This authentic Sri Lankan Prawn Curry (Shrimp Curry) is an easy recipe that can be adapted for any type of prawn or shrimp. The whole shrimp, including the head, is cooked to coax out the full depth of flavor, and the shrimp is tender and juicy and coated with a thick, flavorful sauce/gravy.EASY - A very easy curry to make. If you don't have experience cleaning shrimp, feel free to make this curry with cleaned / headless shrimp. It'll still be delicious, but the extra step of using shrimp heads makes the curry flavor incredibly more pronounced.
2 - 3fresh red chili peppersor 1 tbsp sambal oelek
2tbsplemon / lime juice
½tspsugaroptional
salt to taste
Instructions
Preparing the Shrimp / Prawns
Clean the shrimp / prawns by removing the heads, and set aside (do not throw out). Peel the shell, leaving the tails intact and de-vein the shrimp (remove the intestinal tract).
455 g large shrimp or prawns
Rinse the shrimp and shrimp heads separately.
Sprinkle the salt and curry powder over the shrimp and mix well and set aside to marinate while you cook the curry base.
¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp Sri Lankan Curry Powder
Shrimp Curry
Heat a saucepan or pan over medium high heat, and add the coconut oil. When hot, add the shrimp heads to the pan (it will sizzle and splatter, so be careful). Cook the shrimp heads for about 5 - 10 minutes until the heads become crispy and slightly caramelized in spots.
3 tbsp coconut oil
Add the onion, ginger, garlic, a generous pinch of salt, and reduce the heat to medium and cook the shrimp heads until the onions soften - a few minutes.
4 - 5 garlic cloves, 1 inch piece of ginger, 1 medium onion, salt to taste
Add the curry powder, fennel powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, curry leaves and rampe (pandan) leaves and saute, while mixing frequently for about 5 minutes, until the spices are fragrant and have formed a paste with the onion, garlic and ginger.
¼ tsp Sri Lankan Curry Powder, 1 tbsp unroasted Sri Lankan Curry Powder, ½ tsp ground fennel, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp regular paprika, ½ tsp ground black pepper, 3 pandan leaves, 10 - 12 curry leaves
Add the coconut milk,⅓ cup water, fresh red chili pepper, sugar and lemon or lime juice and stir to combine. Bring the mix to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes until the mixture is thick and dark red in color.
⅓ cup coconut milk, ⅔ cup water, 2 - 3 fresh red chili peppers, ½ tsp sugar, 2 tbsp lemon / lime juice
Add the peeled shrimp into the gravy base and gently mix to combine and completely coat the shrimp with the gravy/sauce. Add the extra ¼ cup of water if the gravy is too thick, or if you prefer more gravy.
455 g large shrimp or prawns, ⅔ cup water
While gently stirring, bring the mix to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium / medium low heat. Cook for a further10 minutes, or just until the shrimp is cooked through and is nice and pink. Taste and season with salt if needed.
¼ tsp salt
Turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid and let the shrimp sit in the gravy for a few minutes.
Sprinkle chopped cilantro (optional) on top, and serve with rice or roti canai or coconut roti. Enjoy!
Notes
Links to the Sri Lankan curry powder and video tutorial to clean shrimp / prawns are in the post.
Notes about the curry powder
You can choose to use store-bought curry powder. But please note that the flavor will be very different depending on the curry powder you use. Generic walmart brand curry powder doesn't have enough spices and I do NOT recommend it. I recommend purchasing curry powder from a South Asian grocery store instead. Look for a Sri Lankan curry powder or a Madras curry powder.
Notes about the shrimp
I do not remove the tails, because we traditionally eat the tail too. It's nice and crunchy. But feel free to remove the tails if you prefer. The shrimp heads add a great deal of flavor to the curry. But if you don't or can't buy shrimp with heads, you can buy shrimp/prawns that come with the shell only. De-shell the shrimp and replace the heads in the recipe with the shells. Once the shells are nice and toasty, remove them BEFORE adding the onions. This will add more flavor to the curry. You can also choose to use shelled shrimp without the tail and skip the head-toasting step altogether.