Unakka chemmeen curry - Dry prawns in coconut sauce

I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend :)...I am back after a weeklong absence with my Favorite and delicious Unakka chemmeen curry..This is a creamy dried shrimp curry cooked in coconut paste , topped with chiles ,cumin and curry leaves and  is  always served on a bed of rice.

Last week during my daily routine call to my mom late at night, she said she is busy making some unakka chemmeen curry for my brother. My tummy giggled with joy at the very mention of this, and i said a nighty-night to her and rushed to make some for me.This is one of my favorite dish (along with dried prawns/unakka chemmeen chammanthi ),which i can have at any time of the day, with some rice; a sort of comfort food for me.[oh i know , i says that to lot of food :)]..Every time i go home during my college days in Cochin, job days in B'lore, my yearly month long vacation from here, she calls me to check what i wanna eat. I have a list that i carefully prepare and this  tops the list :). Though we get dried shrimp here, nothing can beat the taste of the one's  we get back home. So this time my mom carefully fried and packed a bagfull unakka chemmeen for me ,before i left. I already made curry and chammanthi with that 2-3 times and still i have 3/4 of that bag :)..

This dried prawns has a great flavor and very interesting texture compared to other sun dried fish which makes this curry all the more drool worthy.

Recipe for Nadan Unakka Chemmeen curry- dry shrimp in coconut sauce

Ingredients:-

Dry Prawns/Shrimp - 1cup

Small Onion chopped - 1/2 cup

Green chili  chopped - 2

Garlic crushed - 2 cloves

Curry leaves

Tomato chopped - 1

Chili powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil

Mustard seeds

Method:-

Clean the dried prawns and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. 

When they pop up add chopped onion and saute for 6-7 minutes. 

Add crushed garlic, curry leaves and chopped green chiles and toss it for another 2 minutes.

Add chopped tomato, turmeric powder and chili powder and fry it for a minute.

Add the cleaned unakka chemmeen / dry shrimp and a cup of water and cook  for 10-12 minutes or till its is done.

Grind grated coconut, cumin seeds and salt to taste ,to a paste and add this to the pan and bring to boil.

Simmer for 5 minutes and remove .

Serve warm

Note:-

Do not add too much salt as this dried shrimp will already have some.Make sure it is optimum before adding coconut paste.

It is better to fry shrimp for 4-5 minutes in a pan in a low flame without adding oil ,before you cook it.

Substitute raw mango for Tomato , you will have an awesome flavor. Add some muringakka/ drumsticks for a an equally good dish.

Cheers

Sarah