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A spicy dish, made with roasted coconut and spices, flavored with cocum. A simple and quick Kerala style prawns/shrimp curry preparation
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4.20 from 5 votes

Chemmeen Varutharachathu (Kerala Prawns Curry with Roasted Coconut)

Varutharacha chemmeen/konchu curry - A spicy dish, made with roasted coconut and spices, flavored with cocum. It is a simple and quick Kerala style prawns/shrimp curry preparation. It goes well with pathiri, any sort of rice variants ( ghee rice, pulao, normal rice), chapathi, appam or any other Indian breads.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian, kerala
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 110kcal
Author: Jane Jojo

Ingredients

  • ½ kilogram Prawns

Coconut masala

  • ½ cup grated coconut
  • 1 ½ teaspoon chilli powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoon coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon pepper powder

Gravy

  • 1 number Cocum (kudampuli)
  • 3 tablespoon lukewarm water
  • 8 number shallot (small onion)
  • 1 tablespoon garlic (paste or crushed)
  • 1 tablespoon ginger (paste or crushed)
  • 3 number green chilli
  • 1 number tomato
  • ½ cup water
  • coconut oil (vegetable oil)
  • salt

Instructions

  • Soak cocum (kudampuli) in 3 tbsps of luke warm water for 15 - 20 minutes.
  • Prepare the coconut masala - Heat 2-3 tablespoon oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Fry grated coconut until brownish. Make sure that you don't burn the coconut.
  • Reduce the flame to the minimum. Add coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder. Fry the masala powders for a couple of minutes. Add oil if needed. Switch it off. Keep it aside and let it cool down.
  • Add just the sufficient water and grind it to a smooth paste. Add enough salt in the masala paste.
  • Clean shrimp well. Chop shallots / small onion. Grind ginger and garlic into a fine paste. Slice tomato.
  • Heat oil in a pan, splutter the mustard seeds. Add chopped shallots, ginger, garlic, green chilli and curry leaves. Cook it on medium heat till it's sauteed well. Add oil, if needed.
  • Add sliced tomato. Mix it well and close it for around 5 minutes until it gets cooked.
  • Add soaked cocum (kudampuli) with the water to the above mixture. Add another ½ cup water and enough salt to the pan. Bring this to boil and then add cleaned prawns pieces. Mix it and immerse the shrimp in the gravy. Cover the pan and cook it.
  • Once prawns are half cooked, add the grinded roasted coconut masala paste.
  • Swirl the pan and mix it. It would be probably 5 - 7 minutes after adding prawns.
  • In another small pan, heat a little coconut oil. Add curry leaves and let them splutter.
  • Switch off the pan, once it is cooked and the gravy has desired consistency. Garnish with fried curry leaves.

Notes

  1. Slow-roast the coconut. Don’t rush. Keep the flame low to medium. If you over-roast or under-roast, the taste of the curry will change completely.
  2. Soak the kudampuli in water before using. It brings that deep puli flavour after cooking. If using regular tamarind, you may need a bit more.
  3. Try making this curry in a clay pot (manchatti) for better flavour. Just make sure the pot is well cleaned and properly seasoned.

Nutrition

Serving: 252g | Calories: 110kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 29mg | Potassium: 156mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 438IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg