Savory Shrimp Curry

Malabar Coast, the entire south-western coast of the Indian peninsula. This shrimp curry is a staple from the region.

Coconuts grow in abundance so coconut cream and coconut milk are widely used in cooking. Fish, rice and Tapioca are staple foods. Kerala cuisine is richly spicy especially because of the hot spices -chilly, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon.

Savory Shrimp Curry from Malabar Coast

Recipe: Savory Shrimp Curry

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Olive or vegetable oil (I prefer olive)

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

10-12 Curry leaves

1/2 Yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 Shallot, thinly sliced

1 Serrano pepper, slit lengthwise into strips and de-seeded.

3 Garlic cloves, minced

1 Dried red chilli, broken into pieces (optional)

1" Ginger piece, grated

1/2 tsp Cumin powder

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric

 2 large or 3 small tomatoes, chopped

1 Tbsp Tamarind paste

1-1/2 cup Coconut milk

1 lb Shrimp, raw, peeled and de-veined (fresh or Frozen)

Salt to taste

Chopped fresh coriander for garnish

Chopped green onion for garnish

Method

1. If using frozen shrimp, put them out to thaw for a hour or so before you start cooking.
2. In a deep wok, heat the oil. When it is hot enough add the Mustard seeds and when they begin to pop add the curry leaves. Stir them in the oil and add the sliced onions and shallot.
3. Cook the onions  ad shallots on medium heat till they are translucent and begin to turn brown on the edges. You can't miss the woody, smoky aroma of the curry leaf and mustard seeds and the sweet caramelized fragrance of the browning onions. This will take about 7-8 minutes.
4. Add the slit green serrano chilli, ginger and garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the dried red chilli pieces (optional), depending on how hot you like your food.
6. Add the dry spice powders namely Turmeric, coriander and Cumin. Add a few drops of water if they look like they are getting burnt. The water helps blend the spices together and prevents scorching.
7. Add the chopped tomatoes and the tamarind paste. Let it simmer for 5-6 minutes.
8. When the tomatoes have softened and blended well into the mixture, add the coconut milk and salt.
9. I like my gravy to be smooth in this recipe. It a weird texture thing in this case. I like the smooth grave with my shrimp and rice. Don't want too many textures to take away from the buttery smoothness of shrimp. So I take a hand blender and blend the whole concoction in the same pan. Please be careful as the gravy will be bubbling hot or you can turn off the heat ad wait a few minutes for it to cool down before you blend it.
10. Check for seasoning and adjust to taste.
11. Finally, add the shrimp and let them cook. This will oly take a couple of minutes as the shrimp cook really fast.
12. Just before serving, garnish it with some finely chopped fresh coriander and green onion.

Note: Serve it with freshly steamed white or brown rice.

Step-by-step process,

Basic Ingredients

In a deep wok, heat the oil. When it is hot enough add the Mustard seeds. When they begin to pop add the curry leaves.

Olive oil and mustard seeds

Added curry leaves to the oil

Add the sliced onions and shallot. Cook the onions and shallots on medium heat till they are translucent and begin to turn brown on the edges. You can't miss the woody, smoky aroma of the curry leaf and mustard seeds and the sweet caramelized fragrance of the browning onions. This will take about 7-8 minutes.

Add the slit green serrano chilli, ginger and garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the dry spice powders namely Turmeric, coriander and Cumin. Add a few drops of water if they look like they are getting burnt. The water helps blend the spices together and prevents scorching.

Add the chopped tomatoes and the tamarind paste. Let it simmer for 5-6 minutes.

When the tomatoes have softened and blended well into the mixture, add the coconut milk and salt.

I like my gravy to be smooth in this recipe. It a weird texture thing in this case. I like the smooth grave with my shrimp and rice. Don't want too many textures to take away from the buttery smoothness of shrimp. So I take a hand blender and blend the whole concoction in the same pan. Please be careful as the gravy will be bubbling hot or you can turn off the heat ad wait a few minutes for it to cool down before you blend it.

Blended 

Finally, add the shrimp and let them cook. This will only take a couple of minutes as the shrimp cook really fast.

Just before serving, garnish it with some finely chopped fresh coriander and green onion.