EEE Cooks: Curried Shrimp (Recipe)

We recently purchased a beautiful tome to Asian and Indian cooking—Mangoes and Curry Leaves. The book is filled with intriguing recipes, lovely stories, and spectacular pictures. A picture of a shrimp dish caught Robin’s eye, so much so that we bought a curry plant to provide a fresh supply of curry leaves when we finally made it ourselves. The shrimp are sautéed with onions, garlic, chiles and other spices for a spicy flavorful dish.

We start by thawing the shrimp in a colander under cold running water according to the package directions. While the shrimp are defrosting, we chop the vegetables.

The onion and the garlic are finely chopped, keeping them separate on the large cutting board. We have about a cup of onion and about a tablespoon of garlic. We rinse the jalapeños next and dry them. We hold one of the stems with one hand and mince the pepper, seeds included for extra heat. We repeat with the other chile. This yields a few tablespoons, which we place in a medium bowl. We wash our hands and knife well.

When the shrimp are defrosted and draining, we start heating the peanut oil in our Dutch oven over medium-high heat. After 30 seconds or so, we add the curry leaves and onion, then stir for a few minutes. When the onion is starting to soften, we add the garlic and continue stirring for a few minutes more. We want the onion soft and the garlic to start to color.

Next, we add the minced jalapeño peppers, the turmeric, a pinch of salt, the piece of cinnamon stick, clove, and cardamom pod, then stir for another 30 seconds. Finally, we add the shrimp . We continue to cook and stir for a few minutes until the shrimp are cooked through.

We taste for seasoning and add a teaspoon of lime juice from a wedge of lime. We serve the shrimp with wedges of limes, careful to remove and/or warn our guests of the whole spices included in the dish!

Curried Shrimp

Servings and Times

Tools and Appliances

Ingredients