Ian Haste’s prawn curry is ready in under half an hour

This is such a beautifully simple recipe and is ready in under half an hour. It is the perfect dish for using up any spare vegetables you have.

Thai Fragrant Coconut King Prawn Curry

Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Serves 2

Ingredients
½ onion, peeled
10 coriander leaves
zest and juice of 1 lime
¾ red chilli, finely sliced
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp peeled and grated ginger
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
400ml tin of coconut milk
2 tsp fish sauce
1 lemongrass stalk, lightly smashed or cut to release flavour
1 tsp brown sugar
200g basmati rice
500ml water
½ red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
250g frozen/raw king prawns, defrosted, cleaned and deveined
150g sugar snap peas, halved

Method
Add the onion, three-quarters of the coriander, half the lime zest, the red chilli, two kaffir leaves, the ginger and garlic to a pestle and mortar and smash into a paste (or use a food processor).

Add the paste to a heated frying pan or wok with the oil and cook for 20-30 seconds, then add the coconut milk, fish sauce, the remaining lime zest and two kaffir leaves, the lemongrass and sugar and bring to the boil, stirring regularly.

Meanwhile, add the rice with double the amount of water to a pan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, cook for 3 minutes, turn off the heat and put a lid on the pan so the rice can carry on steaming for 7-8 minutes. Do not stir as you want the rice to steam, absorb the water and fluff up.

Add the pepper, king prawns and sugar snap peas to the hot coconut milk and cook for 2-3 minutes until the prawns turn pink.

Serve the rice and curry in separate bowls with a scattering of the remaining coriander and a final squeeze of lime.

Extracted from The 7-Day Basket by Ian Haste (Headline Home, approx €22.50). Photograph by Al Richardson.