Ingredients  
10 small  round shallots, roughly chopped 
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 
9 large red chillies, seeded 
3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped 
3 tbsp oil 
3 fresh lime leaves, deveined and finely shredded * 
1½ tsp sugar 
Salt 
Pepper 
360 g peeled raw tiger prawns 
juice of 1-2 limes

Method  
Put the shallots, garlic, chillies and tomatoes into a food processor or use a stick blender to blend to a rough paste. 

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the paste and the lime leaves. Season with the sugar, salt and black pepper and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until it darkens a little and begins to smell sweet. 

Add 2 tbsp of hot water and stir, you want a thick sauce rather than a paste so if it is still too thick, add more water a tbsp at a time.  Add the prawns and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the prawns  are just cooked through and pink.

Squeeze in the lime juice and taste, it should taste balanced, not too sweet or salty or sour. Adjust if needed. 

- Original recipe by Eleanor Ford and taken from Fire Islands