Prawn and Mango Curry - Another Kerala Delicacy

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

Filed Under India - Kerala, Mains, Seafood 

I can see those eyes rolling, another seafood preparation from Kerala? Enough already!!! Well, what can I say, Kerallites live on seafood, and regardless of how similar the ingredient lists look like, each dish is unique.

The common theme for most of the Kerala seafood dishes is an equal mix of spicy and sour flavors! The sourness comes from kudampuli (aka fish tamarind or malabar tamarind) or tamarind or mangoes depending on the season and the region. My guess is that this trend started to increase the shelf life of these dishes before refrigerators were invented. The acid in the sour ingredients acts as a preservative in these curries I assume.  All of these dishes typically taste better if used a day after it is made.

So, here is one dish which uses Mango as the souring agent. Since the mango that we get here is no where as sour as those back home, my mom added some kudampuli for extra oomph.

 Ingredients

Method

Soak the kudampuli in half a cup of water and keep aside.

Place the prawns, mango pieces, green chilies, ginger, curry leaves, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder in an earthenware pot or a regular deep pan. Add the soaked kudampuli along with the water it was soaked in, and an additional half a cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil on high heat, reduce the heat and cook for about 10-12 minutes till the prawns are cooked, and about half the water is gone.

Grind all the ingredients in the second section to form a smooth paste. Add the ground ingredients along with about one cup of water to the cooked prawns. Bring to a boil and cook on low heat for about five more minutes.

In a separate pan, heat the oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the fenugreek seeds and fry for a few seconds. Add the shallots, red chilies and curry leaves and fry till brown. Pour this over the prawn curry and mix well.

Serve hot with rice. 

Update

My friend Pravs graciously allowed me to link to her ingredient list till I make up my own. So, check out what Kudampuli looks like at the Ingredient Index at Simply Spicy!

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Comments

23 Responses to “Prawn and Mango Curry - Another Kerala Delicacy”

  1. A kitchen scientist & a white rat hubby!!! on September 9th, 2007 6:40 am

    hi Sig,
    its ironical to me, that will in India, all our regular meals are just the “unattended” daily-routine to be..but once away from home, we miss the same. I was taken back the memory lane, seing your preparation…thanks for reminding of our “default mallu recipies”, which we just take for granted, forget them, and go in search for better exotoc stuff, forgeting that we ourselves have got great things in stock..should definitely make this, next time i purchase shrimps…
    sona

  2. sra on September 9th, 2007 8:06 am

    wow, wow and wow! Love the colour of that curry, makes me v hungry!

  3. Happy cook on September 9th, 2007 8:22 am

    I love this prawn curry. It was one of my favorite dish too.
    My hubby don’t like indian fish dishes but he love the prawn dishes. So i should make this once at home. It is true what you are saying about the sourness of mangoes.
    I don’t have kodampuli so i will have to make do with tamarind.
    Next time when i am going to kerala i am going to bring some with me.

  4. Nags on September 9th, 2007 9:47 am

    Its very difficult to get good fish in Hyderabad but today morning there were some fresh prawns available just opposite my apartment. I am kicking myself for not bringing some kodam puli from home. Its not available here.

    Looking forward to more of those Kerala dishes :)

  5. Asha on September 9th, 2007 12:28 pm

    Love the color and the spiced added. I might e mail you a fish recipe,so you can cook and send for RCI K!:D

  6. Jyothsna on September 9th, 2007 12:49 pm

    I love curries with mango in them, just takes the taste to a whole new level!!

  7. Pooja V on September 9th, 2007 1:29 pm

    My fav ….prawns curry with raw mangoes…yayyyyyyy!! We make it almost d same way minus the seasoning. if you would like a variation than you could try it. My very first post.

  8. indosungod on September 9th, 2007 2:08 pm

    Sig, simply tasty, give me seafood dish anytime. With Mangoes wow that is surely going to be a big hit in my home, I can tell right away.

  9. Mishmash ! on September 9th, 2007 2:09 pm

    Haa….another fav combo of mine…just serve this with some warm rice…slurrrrrrrrrrrrpppp!!! :)

    Hey…Cocum(Kokum) & kudam puli are two different things I guess, atlst to my limited knowledge…though its often used interchangeably!! Hope you check.

