Last Updated on January 4, 2026
A Healthy, Quick and Fragrant Prawn Curry Recipe
Skip Straight to the Diet Prawn Curry RecipeShopping List for Diet Prawn Curry
- Raw Prawns (Shrimp)
- Tomato Passata
- Coconut Milk
- Onion
- Chilli
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Mustard Seed
- Cumin
- Tumeric
- Cayenne Pepper
- Lemon Juice
- Fresh Coriander (Cilantro)
- Cooking Oil
It feels like a while since I’ve done any cooking. Partly because I was testing some ready meals suitable for a diet and partly because I’ve been out a lot, but this low-calorie diet prawn curry (shrimp curry if you are in the states!) is absolutely perfect for a diet, even if you don’t feel too much like cooking.
But, this particular recipe, 5-2 Diet Prawn Curry is a real winner. I’ve adapted it from my favourite Indian Cookery Book, Reza’s Indian Spice – it’s simpler and I’ve taken out most of the fat and reduced the amount of coconut milk. But it’s still wonderful and doesn’t taste at all like a diet recipe. The portion size is quite generous, but I sometimes chose not to make rice for my own supper, instead wilting some spinach and mixing it with some softened onion, cumin and coriander. If I have enough calories, I’ll have a small portion of rice too though
If you are not dieting, or even if you are and have saved enough calories, feel free to serve this with rice.
Low-Calorie 5:2 Diet Prawn Curry
Ingredients
- 150 g raw prawns (shrimp) de-veined
- 50 g tomato passata
- 30 ml coconut milk
- 1 small onion peeled and sliced finely
- 1 red chili deseeded and sliced
- 1 piece fresh ginger about 2cm
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 pinch turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 shots 1-cal oil
- 1 handful fresh coriander (cilantro) finely chopped, a few leaves left for garnish
Instructions
- Mix the prawns with lemon juice and turmeric and leave to marinate while you prepare the sauce.
- Spray a non-stick pan or wok with 1cal oil and gently soften the onion.
- Once it starts to become translucent, add the mustard seed and cumin and heat till popping. Then add the garlic, chilli and ginger. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the tomato puree and 2-3 tablespoons of water and reduce the mixture down by about a third so you have a thickish sauce
- Add the coconut milk and heat through.
- Add the prawns with the marinade and the chopped coriander. Bring to a very gentle simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes till the prawns are fully cooked through
- Serve garnished with the reserved coriander leaves
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritionally, this isn’t quite as healthy as some of the recipes I’ve been making. That’s mostly because of the coconut milk which is high in calories and the prawns which are high in dietary cholesterol.
But, the jury is out on both those issues and I have been reading a lot from some real dietary experts on the value of coconut milk. If you ARE worried and want to reduce the level of cholesterol, you could replace the prawns with a firm white fish like monkfish, or with scallops.
All in, this is a really filling and comforting dish for a 5-2 diet fast day. If you serve my 5-2 diet prawn curry with 75g of cooked white rice you will add around 100 calories, but you probably won’t need all of the prawns!
The spinach side dish I made has negligible calories and is actually a good accompaniment for the main curry.
Now, this is a great dish to have a standby for a fast day when you really don’t feel like cooking too much. It works well with store cupboard ingredients and frozen prawns or shrimps, and is ultra quick to make. So why not pin this post for later!
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