Prawn Rogan Josh - for about 6 people


• 600g Small or large prawns cooked or uncooked
• 1 Cup/300ml Water or Prawn Stock
• 2 Small white onions finely chopped
• 2 Teaspoons Ginger Puree
• 2 Teaspoons Garlic Puree
• 200g Groundnut Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 4 Teaspoons Mild Curry Powder
• Half Teaspoon Chilli Powder
• 1 Teaspoon whole Cumin Seeds
• 1 Teaspoon whole Fennel Seeds
• 8 De-seeded Tomatoes chopped in quarters
• 100ml natural yoghourt
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons tomato puree
• 300ml pureed onion
• Lemon juice, to taste
• Srichacha sauce, (hot)
• Salt and pepper - to taste
• 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
• Roughly chopped coriander leaves to garnish


To make the Onion Puree, bring a small pan of water to the boil and add some chopped onions - can take about 15 minutes. Boil until soft, drain and puree with a hand blender or in a food processor. Freeze any extra you make for next time.

Pour the oil into a large pan and bring up to a high heat. Add the whole seeds and cook until they sizzle and crackle, then add the chopped onions and reduce the heat to low. You can optionally add 1 or 2 Whole Star Anise which help bring out the sweetness of the onions and imparts a subtle aniseed flavour but remove them once the onions are cooked. Cook the onions gently and slowly until they turn a golden brown colour.

Make a paste of the ginger puree, garlic puree, curry powder, turmeric and chilli powder, with a little water. Add to saucepan and stir in well and fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes.

Mix together the yoghourt, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and onion puree in a jug with the water or stock, pour into the pan and mix in well. Turn up the heat until the sauce begins to simmer and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Check the sauce for seasoning - you will probably need to adjust with lemon, srichacha sauce (if you feel it is not hot enough), salt and pepper.

At this point, you could leave the sauce to cool and put the dish together later.

Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180F or 160 Fan.

Pour the sauce into a shallow ovenproof dish (a lasagne dish would be perfect). Add the 600g prawns cooked or uncooked and stir in well.

Put in the oven for about 20 minutes, when everything is sizzlingly hot.


Finally sprinkle in the garam masala and stir in well for a final 2 minutes of cooking. Garnish with the Roughly Chopped Coriander leaves and serve with basmati rice and salad.