    Shn

  10. Richa on September 9th, 2007 2:37 pm

    wow! the color looks amaaaazing :)
    u sure had a blast with ur mom cooking all these favs of urs! btw, i find the name kudampali so cute, makes me smile every time i read it here :)

  11. RP on September 9th, 2007 2:54 pm

    If no one is looking, I would eat a full pot of that with rice! :) I like the fish-mango combo.
    And as shn said, I too believe kokum and kodampuli are two different things, and kokum cannot be substituted for kudampuli. Our Indian grocery store carries them both.
    Soo..you missing your mom, or her cooking? ;)

  12. Sig on September 9th, 2007 5:31 pm

    Sona, :) yep, we grew up on these without giving it another thought… but these dishes are exotic now :)

    Sra, thanks :)

    Happy Cook, He doesn’t like Indian fish dishes??? You have to cook him some spicy Kerala fish curry :)

    Nags, You can always buy them tomorrow… It makes me nostalgic when you say, “just opposite my apartment”. :) When I lived in Bangalore, I could just go down from my apartment and buy fresh fish and veggies too :)

    Asha, hey thats a great idea… I haven’t even started thinking about what to cook for RCI, but if you have a great seafood recipe, that will make my life easier :D

    Jyo, yep, mangoes are a great addition to any dish, especially the sour green mango :)

    Pooja, I will surely check out your recipe. Thanks :)

    Indo, thats me too… I can have seafood any day, any time :)

    Shn.., you are right, kokum and kudampuli are indeed different. Some of my Kerala cookbooks traslates Kudampuli to Kokum. I have updated the post. Thanks :)

    Richa, :) Kudampuli is a cute name, isn’t it? :D Yep, it sure was great for my tummy when my mom was here :)

    RP, :) Thanks. You are so right, kokum is different, I have updated the post. I miss my mom, haven’t started missing her cooking yet, since I still have her stuff in the fridge :D

  13. Anita on September 9th, 2007 7:12 pm

    Another recipe with kudampulli…is it ever used in vegetarian preparations?
    I’m going to use mine in the fish curry first - and it is finally fish season here…yes, there is a fish season…months without ‘r’!

  14. musical on September 9th, 2007 7:44 pm

    Sig, sweetheart, am absolutely sure that with all these gorgeous pictures and great recipes, people are only going to ask for more! What with a vegetarian like me drooling over the pics ;). Plus authentic homestyle food is always a great thing…..

    and where do you get the kudampuli from! Here its available only in Kerala store!!

  15. Pravs on September 9th, 2007 9:10 pm

    I wish i could get some sour mangoes now to try this curry…but i will try with kodampuli.Looks so good…will def try this one. I will never roll my eyes seeing any number of seafood dishes. Please post more seafood recipe !!

  16. Padma on September 9th, 2007 9:47 pm

    Wow I love prawns in any which way cooked, a bag of prawns are sitting in my freezer waiting to be cooked and I was wondering for something pulli thing to cook them in and ur combination with mango is amazing…

  17. Mallugirl on September 9th, 2007 10:21 pm

    wow! how was ur mom’s reaction to the prawns/shrimps here? i bet she said it has no flavor compared to back home!:) nice recipe. i have no probs with any number of fish recipes that u blog!

  18. Anh on September 9th, 2007 11:04 pm

    OMG, this sounds soo good. I love hot and sour curry. Delicious!

  19. Gini on September 10th, 2007 12:50 am

    Love this combo. I could eat a lot of rice with this curry.

  20. Sig on September 10th, 2007 5:36 am

    Anita, Only veg recipe I’ve heard of with kudampuli is plantains, but if you want to get the best experience, try a seafood recipe :)

    Pravs, I know we mallus never get tired of seafood recipes :)

    Padma, this is a delicious curry, hope you try and don’t forget to add kudampuli or tamarind for that extra sourness if the mango is not too sour.

    Shaheen, she didn’t complain much… She never let me buy shelled prawns though, the fresh ones in shell that she shelled herself, she was okay with those :)

    Anh, hot and sour is my favorite too :)

    Gini, :) yeah with curries like this we tend to eat more rice than normal…

  21. Raaga on September 10th, 2007 5:55 am

    will wait for next summer… and think of a prawn substitute :-) Looks beautiful Sig

  22. Shantanu on September 12th, 2007 12:40 pm

    I think green mangoes in anything tastes just fabulous. While mostly we see the use of tamarind as the souring agent in South Indian dishes, this one has it’s distinct flavor and charm. Your family seems to be having a blast seeing what’s cooking every day there…

  23. Shella on October 20th, 2007 1:01 am

    Very differnt. Never heard of this.

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