My sister Seema has a penchant for following my recipes – and for changing them to suit her tastes and whims, often with excellent results. This recipe is a prime example. Seema took the instructions for corn curry from my first book, Indian Home Cooking, and substituted coconut milk for the cream. Her idea worked very well, and now this is how I make corn curry in the summers. If you are vegetarian, you can replace the shrimp/prawn in the recipe with peas, green beans or even sliced baby eggplant. Serve with basmati, jasmine or sticky sushi rice. Or do what I do and dunk a piece of crusty bread straight into the sauce – it’s heaven.

  • Serves

    6

  • Cook Time

    1h

Ingredients

For Herb Paste

  • 40 fresh or 60 frozen curry leaves
  • 2 tbsp frozen ground lemongrass paste (optional)
  • 1 3-inch fresh ginger root, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 bunch fresh coriander, leafy part and tender stems ripped off of tough stems
  • 1 jalapeño

For Curry

  • 910 gm tiger shrimp/prawns, peeled and deveined
  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida
  • 15 fresh or 22 frozen curry leaves, roughly chopped
  • 3 dried red chillies
  • 2 385-gm cans coconut milk
  • 4 cups fresh corn (from 4 to 6 ears) or frozen corn
  • 1/2 cup heavy/double cream or half-and-half (half cream and half milk)
  • 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped

Preparation

  1. To make herb paste, place the curry leaves, ginger, lemongrass paste (if using), fresh coriander, jalapeño and 3 tablespoons of water in the bowl of a food processor and purée into a nearly smooth paste. Set aside. 
  2. To make the curry, heat the oil, cumin seeds and mustard seeds in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cumin browns and becomes fragrant and the mustard seeds pop.
  3. Add the curry leaves, chillies, turmeric, asafoetida, and stir for a minute.
  4. Stir in the herb paste, reduce the heat to low, and let it all cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is fragrant.
  5. Pour in the coconut milk and cream, stir, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil.
  6. Reduce the heat to medium-low, stir in the salt and then add the corn and shrimp/prawns.
  7. Simmer until the shrimp/prawns curl and are just cooked through, stirring occasionally. This should take 2 to 4 minutes.
  8. Toss in the fresh coriander and serve with rice or crusty bread.
Suvir Saran

Suvir Saran

Suvir Saran, the Chef-Owner of The House of Celeste in Gurgaon, is Scroll Food’s Chef of the Month for August. A legend in New York’s food circles, Chef Suvir garnered a Michelin star at Devi, a first for Indian cuisine restaurants in North America. He is the chairman of Asian Culinary Studies for the Culinary Institute of America and has written three cookbooks: ‘Indian Home Cooking: A Fresh Introduction to Indian Food’, ‘American Masala: 125 New Classics from My Home Kitchen’ and ‘Masala Farm: Stories and Recipes from an Uncommon Life in the Country’. His fourth book, ‘Instamatic: A Chef’s Deeper More Thoughful Look into Today’s Instaworld’, released earlier this year. Chef Saran’s approachable style helped demystify Indian cuisine in the US and ultimately formed American Masala, his culinary philosophy that celebrates the best of Indian and American cooking.

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