Black Pepper Prawn Curry

The sharpness of  black pepper, bite of the green chill and sweetness of the prawns are all melded together in buttery goodness, along with ginger, garlic, curry leaves in this simple curry.

Take the time to make the prawn stock as it really adds another dimension nod depth of flavour to the dish.

Prep time: 30 minutes (incl making stock) Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
12-16 King prawns
2 cups water
2 cloves garlic, 2-3 small pieces ginger for stock
1 onion halved, then thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic and equal ginger, pounded to a paste
1.5 tablespoons ground black pepper (best freshly ground in spice grinder)
handful of curry leaves (fresh best but dried ok)
2-3 small green chillies sliced lengthwise – can omit, or deseed
100g butter
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt
Chopped  coriander and slithers of ginger for garnish

Method
1. Peel and devein prawns, leave tails on, reserve shells for stock.

2. Place prawn shells in pot and cover with water, add ginger and garlic, bring to a boil then simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until water is reduced to about 3/4 of a cup. Drain and reserve stock.

3. In the meantime, slice onions, grind pepper and pound ginger and garlic for paste.

4. Heat vegetable oil over medium heat, then add curry leaves and fry gently until fragrant, then add onions and cook slowly until transparent.

5. Add pepper and butter and mix through onion until butter is melted.

6. Add green chillies and then prawns. Stir to coat prawns in opinion mixture, then add 3/4 cup of prawn stock. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until prawns are cooked through and stock is reduced and a thickish sauce is created.

7 Taste to see if extra salt is needed.

8 Garnish with coriander and slithers of ginger. Serve with fluffy basmati rice.