Yellow thai prawn & pineapple curry

Another recipe from Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey.  I know making curry pastes from scratch might sound time consuming, but it's so worth it!  Make a big batch of it and keep in the freezer, you can then whip up a curry in minutes if needs be.

Serves 4

450g large raw prawns

4 heaped tablespoons of thai yellow curry paste

150g of pineapple chunks

150ml coconut milk

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp palm sugar

1 tbsp fish sauce

2-3 tbsp tamarind water

1 green bird's eye chili, thinly slices, to garish

Peel the prawns, reserving the heads and shells.  Put the shells into a pan with 450ml water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil, skimming off the scum as it rises to the surface.  Leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

Strain 300ml of the prawn stock into a clean pan add the curry paste and simmer for 1 minute.  Add the pineapple and the prawns and simmer for another minute or two until the prawns have turned pink and are just cooked.  Add the coconut milk, lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and tamarind water.

Spoon the curry into a serving bowl, sprinkle with the sliced green chili and serve with rice or rice noodles. 

Thai yellow curry paste

3 dried red kashmiri chillies 

1 red bird's eye chili, roughly chopped

3 fat lemongrass stalks, core chopped

25g fresh galangal or ginger, roughly chopped

2tsp turmeric powder

50g onions or shallots, roughly chopped

30g garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 tsp shrimp paste

Cover the dried chillies in hot water and leave to soak for 30 minutes.  Then drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of the liquid.  Put the chillies and reserved liquid into a mini food processor with the remaining ingredients and grind everything to a smooth paste.