Prawn Moilee

Prawn Moilee is one of the true gems of Indian cuisine. It’s a very regional curry dish from the southern state of Kerala, and features plump shrimp in a coconut milk based gravy. It’s milder than many Indian curries, but equally delicious.

Okay, I know it seems strange for me, an American guy, to be writing this post about a very regional Indian curry instead of my Indian wife (who actually cooked it). But there’s a reason for it.

On my very first trip to India, when we got married nearly ten years ago 😲, we had a honeymoon down to Kerala, which is in South India (whereas Alpana is from Mumbai).

That was a long time ago, and I can’t say that I remember all of the foods. But one in particular stuck out: prawn moilee.

See, we were staying at this hotel, I guess you could call it. It was really just some separate buildings with rooms in them. But it was really cool, right on the river, and very nice. We had it all to ourselves that time of year, and the host was very happy to have the cook prepare anything we asked for. After looking over a menu, we chose prawn moilee one night. It was my absolute favorite dish from the whole trip. And best of all, after asking for the recipe, they actually wrote it down and gave it to us! After all these years, we’ve kept that piece of paper safe and cooked the recipe many many times..

So here you go, my favorite dish from my first India trip, as graciously provided by the chef at the hotel we stayed at in Kerala, and which we cooked last night to celebrate Diwali.

Ingredients Needed

• Shrimp (AKA Prawns) – Peeled and deveined, with tails on.
• Ginger – An Indian staple. Interestingly, there is no garlic here.
• Turmeric – This is part of the shrimp marinade, and adds some color.
• Oil or ghee – Ghee is more traditional, but you can get away with regular oil.
• Mustard seeds – These really add some unique flavor to the dish, so don’t skip them.
• Curry leaves – Essential to moilee. We get them at our local Indian grocery store.
• Chili peppers – We use jalapeno. Serrano also works, but we have used Thai birds eye chilis when we crave a spicier curry.
• Onion – Sliced, because it’s easier to pick out that way.
• Tomato – Nice and ripe.
• Coriander powder – This is another staple in Indian food.
• Coconut milk – The liquid element. We like Goya brand.
• Salt – It’s used in the prawn marinade, but can also be used to taste in the curry.
• Cilantro – For garnish.

Prawn Moilee Recipe

Marinate the prawns with salt, turmeric and chopped ginger for 30 minutes, or while you prep the rest of your ingredients.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pot and sauté the prawns for a few minutes until they start to curl up. Remove them to a plate.

In the same pot, heat 2 Tbsp oil and once the oil is hot, add in mustard seeds and cook until they start to pop. Add in curry leaves and sauté until they start crackling. Once they start to turn a little brown, add in sliced onion and sauté for 7-8 minutes, or until they start turning light golden brown.

Add in sliced tomatoes along with salt and coriander powder and cook the tomatoes till they are soft.

Add prawns back in and cook for a minute.

Lower the heat and stir in coconut milk and mix well. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until prawns are fully cooked. The cook time will depend upon the size of the prawns.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve immediately with warm basmati rice.

So there you have it, my favorite dish from the south of India. If you’re new to Indian food, it’s a great starter dish because it’s not overly spicy.

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Happy Diwali!

Try these other great Indian Dishes:
Authentic Chicken Masala
Shrimp Korma
Paneer Jalfrezi
Egg Bhurgi
Aloo Palak
Chicken Tikka
Methi Chicken

Prawn Moilee

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Prawn Moilee is an easy and delicious shrimp curry out of the southern state of Kerala, with a creamy coconut milk based gravy.

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Ingredients

Marination the Prawns

• 1.5 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails on
• 1 Tbsp ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric

Curry

• 3 Tbsp oil or ghee, divided
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 12-14 curry leaves
• 1 jalapeño or Serrano chili, slit (see note)
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 6oz cherry tomatoes or 1 large juicy ripe Roma tomato, sliced (see note)
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 13.5oz can coconut milk
• cilantro, chopped for garnish

Instructions

1. Marinate the prawns with salt, turmeric and chopped ginger for 30 minutes, or while you prep the rest of your ingredients.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pot and sauté the prawns for a few minutes until they start to curl up. Remove them to a plate.
3. In the same pot, heat 2 Tbsp oil and once the oil is hot, add in mustard seeds and cook until they start to pop. Add in curry leaves and sauté until they start crackling. Once they start to turn a little brown, add in sliced onion and sauté for 7-8 minutes, or until they start turning light golden brown.
4. Add in sliced tomatoes along with salt and coriander powder and cook the tomatoes till they are soft.
5. Add prawns back in and cook for a minute.
6. Lower the heat and stir in coconut milk and mix well. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until prawns are fully cooked. The cook time will depend upon the size of the prawns.
7. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve immediately with warm basmati rice.

Notes

1. In India, green chilis are a little hotter than jalapeños, though jalapeños vary in hotness quite a bit. You can always taste how hot it is and adjust. Our curry isn't that hot. You can also use hotter chilies like Thai bird's eye chilis for little bit of kick to the curry.
2. I find regular roma or any tomatoes sometimes are not just flavorful and ripe enough. I used sugar bomb cherry tomatoes, as they are juicy and full of flavor.

Nutrition Information

Yield 6 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 453Total Fat 31gSaturated Fat 16gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 262mgSodium 1608mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 34g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.