Made a prawn (not shrimp!) and palak (spinach) dish this evening and I thought I would share it with you.

for 2 very hungry or four tiny people!

heat half cup oil, either rapeseed oil, all ghee or half ghee half coconut oil, in a pan

in the following order, with about two minutes between steps:

dice 1? Indian onions (the pink ones, not red) into 3mm cubes and fry on medium heat until translucent

chop five cloves of garlic and add to the pan

chop 1 inch of fresh root ginger and add to pan

chop fresh chillies (to taste) and add to pan

cook all the above for 10 minutes total

add 2 tbsp coriander seed powder, 1 tbsp ground cumin seed, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp crushed methi seeds, 2 tsp paprika to pan, and continue to heat for three minutes, until the spices change colour.

Add a pinch of mace (or nutmeg, at a pinch!)and a tsp of crushed black pepper.

Add contents of two tins of crushed tomatoes

Add 2 tbsp of coconut powder (not desiccated), or equivalent creamed coconut

Add a handful of freshly chopped coriander leaves and one handful of freshly chopped mint leaves

Add one large bunch of torn spinach leaves.

Cook over low/medium heat for half an hour stirring occassionally.

Taste the sauce, and add pani puri (or chat masala) or spiced salt to taste, and baslance with lime juice.

Just prior to serving, add prawns, either raw or cooked, cook the raw ones 'til they turn from blue to pink, and an extra minute; if using cooked prawns, just heat through.

I served this with lime rice and bhindi bhaji.

I also boiled the prawn 'shells' in water, and added this to the dish along with the coconut powder, for a fuller flavour.

Looks very tasty, how was it?

Mamta

very good indeed, that's why I wanted to share. Rice complemented very well, but although the bhindi bhaji was perhaps the best I have ever made, maybe it didn't go well enough with the other flavours (including cucumber/spring onion raita).

I cooked the bhindi after I saw Gordon Ramsey say he hated okra, but he boils it, yeuk. Bhindi (cooked properly) is probably my favourite veg.

Gordon Ramsey has not tasted Stuffed Bhindi or Kurkuri Bhindi now, has he ;-)?