Sri Lankan Prawn Curry

I wanted to make this dish since I saw Rick Stein having it on one of his TV trips. I checked more than 10 different recipes on the web and some of my cookbooks and found lots of different options.
I made a dish where I picked lots of suggestions out of these recipes.

Sri Lankan Prawn Curry

One say that you peel the prawns, other say you cook the prawns in their shell for better flavour. Since I was going to eat that dish without cutlery anyway and dip the sauce with some crusty bread (not traditional, but I had rice yesterday) I can peel the prawns while eating. It wont get much messier.

Some have the curry on the drier side and others with more liquid. It seams, that every household or chef in that country has their own style. Why not - I have my own style too. If it is traditional- I do not care!
It is like here in Germany, invite 10 people to a party and tell everyone to bring a potato salad. You will have 10 different ones, the only thing they have in common are the potatoes.

Ingredients

recipe:
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods
1/2 tsp fenugreek
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp tumeric
2 lemon grass stalks
2 knobs of fresh ginger
1/2 tsp coriander
2 green chillis
1 red chilli
400 ml coconut milk
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp dessicated coconut
1 lime
1 red onion
3 spring onions
4 cloves of garlic
1 tomato
1/2 courgette
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp palm sugar
salt and pepper
260 g raw king prawns with shell

spicy

Take the upper 11 ingredients and put them in a bowl. Rince the prawns and put them into the bowl too and let them rest 20 minutes.
Use the coconut oil and start with the onions and garlic, then add the courgette and tomatoes.
When the veggies are softer, push them to the side of the pan and let the prawns take some colour in the pan before you add all the coconut sauce goodness. Let it cook for 5 minutes and add the dessicated coconut and some fresh herbs.