Swahili Prawns
In the early 1990s I travelled to Kenya and ended up in Malindi. For centuries the coastal city, like Mombasa, was the melting pot of Bantu speaking Africans and Arab, Persian and Indian traders. The language which emerged, Kiswahili, is a Bantu language influenced by Arabic. Portugese explorer Vasco da Gama arrived in 1498 in Malindi on his first voyage to India, opening a direct link between Europe and Asia by sea. This event ushered in centuries of mercantilism and colonial expansion. Of course, I stumbled upon the Hemingway Bar in Malindi.
“You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. ”
Ernest and Mary Hemingway on safari in Kenya, 1953-54. Photo: Public domain in the US. Photographer: unattributed.
In 1933 writer Ernest Hemingway visited Malindi for two days of deep-sea fishing. He stayed at the Blue Marlin Hotel. I am not sure if that hotel still existed in 1991, butI do remember visiting the Hemingway Bar, somewhere on the beach front. An English guy I met went fishing for his birthday and came back with a shark. I got very ill that night - high fever - and vaguely remember an Australian guy carrying me to the bus I had to take to Nairobi to catch my plane back to Amsterdam. Not sure how I made it back to Amsterdam.
At that moment in life I wasn’t particularly good at cooking, and at my Malindi hostel I remember an Asian guy buying fresh prawns at the market and whipping up a quick prawn curry in the little kitchen the hostel provided. I was amazed and envied his skill. Now decades later, I tried to find a similar recipe using ingredients typical of the Swahili coast.
Mchuzi wa kamba wa nazi
Heat oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and gently fry one chopped onion, 3 cloves garlic and 2 cm of chopped ginger for 1 minute. Add 2 table spoons tamarind juice, about 200 ml coconut milk and 3 finely chopped tomatoes. Simmer the mixture for 2-3 minutes. For color you can add turmeric . Add large prawns (shelled or whole), season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir in the juice of 2 limes and chopped coriander.
Meanwhile, to cook the coconut rice, heat the oil in a saucepan and gently fry a chopped onion until softened, but not brown. Add the 150 gram rice and stir, then pour in 300 ml coconut cream and add enough water to just cover the rice. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the rice is soft and has absorbed all the liquid. Fold in chopped coriander and serve immediately with the Swahili Prawns.