This prawn balti is a spicy and aromatic dish featuring succulent prawns cooked in a flavourful tomato-based sauce infused with a blend of spices.
Garnished with fresh coriander leaves and served with boiled rice and toasted chapati, it offers a harmonious balance of heat and tanginess, ready in 25 minutes it’s perfect for satisfying your curry cravings!
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Although Prawn Balti is usually cooked in single portions in a traditional balti dish (balti bowl) when cooked in Indian restaurants, I’m cooking this in a larger pan to serve four. A super quick, medium-spiced tasty prawn curry.
📋 Ingredients?
I like to use ghee when I’m making a curry but if you don’t have any you can replace it with a neutral oil.
The Spices
For the spices I use a blend of cardamom, cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, paprika, garam masala, ground cinnamon, and hot chilli powder. You can add more if you like it hotter.
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Start off by frying the chopped onion and other veggies until they start to soften.
- Then we’re going to add the spices and fry until they start to release their fragrance.
- Add in the tomatoes (tinned and chopped) and stock to make the curry nice and saucy.
- Add the prawns and cook for the final couple of minutes and you’re done!
👩🍳PRO TIP Use big juicy fresh king prawns that have been deshelled and deveined for the best flavour.
🍽️ What to serve it with
I like to serve this king prawn balti with some boiled rice, a sprinkling of fresh chopped coriander and some chapati.
But the sides with a curry are part of the overall experience in my opinion so why not serve this prawn curry with:
I don’t know about you but I could devour the whole dish of this prawn balti with a couple of warm toasted chapatis 😋
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Prawn Balti Recipe
This prawn balti is a spicy and aromatic dish featuring succulent prawns cooked in a flavourful tomato-based sauce infused with a blend of spices.
INSTRUCTIONS
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Heat the oil (or ghee) in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.
2 tbsp ghee
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Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just starting to soften.
1 large onion
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Add the red pepper, green pepper, garlic, ginger, sliced chilli and cardamom pods and fry to 2-3 minutes, until just starting to soften.
1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tsp minced ginger, 1 green chilli, 3 cardamom pods
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Add in the salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, chilli powder and tomato puree. Stir together to coat the vegetables.
¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp paprika, 2 tsp garam masala, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp hot chilli powder, 2 tbsp tomato puree
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Add the tinned tomatoes, chicken stock and chopped tomatoes, stir together, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, until slightly reduced.
400 g (14oz) tin of finely chopped tomatoes, 120 ml (½ cup) chicken stock, 2 medium tomatoes
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Add the prawns and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the prawns are pink and cooked through.
20-25 raw king prawns
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Serve with rice and chapati, topped with fresh coriander.
Fresh coriander, Boiled rice, Chapati
✎ Notes
Nutritional Information is approximate per serving – without rice or chapati, based on this curry serving 4 people.
Nutrition
Calories: 221kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 17gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 145mgSodium: 1206mgPotassium: 749mgFiber: 5gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 2266IUVitamin C: 86mgCalcium: 126mgIron: 3mg
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