King Prawns Rogan Josh

• 350g king prawns (raw or cooked)
• 1 green pepper
• 1 large onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 3 tsp coriander seeds
• 3 tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp black peppercorns
• 4 cloves
• 8 cardamom pods (seeds only)
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 whole dried chilli (choice of chilli depending how hot you’d like this)

Preparation:

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Dice the onion and add half to the now hot oil. Turn down to the lowest heat and cover, so the onions can cook without browning. They’ll need about 15 minutes in total.
2. Dry fry the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cloves and cardamom seeds for 2 minutes, being careful not to burn. Transfer to a small blender/mortar and pestle and grind finely. Add the chilli powder, turmeric and salt to the mixture and stir to combine.
3. Add the remaining onion together with the roughly chopped garlic and ginger to a blender and puree. Add this mixture to the onions in the saucepan which should now be translucent. Stir to combine.
4. Add the spice mix to the onions and stir, frying for 2-3 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the chilli (I like to use a bhut jolokia for a hot curry). Make small snips around the chilli using a pair of scissors. The cuts should be quite small and the seeds of the chilli should stay inside.
6. Add 100ml water, the chilli, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and chopped tomatoes to the pan. Stir and bring to the boil, then turn down to a gentle simmer.
7. Cook for 15 minutes, until the sauce has a fairly thick consistency to it. Taste for spice and remove the chilli if the heat is good for you or leave in if you’d like a more intense flavour.
8. Cut the green pepper into thin strips and add. If the sauce is becoming too dry add a small amount of water.
9. Add the prawns to the sauce, stirring to evenly cook the prawns.
10. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with the side of your choice (I like this dish with rice)