Kamba wa Nazi
Coconut Prawns
Fifteen minutes from pan to table, and the most reliable way to make people think you can cook. The only way to ruin it is to leave the prawns in too long.
Ingredients
- 800 g prawns, shell on or peeled
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 3 tomatoes, grated
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 thumb ginger, grated
- 2 green chillies, split
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- Juice of 1 lime
- Fresh coriander
- Salt
- Oil
Method
- If using shell-on prawns, leave the shells — they carry flavour into the sauce and protect the meat.
- Fry the onions in oil until soft and translucent, about six minutes.
- Add garlic, ginger and chilli. Two minutes. Then the turmeric and cumin, thirty seconds more.
- Add the grated tomato and cook until it darkens and the oil comes to the surface.
- Pour in the coconut milk and simmer five minutes to thicken slightly.
- Add the prawns. They need 3–4 minutes only — the moment they curl and turn opaque, they are done. Take the pan off the heat.
- Lime juice, coriander, and straight to the table with rice or chapati.
Tips from the counter
- Prawns keep cooking in a hot sauce after the heat is off. Pull them a shade early.
- Shell-on gives a better sauce; peeled is easier to eat. Ask for peeled and deveined at checkout if you want both hands free.
- Frozen prawns should be thawed in the fridge, then patted dry, or they water the sauce down.
