Malai Prawn Curry (Chingri Malai Curry)
By Lee Jackson ↣ Published on: January 27, 2020
My simple Malai Prawn Curry is at the perfect go-to for a quick and easy hit of Indian spice. It has a silky coconut sauce infused with a complex fragrance and flavour. ‘Chingri Malai’ is one of the tastiest ever!
This super simple Malai Prawn Curry hails from Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in India's western Bengali region. It's a quick, simple curry to put together - the whole thing ready in around 15 minutes. A quick sizzle in spices is followed with spices for a flavour-packed coconut curry sauce.
If you're short on time, but love the depth of taste of Indian food - seafood and especially shrimp are a great choice of ingredient. Shrimp take minutes to cook and bring a lot in flavour and texture to a dish. The combination of spices at play in this curry marry excellently with the soft, sweet shrimp.
Seafood curries are quick to prepare and cook - this curry is no exception - done in the same time it takes to cook rice. That's perfection! For more perfection, dispense of the rice and heat a pre bought roti or paratha. It's faster food than fast food!
There's everything to love about this quick and easy treat (perfect for a mid-week meal). You might also consider another quick to cook curry or my delicious Sri Lankan Thoramalu Fish Curry.
What is Chingri Malai?
Chingri Malai Curry, also known as Malai Prawn Curry, is a traditional Bengali seafood curry. It features succulent prawns cooked in a rich and creamy coconut milk-based sauce. Flavoured with spices and ingredients typical of Bengali cuisine, Chingri Malai is a unique and much-loved recipe of the region.
Why this curry works?
It's quick and easy - honestly, it doesn't get much simpler than this curry. Seafood curries are typically speedy and this is no exception. Just add a few spices, a drizzle of coconut cream and you're good to go.
Stuff You'll Need
Making malai prawn curry requires a relatively cut-down amount of ingredients as Indian recipes go, but make no mistake, there's still a tonne of flavour to be had. Here are the key flavours.
- Prawns/Shrimp - use whatever you prefer. I like king/jumbo prawns or regular peeled prawns. Be sure to buy them raw and not pre-cooked and remove any shells/heads and always de-vein the prawns before cooking.
- Mustard oil - typical in Bengali cuisine, mustard oil brings a little earthy spice to the sauce.
- Panch Phoron - a spice mix, often named Bengali Five-Spice or Indian Five-Spice that you can buy from any Indian store or online. You can also easily mix your own if you have the whole spices - see the recipe for how to make that. It's EASY!
- Ground Spices - Turmeric, hot chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder (for colour) and a little cumin bring their depth of flavour to create an intensely flavourful curry sauce.
- Fresh ingredients - Onion, chillies, garlic, ginger and cilantro all bring their unique personality to the recipe.
- Coconut milk - to create the aromatic, silky sauce we use coconut milk with its sweet, fragrance and decadent texture.
Step by Step
Making Malai Prawn Curry is not difficult at all. Here's how quick and easy it is!
- Step 1 - Heat the mustard oil in a large pan or wok until hot - be careful as mustard oil can get quite potent, so don't sniff it in while heating or you might get a nose full of spice. Add the pinch phoron and let it sizzle briefly.
- Step 2 - Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chopped chillies and let them sizzle for 12 minutes.
- Step 3 - Add the ground spice and about 1/4 cup of the coconut milk and let this sizzle for about 30 seconds, being careful not to burn the spice.
- Step 4 - Pour in the remaining coconut milk along with 1 cup water and bring to a simmer and bubble moderately for 8 minutes on a lower heat.
- Step 5 - Add the prawns and cook for 4-5 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the heat.
- Step 6 - Serve hot, scattered with fresh cilantro.
Pro Tips
- Up the flavour even more - if you happen to buy prawns in their shell and/or with the heads on, you can boil the shells in about 2 cups of water for 5 minutes then discard the shells to make a super delicious prawn broth. Use this instead of water to give more of a prawn-forward flavour.
- Add some vegetables - This recipe is great to add a few vegetables to. You can cook them in the sauce - try 2" cubed pumpkin, potato or carrot when you add the coconut milk. Add frozen peas at the same time as the prawns. Add frozen spinach or fenugreek leaves to create chingri malai palak.
Serving & Storage Suggestions
Seafood curries are best when eaten right away. This curry will be ok in the fridge for 1-2 days but I don't recommend freezing. Fresh IS best on this occasion.
I love to serve this curry with lots of fluffy basmati rice or with Indian roti, chapati or paratha breads.
Ready to get cooking?
You can see just how easy this curry is to make at home. There's nothing to it really. Once you taste the sauce for yourself you'll be in complete agreement I'm sure that Malai Prawn Curry is one of the tastiest seafood curries ever! I hope you enjoy!
More seafood curry recipes
If you liked this recipe for Malai Prawn Curry, I'm sure you'll love some more of my best seafood curry recipes.
Any Questions? (FAQ)
Have a question about my Malai Prawn Curry? Let me know in the comments and I'll answer them here.
Malai Prawn Curry is a popular Indian seafood dish from the East of India in West Bengal. The recipe is made with succulent prawns cooked in a creamy spiced coconut milk-based sauce.
Malai Prawn Curry is typically mild but not exclusively so. It features a rich and creamy sauce with a blend of spice. You can adjust the spice level to your preference by adding or reducing chilli peppers or chilli powder.
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Video Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb prawns (uncooked)
- 2 tbsp mustard oil
- 2 tsp panch phoron
- ½ onion (medium sized, finely diced)
- 2 green chillies (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp ginger (minced)
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (or paprika)
- ½ tsp hot chilli powder
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup coconut milk
- cilantro for garnish
- 1 red chilli for garnish
Make your own Panch Phoron (combine)
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp nigella seeds
- ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pan until just hot.
- Add the Panch Phoron and let it sizzle briefly
- Add the onion, chopped chillies, ginger and garlic and fry for 3-4 minutes until softened.
- Add the ground turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder, hot chilli powder, curry powder and salt along with a round 1/4 cup of coconut milk and stir for 1-2 minutes. Reduce the heat a little if needed to avoid burning the spices.
- Add the remaining coconut milk and 1 cup water and bring to a simmer. Bubble moderately for about 8 minutes to reduce the sauce until creamy.
- Add the prawns and cook for 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the heat and serve.
- Serve scattered with fresh cilantro with plenty of fluffy basmati rice or Indian breads.
Notes
Tips
- More flavour - if you buy prawns with their shells, you can peel then simmer the shells in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes. Discard the shells and use the flavorful prawn broth instead of water.
- Add some vegetables - This recipe is great to add a few vegetables to. You can cook them in the sauce - try 2" cubed pumpkin, potato or carrot when you add the coconut milk. Add frozen peas at the same time as the prawns. Add frozen spinach or fenugreek leaves to create chingri malai palak.
Storage
This curry is best eaten right away, but it'll be ok in the fridge (tightly covered) for 1-2 days. I don't recommend freezing.Nutrition
Love your recipie! Take a look at my version here in Dubai!
http://doindubai.com/2011/06/21/south-indian-prawn-curry/