The Prawn Bhuna is a perfect and delicious blend of king prawns and a flavorful bhuna sauce. The bhuna sauce is a curry-based sauce for people who love curries.
The prawn bhuna is either served with cooked and fluffy basmati rice, pasta, naan, or chapati, and your rich, flavorful, and delicious meal is ready!
'bhuna' in Indian means to fry, and it is named that because, in the recipe, we fry first garlic, onion, ginger and chili, then add spices and keep frying.
This dish is the perfect meal choice for curry lovers who are also health-conscious and/or vegetable lovers.
What Does Prawn Bhuna Taste Like?
The recipe has a rich blend of vegetable ingredients, including onion, fresh garlic & ginger, coriander, etc. These vegetables and spices are fried for a delicious blended taste. The flavor of this recipe is amplified with other amazing ingredients like cumin, turmeric, and curry. The recipe will not be complete without the pureed tomato, also popularly known as passata. There is also the added sweet, spicy tanginess of the mango chutney that brings the whole taste together.
The texture of this recipe is thick and it has a sour-sweet spiciness that makes this meal sort after.
Serve this recipe with rice, pasta or use it as a sauce for any other meal of your choice. It is a great dinner meal idea, however, it is also a great lunch choice. Not to put a limit on anyone, the meal can be cooked at any time and served at any time. It is best served hot to get the full-bodied taste of its spiciness and sweet-sour taste. It can also be used for a varied number of occasions.
What is prawn bhuna?
The prawn bhuna is originally Indian cuisine, it is a type of prawn curry delicacy made mainly with tomato, onions, and king prawns. The onion and tomato are turned into a delicious and aromatic sauce. This delicacy originates from Bangel in India. However, this amazing dish has become popular in the States and the UK as an original Indian takeout dish.
This dish is easy and quite straightforward to make, however, for different people, there are varied ways to make the curry-base sauce. Some restaurants use precooked curry-base sauce and pre-cooked king prawns. Others, however, might prefer to cook everything from scratch, including the prawns and the bhuna.
Why does this recipe work?
There are quite a lot of reasons why this recipe is great and would convince you to try out the recipe. However, in this article, I will just list out a few reasons why this recipe works and why you should try this at home or add it as a dish on your menu.
- Its curry-base sauce is perfect for curry lovers. If you like spices in your meal, then this dish is for you. It has a perfect mix of ginger, garlic, curry, turmeric, cumin, pepper, chili, ground coriander, etc.
- This recipe has a delicious and aromatic sauce that is very convenient to be used for any number of meals.
- This dish can be taken for lunch or dinner, and it can be served on a varied number of occasions.
- It is a fresh and healthy dish with a healthy mix of spices, herbs, vegetables, and protein.
- If you love prawns, this dish is for you. Now imagine loving sauce and prawns, and here’s a dish that has a healthy mix of both.
- It is quick and easy to make!
What is in the Prawn Bhuna Recipe?
Passata: This is a type of tomato puree, and it is a very important part of the recipe. The passata is a required basic ingredient needed to make the bhuna sauce.
King prawns: This recipe has prawns in its name, of course, you need the prawns as a key ingredient. Other types of prawns can be used including jumbo prawns, regular prawns, tiger prawns, or shrimps. However, in this recipe the king prawns were used, it is also the main source of protein in this meal. Pre-cooked king prawns were used instead of raw king prawns.
Onion: Just like the passata, the onion is also a basic key ingredient for making the bhuna sauce.
Mango Chutney: Mango chutney is a very unique recipe for this meal because it is not a required ingredient, but it adds a very special taste and flavor to the meal when used. The mango chutney is originally from India and it is made with mango fruit, raisins, sugar, vinegar, garlic & ginger, chili flakes, and mustard seeds. The sour tanginess and sweetness of the mango chutney are infused into the prawn bhuna dish.
Fresh garlic and ginger: Ginger and garlic add a very distinct aromatic flavor to any dish they appear in and they are also very healthy herbs.
Coriander: Coriander stalks are stems of the coriander leaves, the stalks are thin and for this recipe, they are chopped finely and used to garnish your dish and add some bit of color to the recipe.
Olive oil: This is a healthier type of vegetable cooking oil.
Mango Chunks (optional): It is optional. However, it will add texture and flavour to the recipe.
Spices
Curry Powder, Turmeric, Cumin, Ground Coriander, Parsley, Garam Masala, Salt, and Pepper: These are spices and herbs that add the required taste and flavor to the recipe. The curry powder is very important as this is a curry-base recipe. The Garam Masala is a ground mixture of spices including cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, black pepper, etc.
