It’s been a while since I posted a curry on the blog. And it’s ironical that I make one every day. I’ve photographed a few while I made some these days, and will be sharing them as the days pass by! After all, you will need all those curry recipes to warm you up during the coming months 🙂 In India, though making a curry is a regular affair, and in Goa, we make a variety of curries. The addition of any kind of seafood gives the curry its own flavor, so there is no dearth of curries in Goa to say the least.
Prawns or shrimps, whatever it is, are one of my favorite seafood proteins and an ideal choice for a quick meal. Plus they taste so good, as do crabs and lobsters. We will leave that for another day though. Today, I’d like to share this traditional prawn curry from the Goan cuisine. Caldine is not as commercialized as other Goan dishes like vindaloo or cafreal. Prawn curry is a very broad term to define this curry as we have so many varieties of prawn curries in Goa like ambotik, verdur, prawn curry with okra or prawn curry with drumsticks. It’s quite a big list actually, and all of them are delicious nonetheless. If you love seafood like me, you should try all those recipes.
How to make Goan prawn curry?
For this Goan prawn curry recipe, you need to do a little prep work by preparing the Goan coconut sauce base, which is nothing but a fresh, spice-infused coconut extract. If you intend making it from scratch you will begin by grating the coconut or simply use frozen grated coconut like I did. Grind the grated coconut with spices like coriander seeds, cumin seeds, green chillies, peppercorns, cloves, and turmeric powder. Next transfer this ground paste into a muslin cloth or a fine mesh sieve and extract the spice-infused coconut milk. This is the first extract known as the thick extract. Return the scraps back to the mixer, add water and blend once again. Repeat the process of extracting the coconut milk. This is the second coconut extract and called as the thin extract. Once you have both the extracts prepared, making this Goan prawn caldine is a breeze. You just have to sauté some onions and tomatoes, add the thin extract along with some tamarind extract. Add in the cubed veggies, in this case, bottle gourd, known as dudhi. Once that is almost cooked through, add the prawns. When the prawns cook, add the thick extract, bring it to a gentle simmer and it’s done. You can also make caldine with vegetables for a vegetarian version. Or use any firm, white fish such as pomfret or tilapia, for fish caldine.
Step by step instructions to make Goan prawn caldine
1.Blend all the ingredients (1 cup grated coconut, 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, 2-3 green chillies, 10 peppercorns, 3 cloves, 1/4-inch ginger, 5-6 garlic cloves, and 3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder) with 1 cup of water.
2.Line a fine mesh sieve with a muslin cloth, transfer the ground paste to the cloth, and extract all the coconut milk. This is the thick coconut milk extract.
3.Transfer all the leftovers to the blender, add 1.5 cups of water, blend again. Repeat the same procedure of extracting the coconut milk. This is the thin coconut milk extract.
4.Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add 3/4 cup of chopped onions, sauté until it turns translucent. You can add 1-2 slit green chillies at this point too.
5.Add 1 cup chopped tomatoes, sauté until it turns mushy.
6.Then add the thin coconut extract along with a pinch of salt, mix well, followed by the tamarind extract (soak walnut sized ball of tamarind in 1/4 cup of hot water). Bring to a boil.
7.Add the bottle gourd cubes (275 grams) and cook over medium heat until about 80 % done.
8.Then add 200 grams of cleaned and deveined shrimps, cook another 4-5 minutes or until it is cooked through.
9.Add the thick coconut extract, swirl the pan gently. Simmer for another minute and switch off the heat. Do not cook it for a long time or else the coconut milk will curdle. Check for seasonings and adjust with salt if required. Serve hot with rice.
NOTES 1.You can also make caldine with vegetables only for a vegetarian version. 2.Or use any firm, white fish such as pomfret or tilapia, for fish caldine.
★ If you try this Goan prawn caldine, I would love to hear from you! I’d appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review below in the comments. Your reviews help others know the recipe better too. Feel free to share your feedback and suggestions at [email protected]. Thanks so much 🙂 You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter
