Quick Sri Lankan prawn curry with green beans
20 min · 31 g protein · 444 cals / serving
Mustard and fennel seeds, cardamom and curry leaves crackled in hot oil, then onion, ginger and a mild green chili, warm spices and coconut milk, with green beans simmered through and plump prawns added for the last three minutes. A squeeze of lemon, basmati alongside, and dinner in 20 minutes. It also keeps for tomorrow's lunch.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard, whole yellow or black mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp fennel seed
- 3 pods cardamom, lightly crushed
- 4 whole cloves
- about 12 leaves curry leaves, fresh or frozen
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 cm (3/4-inch) piece ginger, cut into thin strips
- 1 large mild green chili pepper, sliced
- 3/4 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala, or Sri Lankan roasted curry powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 scant tsp salt
- 1 can (14 oz) light coconut milk
- 1/2 can (7 oz) diced tomatoes
- 14 oz green beans, trimmed and halved (a bag of trimmed or frozen cut beans saves 5 minutes)
- 1 1/3 lb raw peeled prawns shrimp, deveined; thawed if frozen
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, about 1 lemon
To serve
- 2 pouches (about 3 cups) basmati rice, microwave basmati, or freshly cooked
Steps
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cardamom and cloves, and when the mustard seeds start to pop (30–60 seconds) add the curry leaves; stand back, they spit.
- Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chili and fry for 4 minutes, stirring, until soft and fragrant.
- Stir in the turmeric, coriander, garam masala, cumin, pepper and salt for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the coconut milk and tomatoes, bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes, then add the green beans and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, until the beans are just tender and the sauce has thickened a little.
- Add the prawns and simmer for 3–4 minutes, until they are pink, curled and opaque all the way through (145°F). Take the pan off the heat and stir in the lemon juice; taste for salt.
- While the prawns cook, heat the rice in the microwave as the packet says, and serve the curry over it. To keep some, cool it quickly in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours: the curry keeps 2 days and reheats once, until steaming hot. Cool leftover rice within an hour and eat it within a day.
Good to know
No curry leaves?
Asian grocers sell them fresh, and they freeze perfectly in a bag for months. Without them, add a strip of lemon peel and a bay leaf with the onions: different, but still good.
Can I make it richer?
Yes, for a richer, thicker sauce: a can of full-fat coconut milk in place of the light, at about 50 instead of 65.
Is it spicy?
Mild and warming: a large green chili is gentle, and there is no chili powder. For more heat, add 1/2 teaspoon chili powder with the spices or a sliced bird's-eye chili with the onions.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 79
- Protein
- (28%)
- 6 g
- Fat
- (28%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (45%)
- 9 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 118 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1775 kcal goes into the pot and 2396 g of ingredients comes out as about 2245 g of food: 79 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.