Prawn ~ Bhendi (Lady's Finger) Green Masala Curry.

Prawn ~ Bhendi (Lady's Finger) Green Masala Curry ...... A very lovely combination of fish with Veggie ....... Tastes Awesome ......

Many a times I think of preparing fish curry with a a little bit of variation from the regular Amchi curry, but somehow I am always hesitate to try it. Many years back one of my friend was buying fish and while just chatting she told me to walk with her upto the veggie market to buy bhendi / Lady’s Finger. As we reached there she just bought about very little quantity of bhendi and it surprised me as I knew she had a large family. I casually asked her would it be enough. She said off course, then looking at my surprised face she said oh… its to add to fish curry. 

It surprised me as we Amchies never add any veggies usually to fish curry except maybe tomatoes. She told me they always added potatoes or bhendi and sometimes some other veggies too. She also told me to try it as it tasted yummy. I remembered what she had said and decided to prepare this curry with my very own method of green masala but with the addition of bhendi as my friend had suggested. 

For Masala : Grind to a smooth paste 2 cups of freshly grated coconut with about 4-5 cups of coriander leaves (you can use the tender stems too), 1 tsp jeera, 12-15 green chillies, marble sized tamarind, one medium sized onion chopped, 1 inch piece of ginger also chopped, 12-15 peeled and chopped garlic. Keep this aside. 

Wash and pat dry about 250 gms of bhendi. Cut of the tip, head and cut them into 1.5 inch pieces giving a slant cut. Keep them ready aside.

Remove the head and shell part of about 300 gms of large sized prawns. Also de-vein clean, and wash them in plenty of water. Keep them ready aside. 

Cut 2 tomatoes into rings of 1/8th inch thickness. Keep this ready aside too.

Peel and slice thinly lengthwise one large sized onion. Keep this ready aside too. 

Heat about 2 tblsp of oil in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot add in 8-10 curry leaves, fry a bit and then add in the thinly sliced onion and fry till slightly pinkish / translucent. Now add in the sliced / bendies cut to pieces and further fry for a minute or two the bendi / ladys finger should be coated well with the oil. All this should be done on high heat stirring. Now lower the heat, cover and cook till the bendi / ladys finger are almost 90% cooked. 

Now add in the ground masala, salt to taste and mix well. Add water if needed to bring it to thick gravy consistency. Bring to a boil on medium flame, add in the prawns and the sliced tomatoes and cook till done on medium heat. All it takes is about maximum 5 mins. Do not overcook the prawns as they then tend to be chewy / rubber like. So remember not to over boil the curry. Remove and keep aside covered for some. Time serve with some less spicy / bland pulav. The curry is spicy so goes very well with bland pulav and also parathas.