John Torode’s Penang Prawn and Pineapple Curry

A regular on ITV’s This Morning, John Torode will once again bring a stunning menu of recipes for live demonstrations as well as signing his cook books and joining VIP guests for an exclusive ‘meet and greet’.

John made his Clumber Park debut back in 2015, sharing recipes from his bestselling book My Kind of Food and delighting fans with his behind the scenes stories. Now he brings a taste of the east to Nottinghamshire with recipes from his latest cook book John Torode’s Sydney to Seoul.

Rustle up this fragrant one-pot curry with other dishes to create a Malaysian feast for 8, or make it your centrepiece by doubling the prawns

serves 8 with other dishes

Ingredients

For the toasted coconut

• 100g fresh coconut flesh
• 2 tsp sunflower oil
   

For the curry

• thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1½ tbsp mild curry powder
• 100ml sunflower oil
   
• 7 curry leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
   
• 3 cardamom pods
• 6 cloves
   
• 6 shallots, thinly sliced lengthways
• 3 tbsp tamarind paste
• 1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp palm sugar or soft brown sugar
• 400ml can full-fat thick coconut milk
   
• 24 large raw king prawns, peeled
• handful coriander leaves and cooked white or brown rice, to serve

Method

Finely grate the coconut, then toast slowly in a wok, stirring until evenly dark brown (it will start to smell very strong, but it will work a treat). While it’s still warm, pound to a paste with the sunflower oil using a pestle and mortar. Set aside.

Finely grate or pound the ginger and garlic together using a pestle and mortar. Make a loose curry paste by adding 75ml water to the curry powder. Heat the oil in the wok until it’s just starting to smoke, then throw in the curry leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom pods and cloves and cook for 1 min until fragrant.

Add the shallots and ginger and garlic paste, cook for around 7 mins until softened and starting to brown, then add the curry powder paste. This is the most important part of making the curry. Ideally, cook over a very low heat and wait until the oil separates and bubbles over the paste, around 10-12 mins. Scrape the bottom of the pan occasionally to remove the crust.

When the oil has come to the top, add the tamarind paste, pineapple and sugar. Pour in the coconut milk. When the mixture starts boiling, add the prawns and return to the boil, then stir through the toasted coconut. Season the curry with salt, scatter over the coriander and serve with rice.

See John Torode’s live demonstrations in the Celebrity Chef Cookery Theatre on Sunday 15th September. Book your tickets today to this year’s Festival of Food and Drink – click here