Mother's Day Special: Prawn Mango Curry

With a hectic week at work, it's been a consistent diet of takeout food and I've obviously been lagging on both my blog posts and visits to my favorite blogs.  So, to those blogs/bloggers that I visit regularly (and you know who you are),  I have not forgotten any of you.  Life just sort of has been getting in the way lately. 

Since it's Mother's Day today, I find myself thinking about my relationship with my own mother. My relationship with her can best be described as ambivalent.  We've always been at odds with each other whenever we're in the same room.  Yet, we get on with one another quite swimmingly once we are separated by  the Earth's imaginary lines of latitudes, longitudes, the equator and all the bodies of waters and  timezones that lie between California and the Philippines.

For this Mother's Day, and with mango season being in full swing, I prepared this dish that's very, very loosely based on the prawn mango curry that originates from the state of Kerala, India.

This is one of the nice things about living in a tropical island-

great selection of seafoods at relatively cheap prices!

So, my readers, this is what my relationship with my mother would look and taste like if a relationship could be likened to a dish or morsel of food.  It's colorful, sweet like the ripe yellow mangoes and king prawns that you see, yet heated (sometimes fiery) like the finely sliced, red bird's eye chillies that you see and tempered by the curry and mustard powders, shallots and all the other ingredients, much in the same way all the timezones and bodies of waters that separate us temper the nature of our complex relationship.

I think I am now slightly disturbed that I can sum up my relationship with my mother in a prawn dish.  Yikes!

Prawn Mango Curry

by The Kitchen Masochist

8 pieces of king tiger prawns

2 tbs red Asian shallots, minced

1 tbs garlic, minced

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup white wine

1.5 tbs flour

1 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tsp mustard powder

2 pieces fresh bird's eye chillies, finely sliced

1 cup ripe mango, diced

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Remove the prawns' meat from the shells.

Remove all appendages.

 On the prawn's dorsal side, slit the shell open, making sure the shells are intact.

Your shells should look something like this.

Blanch the prawns' shells.  Remove from heat as soon as they change in color.

Plunge in cold water.

2. Chop each prawn into 4-5 large pieces. Set aside.

3. Saute shallots and garlic in butter.

4. Add chopped prawns and wine.

5. Add flour,  curry and mustard powder.. 

6. Add mangoes when prawns are done.

7 Season with salt and pepper.

Assembly:

8. Stuff the shells with the prawn mixture, include 5 pieces of chopped prawns per shell.

9. Garnish with chopped basil and chillies.