Prawn Curry Recipe - Coconut & Curry Leaf Coastal Curry (20 Minutes)

Why This Recipe Works

"Prawn curry recipe" is a top-10 UK curry search term year-round — and until now, Pick N Save had zero seafood recipes. Zero. Forty-five recipes covering every chicken, lamb, paneer, lentil, and vegetable dish imaginable — but not a single one featuring the prawns, fish, or seafood that sit in our freezer aisle. This recipe changes that. And it starts with the version most likely to be searched for, cooked, and loved: a simple South Indian-style coconut prawn curry with curry leaves, mustard seeds, and a tamarind tang that's completely different from any cream-based North Indian curry.

The beauty of prawn curry is speed. Prawns cook in 3–4 minutes — faster than any meat protein. The coconut sauce takes 10 minutes. Total time from opening the fridge to plates on the table: 20 minutes, including the rice cooking alongside. It's the perfect Friday-night dinner — elegant enough for guests, fast enough for a weeknight. The flavour profile is coastal South Indian: creamy coconut milk (not dairy cream), aromatic curry leaves and mustard seeds (not cumin-coriander-cream), and a bright tamarind-tomato tang that lifts the rich coconut. At Pick N Save, we stock GF Prawns (peeled and deveined, ready to cook), Pride and Kara Coconut Milk, fresh curry leaves, tamarind, and every South Indian spice. This recipe unlocks your entire frozen prawn and coconut milk range — products that have been sitting without a single recipe connection.

Step-by-Step Method

Step 1: Build the Coconut-Spice Base (10 Minutes)

Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil or sunflower oil (KTC Coconut Oil 500ml or KTC Pure Sunflower Oil) in a wide pan over medium heat. Add ½ teaspoon of mustard seeds (TFS Mustard Seeds Large 100g) — let them pop for 5 seconds. Add 12–15 fresh curry leaves (Fresh Curry Leaves) — they'll crackle. Add ½ teaspoon of fenugreek seeds (TFS Fenugreek Seeds 100g) — they'll darken in 5 seconds (fenugreek adds a subtle, bitter-sweet depth to South Indian seafood curries).

Add 1 medium onion, finely sliced (not diced — thin half-moon slices soften faster and look more elegant in this curry). Cook for 3–4 minutes until soft and translucent — not deeply browned. South Indian coconut curries use softened onion, not caramelised onion. Add 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste (Fudco Ginger Garlic Paste 300g) and 2 green chillies slit lengthways (Indian Chilli 400g). Cook for 1 minute.

Add 1 medium tomato, finely chopped (Fresh Vine Tomato 500g) or 100g of KTC Chopped Tomatoes. Cook for 2–3 minutes until the tomato softens. Add the spices: 1 teaspoon of ground coriander (TFS Dhana Coriander Powder 100g), ½ teaspoon of turmeric (TFS Haldi Powder Rajapuri 100g), ½ teaspoon of Kashmiri chilli powder (TFS Kashmiri Mild Chilli Powder 100g — for colour without extreme heat), ½ teaspoon of black pepper freshly ground (TFS Black Pepper Whole 100g), and salt to taste. Stir for 1 minute.

Pour in 1 tin (400ml) of coconut milk (Pride Coconut Milk 400ml or Kara Coconut Milk 400ml). Stir well. Add 1 teaspoon of tamarind paste (or soak a small piece of Fudco Tamarind Slabs 200g in 2 tablespoons of warm water, squeeze, and strain). The tamarind adds the bright, sour tang that distinguishes South Indian coastal curries from cream-based North Indian ones. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and cook for 3 minutes until slightly thickened and the oil from the coconut milk begins to separate at the surface — this indicates the sauce is properly emulsified.

Step 2: Cook the Prawns (4 Minutes)

Add 400g of raw king prawns, peeled and deveined (GF Prawn 31/40 PD 400g — these come pre-prepped and ready to cook from frozen. If frozen, thaw in cold water for 5 minutes or add frozen directly — they'll take an extra 1–2 minutes to cook through). Stir gently to submerge the prawns in the coconut sauce. Simmer on medium heat for 3–4 minutes — the prawns are done when they turn pink-orange all the way through and curl into a C-shape. Do not overcook — prawns become rubbery within 1–2 minutes of being overcooked. The moment they're uniformly pink, turn off the heat.

Step 3: Finish and Serve

Squeeze the juice of half a lime (Lemon Loose Yellow Big 3 pcs) into the curry. Add a handful of chopped fresh coriander (Fresh Coriander Bunch). Stir once gently — don't break the prawns.

Serve immediately over steaming basmati rice (Tilda Basmati Rice 5kg) — the creamy coconut sauce soaks into the rice beautifully and the prawns sit on top like jewels. This is a rice curry — the thinner coconut sauce is designed to merge with rice, not to be scooped with bread. However, Garlic Naan works for those who prefer bread. A side of Cucumber Raita provides a cool contrast.

For a complete South Indian seafood dinner, serve alongside Dal Tadka and finish with Kheer for dessert. For a coastal-themed feast, pair with Masala Dosa or Idli with Sambar.

