Dad’s prawn curry

My father was British Ambassador in Laos during the sixties and this is a curry influenced by the cooking of French-colonised Asia that he passed on. He used to make it with packets of standard-issue peeled Atlantic prawns when it was just us three mice and the cat was away. My brother and I would literally count the prawns on our plates to make sure we had the same amount. One prawn difference guaranteed unrest, a subsequent clip over the ear and a ruined evening. Dad was the only person w