipe will follow shortly, it is in my list of new recipes to add to blog. Do keep visiting the blog for that recipe.

SURMAI/KINGFISH FRY

Ingredients:

Fish Masala powder- 2 Tbsp

(The readymade packet lists these ingredients as-red chilli powder, turmeric, cloves, mustard, dry coriander)

Lemon- 1

Salt- to taste

Oil- 2 tbsp.

Kingfish- 8-10 thinly cut pieces.

NOTE: We can also use dried coriander and cumin powder, red chili powder, turmeric, salt, oil for marination if we do not have readymade fish masala powder. Add a pinch or two of garam masala if you like it spicy, but I do not prefer to add garam masala when I use the homemade corainder powder.

METHOD:

Apply turmeric and salt over these washed and thinly cut pieces of Surmai or Kingfish. Apply lemon juice on both sides of the pieces.

Mix the oil and the fish masala together, and apply it over the turmeric, lemon and salt coated Surmai pieces. Or you could just mix all the ingredients and apply to the fish pieces and keep in the refrigerator for 30 mins or more for marination. The longer the marination time, the better the taste.

Heat a fry pan and add 1 tbsp oil to it. Then add the masala coated fish pieces to the pan and fry the fish for 5-10 mins, turning and cooking both the sides evenly. (We add a little more oil and cook it bit longer if we want it more crispy.)