Pro Tips from Our Store

• GF Prawns are ready to cook — zero prep: GF Prawn 31/40 PD 400g comes peeled, deveined, and tail-off — literally ready to drop into the sauce. The 31/40 count means 31–40 prawns per pound — a good medium size, not too small, not too large. Thaw in cold water for 5 minutes if frozen, or add directly from frozen (add 1–2 minutes to the cooking time). This is the fastest protein you can cook — 4 minutes from raw to done.
• Coconut milk, not cream: Pride Coconut Milk 400ml or Kara Coconut Milk 400ml provides the creamy base without any dairy. The full-fat tinned variety is essential — light or reduced-fat coconut milk produces a thin, watery sauce. The coconut fat emulsifies with the spices to create a rich, silky sauce that coats the prawns. We stock 5 coconut milk products — Pride, Kara, KTC, and Maggi Coconut Milk Powder for different applications.
• Fresh curry leaves are the coastal signature: Fresh Curry Leaves are what immediately tell your palate "this is South Indian coastal food." They crackle in hot oil and release an intoxicating fragrance that dried curry leaves cannot replicate. The same ingredient that defines our Dal Tadka, Chicken 65, and Chicken Madras. We stock them fresh, year-round.
• Don't overcook the prawns — the #1 mistake: Prawns go from perfectly cooked to rubbery in under 2 minutes. The visual cue: they're done the instant they turn uniformly pink-orange and curl into a C-shape. If they curl into a tight O-shape, they're overcooked. Add the prawns last and watch them closely. Better to slightly undercook (they'll finish in residual heat) than to overcook by even 1 minute.
• Tamarind adds the coastal tang: The difference between a generic coconut curry and an authentic South Indian prawn curry is tamarind. Fudco Tamarind Slabs 200g — soak, squeeze, strain. This 10-second step adds a fruity, sour depth that lifts the rich coconut and prevents the sauce from tasting flat. The same souring agent from our Chicken Madras and Idli Sambar.
• Fenugreek seeds in seafood — the Kerala technique: A few fenugreek seeds (TFS Fenugreek Seeds 100g) in the tempering add a subtle, slightly bitter, maple-like depth that's traditional in Kerala fish and prawn curries. Don't use more than ½ teaspoon — fenugreek becomes unpleasantly bitter in large quantities. This small addition is what Kerala cooks call the "secret" in their seafood curries.

Variations to Try

• Goan Prawn Curry (Vinegar-Based, Spicier): Replace the tamarind with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Add 2 teaspoons of Kashmiri chilli (for more heat and colour) and skip the fenugreek seeds. The Goan version is sharper, more vinegary, and hotter than the Kerala-style version above. "Prawn curry Goan style" is a high-search-volume variant.
• Prawn Masala (Drier, North Indian Style): Skip the coconut milk. Build a standard onion-tomato masala (same base as Matar Paneer), add the prawns, and cook for 4 minutes. The North Indian prawn masala is tomato-forward, spicier, and drier — served with naan rather than rice.
• Tandoori Prawns (Grilled Starter): Marinate the raw prawns in yogurt (Desi Natural Yogurt 1kg), Kashmiri chilli, turmeric, garam masala, and lemon juice for 30 minutes. Thread onto skewers and grill under the oven grill for 6–8 minutes, turning once. Tandoori Prawns are a spectacular starter — bright red, smoky, and juicy. Serve with green chutney (Sagar Coriander Chutney 200g).
• Fish Curry (Swap Protein): Replace prawns with 400g of firm white fish fillets (cod, haddock, or sea bass) cut into large chunks. Add the fish to the coconut sauce and simmer for 6–7 minutes (fish takes slightly longer than prawns). Don't stir aggressively — gently spoon sauce over the fish to prevent the fillets from breaking. Fish curry is the Kerala classic.
• Prawn Biryani (Layered Rice): Make the prawn curry (slightly thicker — use only 200ml coconut milk). Layer with cooked basmati rice (Tilda Basmati Rice 5kg), saffron milk, and fried onions. Seal and dum-cook for 10 minutes. Prawn Biryani is an elegant one-pot meal that uses our Chicken Biryani layering technique with this prawn curry as the base.

Shop This Recipe at Pick N Save

Every single ingredient for this recipe is available at picknsave.co.uk with home delivery across London and the UK, or click and collect from our store in Harrow. Here's your shopping list:

• Prawns: GF Prawn 31/40 PD 400g | GF Prawn 16/20 Headless Shell On 700g | GF Prawn 21/25 PD 700g
• Coconut Milk: Pride Coconut Milk 400ml | Kara Coconut Milk 400ml | KTC Coconut Milk 400ml | Maggi Coconut Milk Powder 300g | Maggi Coconut Milk Powder 1kg
• Coconut Oil (Optional): KTC Coconut Oil 500ml
• Tempering: TFS Mustard Seeds Large 100g | Fresh Curry Leaves | TFS Fenugreek Seeds 100g
• Tamarind: Fudco Tamarind Slabs 200g | TFS Tamarind 200g | Heera Tamarind 200g
• Ground Spices: TFS Dhana Coriander Powder 100g | TFS Haldi Powder Rajapuri 100g | TFS Kashmiri Mild Chilli Powder 100g | TFS Black Pepper Whole 100g
• Pastes: Fudco Ginger Garlic Paste 300g
• Fresh Produce: White Onions Prepack 4Kg | Fresh Vine Tomato 500g | Indian Chilli 400g | Fresh Coriander Bunch 1Pc | Lemon Loose Yellow Big 3 pcs
• Oil: KTC Pure Sunflower Oil 5 Litres
• Rice: Tilda Basmati Rice 5kg | Tilda Basmati Rice 2kg
• For Tandoori Prawn Variation: Desi Natural Yogurt 1kg | Sagar Coriander Chutney 200g