Indian Prawn & Chickpea Curry

October 6, 2020

I don’t know about you but you can’t beat a good curry!!

A curry is a always my go-to batch cook, my ideal dinner the day before I go play a big football match or when friends are coming for dinner and I want minimal fuss.

This is my first time making this Indian fragrant rice and it really is a game changer.

Herbs and spices time and time again literally unlock so many extra layers of flavour from very ordinary ingredients so don’t be put off by the number of spices. These will reward you a hundred times over and nearly all of my recipes combine these spices in some way or another.

My flatbreads recipe go really well to scoop up all this luscious Indian Prawn & Chickpea Curry and rice too!

For more of my favourite curry recipes, browse here!

Serves 5.

For the fragrant rice:

400g basmati rice
oil
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cardamom
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp pistachios, crushed

For the Prawn & Chickpea Curry:

1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 green chilli, diced and deseeded
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 x 400g tinned tomatoes
2 x 400g tinned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
300g butternut squash or sweet potato, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 x 400g coconut milk
300g prawns
juice of 1/2 lemon

For the fragrant rice: place 2 teaspoonfuls of oil in a pot and place over a low heat. Add the cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf. Cook until fragrant then add the rice and stir to coat with the spices.
Add 700ml cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and cook for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep the lid on for 15 minutes further.
Fluff up the rice with a fork before serving.
For the curry: heat 1 tablespoonful of oil in a large saucepan over a low heat. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli and cook until soft through.
Stir through the spices until fragrant.
Add the tinned tomatoes, 100mls of water, the chickpeas and squash. Stir to combine and simmer for 20 minutes until the chickpeas plump up.
Stir in the coconut milk and prawns and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add the lemon juice just before serving and a sprinkle of pistachios over the rice.