South Indian

How to cook… Hara Jhinga

Recipes

Serves 4 as a main dish

Hara Jhinga (Prawns in a Green Sauce) has all the ingredients of a classic South Indian dish – prawns, coconut milk and chillies. This fresh tasting dish, particularly popular in Goa and Kerala, is quick and easy to make and the green sauce makes a great change from the usual tomato-based sauces.

What you need…
• 800g prawns, shelled and deveined
• 3 Teaspoons cooking oil
• 0.25 teaspoon cracked pepper
• 1 teapoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 0.5 teaspoon salt

For the green paste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• small handful coriander leaves, chopped
• 10 mint leaves (or 1 teaspoon mint sauce)
• 4 green chillies
• 3 Tablespoons coconut milk

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How you make it…
1. Mix all the ingredients for the green paste in a blender to form a smooth paste.
2. Heat the oil in a pan to a medium heat. Add the prawns, sprinkle the pepper over them using a pepper grinder, and fry the prawns until they turn pink (about 2 minutes).
3. Add the green paste and cook through for 1 minute.
4. Add the turmeric, chilli powder and salt, mix well and cook until the prawns are cooked. Add a little water if necessary but the dish is dryish so the prawns should be coated in the sauce not swimming in it.

CHEF’S TIP If you like your curries with a more more sauce, add more coconut milk but be aware you will lose the green colour.

If you like this you should try our…
Roasted Sweet Potatoes (Bhundi Shakarkandi) • Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona

Where’s the cheapest place to buy shellfish? … a prawn shop.

Curry Guide… Dosas

Curry Guide

Pathiri (dosa)
Dosas are a type of pancake and are particularly popular in South India, which is where they originate from. Ingredients are simple enough, with rice and black gram soaked in water, then ground to form a batter but the skill is in the creation because the perfect dosa will be paper-thin like a crêpe. They can be eaten plain, coated in ghee or stuffed with other ingredients like potato. Dosas make a great starter or snack and are usually served with chutneys.

 

 

The Spice Card offers savings on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. You can get your Spice Card here.

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Greenwich (Pathiri)

1. Reviews (London)

Pathiri, SE10

Fed up with identikit Indian restaurants and their identikit menus (same old, same old)? Pathiri in Greenwich’s Trafalgar Road could be just what you are looking for. This unassuming little place specialises in Keralan food, the home region of the friendly owner Kutty – and there are plenty of interesting dishes to try.

First up it has to be a couple of the South Indian dosas, the slightly sweet crispy pancakes (think crepes). The Ghee Roast Dosa (£4.75), with a hint of cheese, is a nice way to test the water or go for the more hearty Masala Dosa (£4.99), which is packed with potato, spinach and Nigella seeds (black cumin). The dosas are very large and come with an array of sauces so I’d advise the latter is shared if you don’t want to completely dent your appetite for the main courses.

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Masala dosa

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Clockwise from top left: Vegetable Korma, Cabbage Thoran, Fish with Cassava, mixing the fish with the sauce, the sauce for the fish, pilau rice.

There is a small choice of old-school dishes (Tandoori Chicken anyone?) if you really must, but fish has to be the way to go. Kappa with Fish Curry (fish mixed with cassava and served with a spicy sauce, £9.99) is a heavy, tasty dish and is recommended along with the Green Mango Fish Curry (£7.25). Both dishes use fresh coconut and have a good kick. Plain pilau rice (£2.50) or a Keralan Paratha (£2.50) are the best accompaniments, and coconut rice (£3.50) an overload of the fairground favourite.

Elsewhere, vegetable lovers will rejoice at the array of choices with dishes of beetroot, okra, eggplant, beans spinach, paneer and eggs all on the menu (from £4.50 as side dishes). But most importantly, Pathiri has a chef who takes his vegetables seriously (the Cabbage Thoran, £4.50, was probably the best cabbage dish I have ever had) and not as an afterthought to sit sadly next to the meat dishes.

Pathiri operates a BYO policy and on Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes you can try a range of dishes with their South Indian Thalis (£8.99 veg, £9.99 non-veg).

Pathiri, 119 Trafalgar Road, Greenwich, London, SE10 9TX. Tel: 020 8858 1220. E-mail: info@pathiri.co.uk.

Scores on the tandoors
Food 7.5
Decor 5
Service and friendliness 8
Atmosphere 6 (Wednesday evening)
Value 8