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!
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 😋
🍲 More fantastic Curry Recipes
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Prawn Balti Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ghee or oil
- 1 large onion peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 1 red bell pepper deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 green bell pepper deseeded and roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 1 green chilli thinly sliced
- 3 cardamom pods
- 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 add more if you like it hotter
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 400 g (14oz) tin of finely chopped tomatoes
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) chicken stock
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped
- 20-25 raw king prawns deveined and shells removed
To Serve
- Fresh coriander (cilantro)
- Boiled rice
- Chapati
Instructions
- Heat the oil (or ghee) in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.2 tbsp ghee
- Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just starting to soften.1 large onion
- 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
- 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
- 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 (1/2 cup) chicken stock, 2 medium tomatoes
- Add the prawns and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the prawns are pink and cooked through.20-25 raw king prawns
- Serve with rice and chapati, topped with fresh coriander.Fresh coriander, Boiled rice, Chapati
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Cooked prawns are not top of our list; but decided to give it a go! It was absolutely delicious. I had some green beans and baby spinach which needed using up, so added that too. We loved the flavours and will definitely be making this again!
Cooked prawns are not top of our list; but decided to give it a go! It was absolutely delicious. I had some green beans and baby spinach which needed using up, so added that too. We loved the flavours and will definitely be making this again! 🙏
Fabulous, rounded deep flavour … and so easy to make
I have made this delicious quick curry many times from your book It’s All About Dinner. It’s a favourite here😋