SERVES 4
I adapted a technique used to make fish curry in the south of India to make this lobster curry. While coconut milk and tamarind water are two of the main ingredients for the gravy, the curry leaves induce a lot of flavor. The lobster is cooked separately in butter and curry leaves and added to the gravy. This way you can taste the lobster meat and enjoy a delicious gravy with it.
3 tbsp vegetable of coconut oil
½ tsp black mustard seeds
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 medium onion, finely diced
20 curry leaves
1 tbsp unsalted butter
400 ml coconut milk
2 green chilies, slit
1 dried red chili (preferably, Kashmiri)
½ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp mild red chili powder
2 tsp coriander powder
3 pieces of tamarind soaked in ¾ cup of warm water
Juice of half a lime
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Creating the gravy
1 Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a pan on medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, 3 cloves of sliced garlic, 2 slit green chilies and 1 dry red chili.
2 When the garlic starts to turn brown, add the onions and ½ tsp salt and sauté till the onions are translucent. At this point, add about 12 curry leaves and continue sautéing for a couple of minutes.
3 Reduce the heat to medium. Add the turmeric powder, red chili powder and coriander powder and stir for a couple of minutes till the spices are cooked. Add a couple of tablespoons of the coconut milk and mix it in with the spice-onion mixture.
4 Add the warm tamarind water (keeping the tamarind seeds and pulp out) to the pan and let the gravy come to a simmer. Stir in rest of the coconut milk. Add salt to taste and juice of half a lime. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer for about 3 minutes on medium-high heat. Then reduce the heat to low to keep the gravy warm.
Cooking the lobster
5 In a frying pan, heat 1 tbsp of the oil and add 1 tbsp of butter. Add in the curry leaves and one clove of the sliced garlic.
6 Add the pieces of lobster and sprinkle the freshly ground black pepper on it. Sauté the lobster till it is turns opaque and is cooked.
Assembling the dish
7 Pick out the lobster from the pan and add it to the gravy. Spoon some of the glaze from the frying pan on top of the lobster meat and in the gravy.
Serve with either plain rice or coconut rice. I serve it with coconut saffron basmati rice.
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