Prawn Curry Recipe (without Coconut)

Spicy and tasty prawn curry is made with prawns, onions, tomatoes and simple spices and it doesn't use coconut like other South Indian prawn curry. The onion tomato masala is spicy, slightly tangy and packed with flavours. It is a delicious homestyle curry that can be enjoyed with hot steamed rice, idli, dosa, idiyappam, roti or chapati.

Prawn Curry Recipe

Prawn is hubby's favorite. Since many of my viewers have told me that I don't have much prawn recipes in my blog. I have started cooking with them and posting here. This is a simple prawn curry with no coconut. It is an onion tomato based curry and taste fantastic with rice or roti.

Jump to:

• About Prawn Curry without Coconut
• Ingredients
• Step by Step Pictures
• Expert Tips
• FAQ 
• 📖 Get Recipe

I love making this recipe because it uses simple pantry ingredients and needs no coconut or elaborate masala. The onion and tomatoes cooks down to create the thick and flavourful curry.

About Prawn Curry without Coconut

Prawns is one of our family favorites. Whenever I get fresh prawns, I usually make prawn fry or prawn thokku. But sometimes I just want a simple prawn curry to enjoy with hot steamed rice. I already have a prawn coconut curry on the blog. So, this time I wanted to make something a little different without coconut.

This prawn curry is simple, spicy and flavourful. The best part about this curry is that there is no coconut involved in the cooking. We use coconut in South Indian curry because it adds thickness, in this recipe I ground onions and tomatoes to a paste and added into the curry to make it thick.

For this recipe, I marinated prawns with a few spices and cooked them in oil for a couple of minutes. I use the same oil to cook the onion tomato masala, which gives the curry a lovely prawn flavour. Once the onion masala and spices are cooked soft and mushy, I add the seared prawns and cook them until juicy and tender. 

The recipe is super simple to make and easy to follow. You can enjoy with rice, roti or idiyappam. We enjoyed it with wheat naan.

Similar Recipes

• Chilli Prawns Recipe
• Prawn Pepper Fry Recipe
• Prawn 65 Recipe
• Prawn Coconut Curry Recipe
• Kerala Prawn Fry Recipe

Prawn curry is also known as eral curry or prawn kuzhambu. We usually add coconut paste or coconut milk in the curry. But this one used just onions and tomatoes.

I used onions, tomatoes, basic spice powders, ginger, garlic for the curry. If you want this to be extra creamy, you can add in coconut milk. But I prefer it this way.

One thing I would add extra is some kind of tangy ingredients. Sometimes tomatoes are not that tangy, in that case you can add extra tamarind. Or add lemon juice like I did here.

Ingredients

• Prawn : Fresh, medium prawns are best for this curry as they cook quickly and stay juicy. Clean and devein them before marinating. 
• For Prawn marination : I like to use simple marination ingredients like turmeric powder, chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, salt is used for marinating prawns.
• For Grinding : You need to grind just onions and tomatoes. This gives the thickness to the curry without addition of coconut.
• Oil : Use any cooking oil you prefer, though gingelly oil works good for this South Indian style curry.
• Whole spices : Fennel seeds and cinnamon are tempered in hot oil.
• Onion & Tomato : Onion and tomato is used for the curry. Let the mixture cook well until the raw smell disappears. 
• Green chillies : these are optional, but adds aroma and spicy kick.
• Ginger garlic paste : I like to use ginger garlic paste in curry as well.
• Spice powders : Turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder is used for thickness and flavour.
• Coriander leaves : Fresh coriander leaves are used for garnishing. 

Step by Step Pictures

Marinating Prawns

1)Take cleaned prawns in a bowl. These prawns are cleaned, deveined.

2)Add all the ingredients given for marination. I am using ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.

3)Mix this really well and Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes and marinate. You can leave this to marinate in fridge longer.

Onion tomato paste

4)Take onions and tomatoes in a blender. This paste is what gives the curry thickness without adding coconut.

5)Grind onion and tomato to a fine paste and set aside.

Searing prawns

6)First sear the prawns. Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a cooking pan in which we are making the curry. Let the oil get hot. Place the prawns in the oil and cook for 1 min on each side.

7)Flip the prawns over and cook for another 1 minute.

8)Remove the prawns to a bowl and set aside.

Make Curry Base

9)In the same pan, add 2 tablespoon of oil and add in cinnamon, fennel seeds and curry leaves. Let them sizzle in the oil.

10)Add in onions, green chillies.

11)Sprinkle some salt over it.

12)Stir and Cook till the onions get golden brown in colour.

13)Add in ginger garlic paste and mix well. Cook for 2 more minutes so the raw smell leaves from it.

14)Add in chopped tomatoes.

15) Add the ground onion tomato paste and cook till raw smell leaves.

16) It will take around 4 to 5 minutes. The mixture will get thick at this point.

17)Now add in spice powders and mix well. Stir fry the spices in the oil for 2 more minutes until it gets aromatic and toasted.

Make Prawn Curry

18)Pour in required amount of water. Don't add too much water else the curry may get very thin. Add water little by little and mix well, see the consistency and add more.

19)Now bring the curry mixture to a full boil. Once it comes to a boil, taste and adjust the salt at this point.

20)Now add in the seared prawns and mix well.

21)Simmer the curry for 5 to 10 minutes on medium high heat.

22)Add lemon juice and coriander leaves and mix well.

23)Serve hot with rice.

Expert Tips

• Devein and clean the prawns thoroughly, then drain all the water before using. 
• Cook the onion, tomato masala until the raw smell leaves. This is one of the most important steps, as it helps the masala taste develop better. 
• Prawns cook very quickly, so add the fried prawns once the curry base is ready. 
• Add water little by little depending on the consistency you prefer. 
• If preferred, you can add some tamarind pulp to the curry base to make it extra tangy. 

Storage and Serving

Allow the prawn curry to cool completely before storing it in an airtight container. Refrigerate and use it within 2 to 4 days. 

This prawn curry tastes best when served hot with steamed rice along with some prawn 65. It also goes well with idli, dosa, chapati, tandoori roti, wheat naan or jeera rice.

FAQ 

Q. Can I use frozen prawns ? 

Yes, you can. Thaw the frozen prawns completely, rinse and drain them well before cooking. 

Q. Why are my prawns chewy ? 

Prawns become chewy when they are overcooked. Add them after the curry base is ready and cook only for 5 minutes for soft and tender prawns. 

Q. Can I use small prawns for this recipe ? 

Yes, small or medium prawns will work well for this recipe. If using small prawns, keep an eye on the cooking time as they cook faster. 

Q.Can I skip garam masala ? 

Yes, you can. But it gives the curry an aromatic flavour. If preferred, you can skip or reduce the quantity of garam masala powder accordingly. 

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If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @aarthi198689@gmail.com and I'll help as soon as I can.

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