A busy day on Sunday, online bridge, golf, ( pouring rain, soaking wet, cold), Penthouse cocktail hour, Sunday Story time for three eldest grandchildren, and the day for Himself to cook!

He had a wish, a plan. He wanted to recreate one of the dishes that we had ordered online from a Michelin starred Indian restaurant. We decided that it was a Prawn Moilee, full of coconut and spices. It traditionally comes from the south of India, from the region known as Kerala.

Although we travelled extensively in Indian, whilst willowy blond and family were living there, we didn’t actually make it to Kerala. This was the fault of the Indian Government as I was made a persona non gratis and they refused to renew my visa.

We had planned a trip to Kerala to coincide with the arrival of a new baby, instead I went for just four days and Himself for three weeks but minus the Kerala trip. It was the time of the trial of the Mumbai Bombers and no new visas were being issued and as such I even considered overstaying, as ” What could they do to me? Send me home?” However the “Fixer” who worked for my Son in Law soon put paid to that idea “Oh No Sir, Not good idea Sir, Mother in Law end up in Jail Sir!” So that was that, the thought of jail in the base case was not inviting, let alone the thought of an Indian Jail. And so it was, that I was driven through New Delhi at 3 am only to discover the roads were just as busy, but this time with the gaily decorated trucks as well as the Tuk Tuks, motorcycles and of course cows, camels, people and elephants.

For our version of Prawn Moilee we used

1. 2 tablespoons chopped red chillis ( we have them frozen)
2. 2 tsp mustard seeds
3. 10 Kaffir Lime leaves or fresh curry leaves if you can get them, or none at all if you can’t. I buy the lime leaves from the Asian Grocery store and freeze them.
4. 2large white onions, sliced into chunks
5. 40 mls olive oil
6. 2 tsp garlic/ ginger paste can be home made or shop bought ( jar)
7. 2 tsp ground turmeric
8. 2tbs curry powder
9. A chunk of fresh ginger sliced
10. 400 ml can of coconut Milk
11. 250 mls can coconut cream or half a block of solid coconut cream
12. +/-10 large prawns per person
13. 3 large tomatoes cut into 6 ths
14. Salt and pepper to taste
15. Lemon wedges to serve and chopped coriander

Heat the oil, add the curry/ lime leaves along with the mustard seeds, stir and add the onions. Sauté gently until soft and translucent. Add the ginger/ garlic paste, salt, pepper turmeric and curry powder, cook for about 3 minutes and then add the chillies and ginger.

Pour in the coconut cream and milk, and simmer gently for about 15 minutes. Add the prawns and tomatoes. Serve on rice with lemon wedges and chopped coriander.

We found this was plenty and had sauce left over, so the following night added more prawns and some fish as well.

Very easy and certainly the sauce bit can be made in advance.