Prawns in Spiced Coconut Sauce

I will be married for 15 years this August and am often asked, “What is the secret of marriage?”  I am not sure if there is any one secret to a happy marriage.  It does not take that much to love another human being. Does knowing a living with a person before marriage a guarantee that the marriage would last forever?  Or is an arranged marriage a guarantee to a happy marriage where you have not met or seen your spouse-to-be till a few days before the wedding?  Is there really a secret to a happy marriage or it is just chance?

I do not know answers to any of the above.  All I can say is that for us marriage is a harmony – both physically and spiritually.  We work as a team and support one another in what has to be done for our family.  We do have our disagreements, but we agree to disagree.  We make compromises when necessary.  There is no “boss” in the marriage.  We are both equal – at times I am the one everyone in the family listens to and at times it is my husband we all listen to.  Unspoken, we have our own territories.  The financial sector is his to take care of.  I take care of all the socializing.  In bringing up the children we have different approaches, and depending on the situation we adopt one method or the other.  I am not sure if any of the above is the secret to our happy marriage, but so far it has worked for us.

Preparation Time: 1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

30 large raw prawns

½ teaspoon curry powder, for dusting

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons tomato puree

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped

1 red chilli pepper, chopped

1 cup frozen or canned corn

1 ½ cups coconut milk

Method:

1. Sprinkle the prawns with the curry seasoning and lemon juice and marinate in a cool place for an hour.  
2. Melt the butter in a pan.  When hot, cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, until softly softened.  
3. Add the prawns and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until cooked through and pink.  
4. Transfer the prawns, onion and garlic to a bowl, leaving behind some of the buttery liquid. 
5. Add the tomato puree to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring thoroughly.  
6. Add the thyme, cinnamon, coriander and hot pepper and stir well.  
7. Blend the corn in a blender with the coconut milk.  
8. Add to the pan and simmer until reduced.  
9. Add the prawns and simmer for 5 minutes.  Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.