How to make Indian prawn curry soup

The  serene palm fringed beaches, along the west coast of India, are a home for beautiful villages
where fishermen dwell.The profession of most of these villagers are mainly fishing or related to the coconut plantation . The Konkan belt and the Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra has some of the best seafood recipes of India.

Food culture

Like other coastal regions the presence of coconut and  coconut milk is predominant in the Malvan cuisines and sea food.In some dishes coconut milk is  replaced with dry coconut powder. Kokum is another fruit which is used in most of these dishes.It is
a small round sour fruit.I did not have the opportunity to see the whole fruit from which delicious
kokum syrup is made which is again used in sharbat or cool drinks for Summer.But I did buy a packet of dry fruits which are available throughout Maharashtra..To help digesting these super spicy Malvan dishes there is always  a cooler called “sol curry” which is made from this fruit .
Apart from coconut , kokum is also used in all the fish and seafood delicacies in this region.The curry powder is also a specialty here and it is really worth to get one or  two packets of these spicy powder back with you home if you have gone there as a tourist.Today  I am posting a recipe of prawn curry with kokum which is not typical malvani(malwani fish curry)dish as I changed it a little but it does taste amazing to spice lovers.I called this rasam because of its thin consistency like South Indian  prawn soup with a tamarind base .In case kokum is not available you can use tamarind.

Ingredients

1. prawns (6 to 8)
2. onions (1)
3. ginger (1/2 inch)
4. Garlic (4 to 6)
5. Green chilies(2 to 4)
6. Kokum (2 to 3)
7. Tomato(1)

Kokum fruit (Dried)

 

Malvan Dry curry powder

1. Kashmiri red chilies  whole (3 to 4)
2. Star Anise(1)
3. Cinnamon (1)
4. cardamom (2)
5. Black cardamom(1)
6. Bay leaves (1)
7. Black pepper(2 tbsp)
8. cloves(1 tsp)
9. sesame seeds(1/2 tbsp)
10. Fenugreek seeds(1 tbsp)
11. Mace (1 flower) optional
12. Coriander seeds(1 tbsp)
13. poppy seeds (1 tbsp)
14. Coconut dry powder (4 tbsp)
15. curry leaves (4 to 6)

For seasoning

Mustard seeds (1 tbsp)
curry leaves (4 to 5)
Red chilies(2 to 3)

Preparation

1.Boil the prawns with salt,2 cups water and turmeric powder for 5 minutes.
2.Separate the stock.
3.Grind onions,ginger,garlic ,green chilies kokum and tomato into a paste.
4.Dry roast the ingredients of Malvan curry powder and grind into a fine powder.
5.Add a tbsp of oil in wok and add mustard seeds and curry leaves and fenugreek seeds.
6.When mustard seeds starts spluttering ,add onion,ginger,garlic paste.
7.Add 2 tbsp  curry powder and fry.
8.Add seafood stock.
9.Add salt as per taste .When it simmers for 5 minutes ,take off from gas.Let it cool and strain with a strainer into a spicy clear gravy.
10.Add this gravy in the pan again and add prawns and cover cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
11.in a tawa add 1 tbsp of oil or ghee and add mustard seeds ,curry leaves and red chilly.When mustard seeds starts spluttering pour this mixture over the prawn curry.
12.Serve hot with steamed rice.