Prawn curry, coconut — cookly.recipes

Coconut split on purpose, then brought back — the step that makes Kerala curry taste like Kerala.

WHAT YOU GET

The chef's hidden note — the technique no cookbook prints
Every component built from scratch, each with its own spec
Films on choosing and judging the produce before you buy it
Gross and net gram weights for every ingredient, per portion
Time and temperature at each stage, as run in the restaurant
A photo at every step that can go wrong
Substitutions for anything hard to find where you live
What usually goes wrong, and what to do about it

Yours for good once bought. Updates from the chef included.

BEFORE YOU BUY

Equipment: Clay pot or heavy pan
Allergens: Crustaceans, Mustard
Method: 22 steps · 9 photographed · 4 filmed
Components: 2 made from scratch
Films: 2, 11 min

2 RECIPES INSIDE THIS RECIPE

Each with its own weights, steps and timings

The sauce, the cure, the dough, the dressing — a restaurant makes these itself, and so will you. Every one below is a full sub-recipe: its own ingredient list, its own method, its own yield and shelf life. Nothing says «use shop-bought».

Fresh coconut milk

Film

Grated fresh coconut blended with water and squeezed twice: a thick first press and a thin second.

Tinned milk is stabilised so it cannot split into oil and curds and then be brought back smooth — the move this sauce is built on.

Mature fresh coconut000 g
Warm water000 g
Something cured000 g
A hard cheese000 g
The bitter leaf000 g

Steps: 7
Time: 40 min
Hands-on: 35 min

Makes 250 ml first press and 600 ml second press · use within 24 hours

The same day only; it separates and sours after a day

Weights and method unlock on purchase

Tempered spice finish

Film

Mustard seeds, dried chilli, shallot and curry leaves fried in coconut oil and poured over at the end.

Spices added earlier just boil in the sauce and go flat; frying them separately is where the aroma comes from.

Coconut oil000 g
Black mustard seeds000 g
Something cured000 g
A hard cheese000 g
The bitter leaf000 g

Steps: 6
Time: 8 min
Hands-on: 8 min

Makes 60 ml · pour over at once, it does not keep

In the last ten minutes: fry the tempering while the curry sits off the heat, and pour it over just before it goes to the table

Weights and method unlock on purchase

WEIGHED

INGREDIENTS

A taste of the list · the rest locked

A few ingredients to show you what the dish is built on. Every one on the full list carries a gross and a net weight per portion, and a note on what you can swap it for where you live.

Prawns000 g
Coconut milk000 g
Curry leaves000 g
Ginger000 g
Green chilli000 g
Smoked something000 g
A whole bulb000 g
Cold-pressed oil000 g
Aged for weeks000 g

The full list, weighed, unlocks on purchase

WATCH BEFORE YOU SHOP

2 films · 11 min

Most of what goes wrong is decided at the counter, before you cook anything. These are filmed by the chef: what to buy, how to tell it is good, and how to set your own kitchen up for it.

CHOOSING6:00

Buying prawns: shell, smell, size grade

TECHNIQUE5:00

Splitting the coconut on purpose, then bringing it back

METHOD

STEP BY STEP — 22 STEPS

9 photographed · 4 filmed

Written the way a restaurant writes a technical card: one operation per step, each with its own time and temperature. 9 of the 22 carry a photo of what it should look like at that moment, and 4 carry a short clip for the parts a still cannot show.

Hardest step: bringing the split coconut milk back — step 13 of 22.

01
Read the whole method before you start, then weigh everything out. Every timing below assumes the next ingredient is already within reach.
Free preview
02
03
04
05
06
+ 16 more steps, timed and photographed

WHERE IT USUALLY GOES WRONG

2 things Priya Suresh watches for every service. You can read what they are right now — the answer to each one comes with the recipe.

01
Kokum instead of tamarind, and when
What to do about it
02
Taking it off the heat before the prawns look done
What to do about it

The chef's hidden note

When to add the coconut so it never curdles, and what to do if it already has.

Written by Priya Suresh. Visible only to people who bought this recipe.

Read it — $14.99

NOTES FROM THE KITCHENS

948 verified cooks · 86% said it worked

Only people who bought the recipe and showed the dish they made can leave a note. Nobody is paid for it.

PAY $14.99 ONCE

948 people cooked it, 86% got it right, and that is the entire reason it costs $14.99 rather than nothing. It has reached the top of the ladder.

One payment · Yours for good · No subscription