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1
Place the peeled, deveined prawns in a food processor and process for exactly 2 minutes — not longer, so the paste stays smooth and open rather than tight and dense in the way a fish-cake paste becomes when overworked. Prawns need less working than fish; stop the moment the paste looks cohesive and smooth, before it develops that aggressive, springy stickiness.
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2
Add the red curry paste, fish sauce, palm sugar, egg, and shredded kaffir lime leaves to the prawn paste and process for a further 30 seconds only, so the aromatics are evenly distributed without driving the paste beyond the soft, slightly open texture you want. Press a little between your fingers — it should hold its shape but feel gentler and more yielding than a fish-cake mixture.
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3
Dampen your hands and form the paste into small, flat patties of even thickness so each cake meets the oil at the same depth and colours uniformly without any thicker edge lagging behind.
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4
Heat the oil to 170°C — measurably lower than the 180°C used for tod man pla — so the interior cooks through before the prawn's natural sugars on the surface scorch and darken too quickly. Confirm the temperature with a thermometer, or drop in a small piece of paste: it should sizzle steadily without immediately browning hard at the edges. This is where the dish lives or dies; oil even slightly too hot will give you a gilded outside and a raw, soft centre.
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5
Lower the patties into the oil in batches without crowding, so the temperature holds steady and the cakes colour evenly rather than steaming against one another. Fry until both sides are a uniform golden colour — not pale, not deep amber — and the cakes hold their shape and float freely, then drain on absorbent paper.