Chili: Chopped chilies are also used to add spice and color to the recipe.
How to make the Prawn Bhuna Recipe
Heat a pan on medium heat, and then drizzle olive oil into the pan
Sauté the onion for some minutes and then add the chili, garlic, ginger, and coriander and fry for 3 minutes
Add all the spices (Curry Powder, Turmeric, Cumin, Ground Coriander, Garam Masala, Salt, and Pepper) and cook for another 2 minutes
Stir in the passata or tomato sauce and then add the mango chutney and mango chunks; simmer on medium heat for 8 - 10 minutes
Add the cooked king prawns and stir, allow the sauce to cook for another 1 - 2 minutes
Do a taste test, add more spices for taste if required
Lastly, add the finely chopped coriander stalks and stir
Garnish with parsley
Your prawn bhuna is ready to be served with either rice, pasta, naan, or chapati!
Top Tips!
- Don’t be miserly with the olive oil, especially as this is a curry-base recipe and you need to adequately sauté the onion and fry the tomato paste.
- Some people prefer if their prawn bhuna sauce is extra-extra smooth and this can be achieved by blending the ingredients after sauteing the onions and frying the tomato paste, in a heat-resistant blender. This action should be taken before adding the king prawns.
Some Variations
- Like I mentioned before, different people can cook this in different ways, while there were no bell peppers included in this recipe, some people do, and it simply makes it a delicious and different recipe.
- Fresh tomatoes can also be used in place of passata.
- The mango chutney is not a required ingredient for this recipe, but its addition makes for a very interesting and delicious difference in taste and flavor.
Serving Suggestions
This recipe goes best with either turmeric rice, tomato pasta or just a piece of bread. It can also be served with samosas. It is best served hot with a cold drink as it is a spicy meal.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. You can use fresh prawns for any prawn curry recipes, and the prawn bhuna is not left out. However, pre-cooked prawns are much more suitable for this recipe.
Hmm, this one is quite dicey because cooking is an art form that should have no boundaries on experimentation. However, this dish is also a standard Indian meal with an age-old recipe, and the recipe says it is a spicy meal. I would recommend respecting the recipe; however, if you like this particular curry sauce but do not want yours to be overly spicy, you can go ahead and reduce some of the spices on the ingredients list.
Yes, there is a difference. The prawn bhuna recipe is spicier and thicker than the prawn curry recipe. Also, spices and ingredients like chili, onions, turmeric, and ground coriander are a requirement in the prawn bhuna recipe, and this isn’t quite the case for the prawn curry recipe.
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Recipe Card
Easy Prawn Bhuna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Onion , peeled and finely chopped
- 3 Cloves Garlic , peeled and finely chopped
- 1 Chili , deseeded and chopped
- 3 cm Fresh Ginger , peeled and grated
- 2 tablespoon Coriander , finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon Hot Curry Powder
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Ground Coriander
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 400 g Passata
- 2 tablespoon Mango Chutney
- 375 g Cooked King Prawns
- ½ cup Mango Chunks
- 1 tablespoon Parsley Leaves , chopped
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, add onion, chili, garlic, ginge, and coriander and fry for 3 minutes.1 tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 Onion, 3 Cloves Garlic, 1 Chili, 3 cm Fresh Ginger, ½ teaspoon Ground Coriander, 2 tablespoon Coriander
- Add all the spices and keep cooking for another 2 minutes.2 teaspoon Hot Curry Powder, ½ teaspoon Turmeric, 1 teaspoon Cumin, 1 teaspoon Garam Masala, ½ teaspoon Salt, ¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- Stir in tomato sauce and add mango chutney and mango chunks; simmer on medium heat for 8-10 minutes.2 tablespoon Mango Chutney, ½ cup Mango Chunks, 400 g Passata
- Add the cooked prawns, and stir in the sauce for 1-2 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.375 g Cooked King Prawns, 1 tablespoon Parsley Leaves
Notes
- Don’t be miserly with the olive oil, especially as this is a curry-base recipe and you need to adequately sauté the onion and fry the tomato paste.
- Some people prefer if their prawn bhuna sauce is extra-extra smooth and this can be achieved by blending the ingredients after sauteing the onions and frying the tomato paste, in a heat-resistant blender. This action should be taken before adding the king prawns.
Some Variations
- Like I mentioned before, different people can cook this in different ways, while there were no bell peppers included in this recipe, some people do, and it simply makes it a delicious and different prawn bhuna recipe.
- Fresh tomatoes can also be used in place of passata.
- The mango chutney is not a required ingredient for this recipe, but its addition makes for a very int
Nutrition
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Erin
Looks fantastic. Thanks