Prawn Kofta Curry

Prawn Kofta Curry is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe from the 1860s for a classic curry of prawn meatballs cooked in a lightly-spiced onion-based gravy. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Anglo-Indian version of: Prawn Kofta Curry.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

30 minutes

Total Time:

50 minutes

Serves:

4–6

Rating:

Tags : Curry Spice Recipes Fusion Recipes British Recipes

This is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe redacted from the volume THE INDIAN COOKERY BOOK: A Practical Handbook to The Kitchen in India (author unknown), published by: WYMAN & CO., HARE STREET CALCUTTA circa 1869.
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Original Recipe

37.–Prawn Cofta Curry

Beef, mutton, chicken, fish, crabs, and prawns are usually taken for making these curries. The ingredients for two pounds of meat or fish are as follow:—Lard, ghee, or mustard oil, three to four ounces; water or stock, five to six ounces; ground onions, one tbspful or one ounce; ground chilies, a quarter of a tbspful, ground turmeric, a quarter of a tbspful; ground green ginger, half a tspful; ground peppercorns, half a tspful; ground garlic, a quarter of a tspful; garden herbs, finely chopped, one dessertspoonful; salt, one dessertspoonful; finely-grated bread-crumbs, three tbspfuls; one egg.

Get thirty to forty of the best prawns, and remove the heads and shells; wash the prawns well with salt and water, then pound them to a pulp; mix with it all the ingredients as directed for the beef cofta; make into balls, roll them in bread-crumbs, and set aside. After washing the heads, remove the shells, and bruise the contents with a dessertspoonful of unroasted coriander-seed; take all the juice, and fry it with the ground condiments; then put in the balls, brown them, add salt to taste, a cup of water, and simmer until they are cooked.

N.B.—Good mustard oil is preferable to using lard or ghee, and the ginger must be omitted; but the addition of a few bay-leaves and blades of lemon-grass would be an improvement. It is not usual to dish up the lemon-grass.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients

500g king prawns (with shells)
1 tbsp fresh herbs, finely chopped
salt, to taste
1 1/2 tbsp fine breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1 egg yolk
breadcrumbs for coating
50g ghee or mustard oil
90ml fish stock or water
1 tbsp onions, pounded to a paste
1/4 tsp ground chillies
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp finely-grated ginger
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 dessertspoon coriander seeds

Method:

Remove the heads and shells from the prawns (set these aside). Chop the meat of the prawns finely then place in a mortar and pound to a smooth paste. Mix in the herbs, breadcrumbs and black pepper. Season to taste with salt and add a little stock to moisten. Work in the eggs then shape the mixture into balls. Roll in breadcrumbs to coat and set aside.

Take the prawn heads and place in a mortar with the coriander seeds. Pound these together to bruise them and add any of the remaining fish stock. Pass the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve and press down with the back of a spoon to extract all the juice.

Heat the ghee or mustard oil in a pan, add the spices, onion paste and garlic and fry for about 5 minutes, until browned. Stir in the prawn juice and the prawn meatballs. Fry until the meatballs are browned all over then add 250ml (1 cup) water and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes, or until the meatballs cooked through. Serve hot.

Find more Victorian Recipes Here and more Curry Recipes Here. For the original version of The Indian Cookery book see my The Indian Cookery Book main page.