Red Palak and Prawns Curry or Tonak

Red Palak and Prawns Curry or Tonak is a coconut based recipe in which prawns and red palak are cooked with ground coconut and spices. The result is an excellent main course dish which is savored with Pao in Goa.

Tonak is a very popular dish in the Goan cuisine in which the legumes, veggies or sea food like crabs, prawns or clams are cooked in a coconut based gravy. This recipe of red palak and prawns curry is a specialty in Goa and is usually eaten with Pav. But it tastes good with rotis or rice too.

Here is the step by step recipe for Red Palak and Prawns Curry with pictures:

Serves: 4-5
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Red Palak: 2 bunches washed and chopped
Prawns : 1 cup small shelled and deveined
Onion : 2 big
Whole Masoor: 3/4 cup
Cinnamon : 1/2 inch piece
Cloves : 4
Peppercorns : 10-12
Bay Leaf: 1
Coriander seeds: 2-3 tsp
Fennel Seeds: 1 tsp
Garlic : 2 cloves finely chopped
Ginger: 1/4 inch piece
Scraped Coconut: 1 cup
Dry Red Chilies: 5 small
Tamarind: 1 marble sized ball
Turmeric Powder: 1 and 1/2 tsp
Chili Powder: 1 tsp
Salt: to taste

Method of Preparation:

Heat a little oil in a pan and stir fry the ginger and garlic till brown. Add the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf, fennel seeds and coriander seeds and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove and keep aside.
Heat oil in pan and stir fry one roughly chopped onion till translucent. Add scrapped coconut and stir fry till golden brown.
Grind the ginger-garlic-dry spices and onion-coconut mixture along with dry red chilies and tamarind. Use around 3/4 – 1 cup of water to grind to a smooth paste.

Apply 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 1 tsp chili powder to prawns and keep aside.
Wash and soak the masoor in sufficient water for 6-8 hours. Pressure cook the masoor with 1/2 tsp salt for 2-3 whistles till cooked.
In a pan, mix together the red palak, 1 finely chopped onion, prawns, salt to taste and 1/2 cup of water and cook for a few minutes till the prawns are cooked.
Add the cooked masoor to the palak and mix well. Add the ground mixture from step 3 and mix well.
Add 1 tsp turmeric powder and salt to taste. Bring to boil.
If the gravy looks too dry, you can add a little water.
Garnish with coriander

Note:

I have used the above measurements of spices several times in India with perfect results. However, sometimes the spices are much stronger (for e.g in the Gulf where I live now). In that case you might want to reduce the spices. I usually reduce the stronger spices by around 25% when I make tonak in Bahrain.You may increase or decrease the chilies based on what suits your taste.
You may increase or decrease the chilies based on what suits your taste.

For the list of all the Tonak recipes on this website, you can click here: Tonak.

For people who like seafood, we have a recipe of crab tonak and prawns tonak posted which is a delicacy in Goa. For vegetarians, some of the tonak recipes which can be tried are Alsanyache Tonak (Red Cow Peas Curry), Mulyache Tonak (Radish Curry), Mixed Veggies Tonak.

If you want to try to make Pao at home to go with the Tonak, you can find the recipe here: Pao Recipe

If you are looking for other Goan curries, you can check them here: Goan Curries

For Prawns lovers, you can check all the prawn recipes on this blog here: Prawns Recipes