Thai Prawns En Papillotte with Coconut Milk

Ingredients

20 large prawns, in their shells
2 lemon grass stalks
2 shallots, very finely chopped
1 medium chilli, seeded and cut into strips
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 1/2 cm / 1 in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
4 lime leaves, fresh or dried
generous pinch of turmeric
400 milliliters can coconut milk
4 Tbsp fresh chopped coriander
prawn crackers, to serve

Instructions

Serves 4 as a starter, or 2 as a main course. Peel the prawns, leaving the tail ends on. Bruise the lemon grass stems with the end of a rolling pin. Cut in half lengthways, then into eight long pieces. Put the shallots, chilli, garlic, ginger, lime leaves, lemon grass and turmeric in a pan with the coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 :C / Gas 4 / Fan oven 160 :C. Cut out eight 33 cm / 13 in circles from sheets of baking parchment or greaseproof paper. Use two circles per parcel. Divide the prawns between the four parcels. Bring the paper up and shape into a pouch (fit each double paper circle into a small bowl, supporting the paper and making it easier to tie up the pouches without any spills), but don't close. Pour in the coconut milk, making sure each parcel has an even share of all the flavourings. Sprinkle over the coriander. Tie up the tops of the parcels with string. Put on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Serve the pouches in bowls with prawn crackers.