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1
Place the cassava chunks in a large saucepan and cover generously with cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or longer until completely tender throughout. The cassava is ready when a skewer meets no resistance at the centre and the flesh appears opaque and soft with no chalky core.
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2
Drain the cassava. Remove and discard the fibrous central cord that runs through each piece. Transfer the flesh to a blender, add the coconut milk, and blend until completely smooth. Pass the purée through a coarse sieve, pressing with a spatula to remove any fibrous threads that resist blending. The finished purée should be thick, glossy, and uniformly smooth.
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3
Warm the dendê palm oil in a wide, heavy pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further minute until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook until they collapse into the base. The aromatics are ready when the mixture is cohesive and the raw tomato smell has given way to a sweeter, deeper note.
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4
Pour the cassava-coconut purée into the pan with the aromatics. Stir thoroughly to combine. Bring gently to a simmer over a medium-low heat, stirring frequently to prevent the starchy base from catching. Add the coriander and season with salt. The base is ready when it coats the back of a spoon in a thick, uniform layer and the colour is an even orange-gold throughout.
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5
This is where the dish lives or dies. Add the prawns to the hot base and cook for no more than 3 minutes, turning them once. Remove the pan from the heat the moment the prawns are just opaque and pink through to their centres — they will continue to cook in the residual heat of the base. Prawns left beyond this point become rubbery and the dish is unrecoverable.