Prawns are a great addition to the Paleo lifestyle. They can be a bit of pain to prepare, but their taste and texture make it well worthwhile. They come in many varieties too, each with its own taste and texture. With a little imagination, you can use these paleo prawns in all sorts of recipes, from spicy Indian food to barbecues. Here is one of my favourite prawn recipes that it is relatively quick and easy to prepare and tastes fantastic too.
Stir Fry Prawns With Coconut Curry
Perhaps the two most important questions before I attempt any paleo diet food recipe (at least for me) are:
-Is it quick?
-Is it easy?
Sometimes I like to think that I am a gourmet chef and I will attempt the almost impossible. Hey, sometimes the results are even edible! However, like most people, I want to do food that is healthy, quick and easy. This great recipe ticks all those boxes.
- 3 Medium Carrots – Thinly Sliced Or Diced
- 2 Medium Green Peppers – Sliced
- 1 Large Onion – Diced
- 1 Thumb Size Piece Of Fresh Ginger (If Not, Dried Ginger Will Do)
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 700 Grams Prawns – Peeled Weight
- 1-2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
- 2 Teaspoons of Garlic Powder, Garlic <g class=”gr_ gr_118 gr-alert gr_spell undefined ContextualSpelling ins-del” id=”118″ data-gr-id=”118″>Extract or</g> Fresh Garlic
- 1 Cup Coconut Milk
- Fresh Coriander Leaves
- One Medium Lime – Juiced
- Coconut Oil (For Heating)
- Heat the coconut oil in a pan. When it is hot (but not smoking) add the chopped onions and stir until they have started to brown. Don’t let them burn or caramelise. Add in the sliced peppers and the carrots. Depending on how you like the texture of your veggies, you might want to cut these more or less finely. I prefer a bit of a crunch, so tend to cut thicker and keep cooking time to a minimum. As they start to soften after a minute or two, add in the ginger. After another minute, add in the garlic.
- The scent at this point is simply delicious between the onions cooking in coconut oil and the ginger, especially if you use fresh ginger, as well as the garlic. Lower the heat slightly and add in the prawns, along with the fish sauce and the curry. Some people prefer fresh curry leaves, but I find that a quality dried curry powder is perfect and it is so much easier to vary the strength of the curry because not everyone likes it hot!
- For the prawns, you have two choices. I tend to get peeled prawns because removing the outside can be a fiddly and time-consuming process. If you aren’t in a hurry, then by all means shell them yourself. Generally, the larger the prawn, the better it will stand up to cooking and more flavour it retains.
- Cook over a medium heat for about 6-8 minutes, until the prawns are done. Add in the coconut milk and leave for another two minutes. This doesn’t want to cook for too long. Finally, turn off the heat and drizzle with lime juice and fresh coriander leaves roughly chopped and serve immediately.
- This dish has some really intense flavours and the contrasts between garlic and ginger, as well as coconut and lime, are delicious.
- You can do this recipe from start to finish in under 15 minutes if you use peeled prawn, grated ginger, and curry powder and when you serve this up to the family, they will think you have spent all afternoon slaving away in the kitchen! If you are anything like me, you might choose not to tell them just how fast it was to make!