While
pondering over the innumerous ways to play with the delicate shrimps, my
thoughts went straight to the neglected can of coconut milk sitting in the
pantry for ages. Ok not ages..but yeah for quite some time actually. So now
driven by the strong desire of using that can of coconut milk, I took on this
mission to create something driven by my own changing tastes.
The inertia
and of course the lack of ideas for
various ways of using coconut milk stems from the fact that growing up, there
was not much use of coconut milk in my mom's pantry. Freshly grated coconut has
many uses in my mom’s kitchen but that’s not quite the case with coconut milk.
So this dish is primarily inspired by Thai shrimp curries made with authentic
Thai flavoring agents and my quintessential ingredient of interest- the coconut
milk.
Just to be clearer
about my approach, I broke it down basically into the two following basic steps:
- Dry roasting of the spices - For most of my basic culinary
purposes, the "secret" curry powder made up by my Ma invariably fits
the bill perfectly. I always make sure that from every trip back home, I get
back some of her "secret" curry powder. So my first bet to changing up
flavors, was roasting whole spices and making up some fresh spice mix. Dry
roasting the spices over a slow flame releases the locked up aromatic oils that
can very well be the start to any great dish.
- Poaching - The second approach was to
minimize the cooking time of the shrimps in the broth. So finalizing on slow
poaching the shrimps in the coconut broth was possibly the best decision for
the recipe.
After the
basics, this recipe came together in practically no time at all. I decided to
jazz it up a bit with slow roasting minced garlic,which is not an essential
step. The end result was very soft, melt-in-the-mouth, creamy shrimp soaking in
flavored and fragrant coconut milk gravy!
Without any further ado, here's the recipe:
Curried Shrimp in spicy coconut gravy
The tenderness of shrimp infused with a dry roasted Indian spice powder is the highlight of this delicacy which is poached to perfectness in a sweet n sour curried coconut gravy to provide the makings of a soupy meal.
Ingredients: (Serves: 3)
Shrimps - 12 nos (~ ½ lb)
For the dry roast:
Cumin seeds - 2 T
Whole black pepper - ½ tsp
Dried
red chilies – 4-5 nos. (Depends on how spicy you would like it to be)
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece
Divide the dry roast powder as 1/4 +1/2 + 1/4 (approx.)
Coconut milk - 3/4th C
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp + ½ tsp (divided)
Red Chilli powder – ½ tsp (Optional)
Lemon juice – 1 T
Red Chilli powder – ½ tsp (Optional)
Lemon juice – 1 T
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking – 2 T
Garlic – 6-7 cloves
Tomatoes (small) – 4 nos
Method:
- Dry roasting the spices – Dry roast all the spices over a low flame till fragrant (~ 3-5 mins).Wait for it to cool down, and then make a fine powder. If the chilies don’t make up a fine powder that’s ok, it adds to the texture.
- Wash and devein the shrimp. Marinate it with ¼th
of the dry roast powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder and ½ tsp salt. Keep it
refrigerated till ready to use.
- Heat up 2T of oil and add in the chopped garlic. Let it cook over a slow flame till garlic gets evenly browned (~ 6-8 mins).Then add in the chopped tomatoes. Cook it over high flame for 5 mins and then, add in 1/2 of the dry roast powder, turmeric powder and red chilli powder (if using).Cook the tomatoes for 5-7 mins till the oil floats over the spice mixture.
- Now, add in the coconut milk and the lemon juice.Simmer it for about 10 mins till the oil floats on the top.Then add in the marinating shrimps. Cook for about 5 mins till the shrimp turn pinkish in color.
- Sprinkle the last 1/4th of the dry roast for the freshness of spices.Turn off the stove and serve it with some steaming white rice or cilantro rice.
I decided to keep the head of the shrimp on for the recipe since it infuses the broth with a rich taste that adds further to the curry. You could very well opt out if you decide not to. Truly, this recipe is more about the nuances than about the steps. Little things to take care of here and there..and you are ready to have a small food trip in your mouth.
Hope you guys are having a great weekend!
Love,
J
- "This recipes goes to Sara's Event Cooking with Love Series hosted at Torviewtoronto".
- "Spotlight: Curries and gravies" hosted by Chandrani and Indrani.
- "30 minute meals" hosted by Srivalli
- " Seafood feast" hosted by Usha.
- "30 minute meals" hosted by Srivalli
- " Seafood feast" hosted by Usha.
thank you for linking these flavourful shrimp curry to the event
ReplyDeleteTempting....Thanks for linking my event.
ReplyDeleteCuisine Delights
My Monthly Event - Spotlight:Curries/Gravies".
we have to cook together sometime and I am sure I am going to learn a lot from you --priyanka
ReplyDeleteWow, really tempting click and recipe, Jagruti..thanks for linking it to my event, Spotlight
ReplyDeleteHi Jagruti, Glad to find your blog :)
ReplyDeletereally curry looks very delicious n mouth watering :)
A perfect combination dear:)
My MIL use to cook shrimp curry with the head on and until tasted her curry, I never knew it shrimp head tastes so good. I am sure the head in this curry tasted awesome as well. Thanks for sharing the recipe and sending it to my seafood event.
ReplyDelete