Shrimp Curry

Hello, folks! In the past, I have shared food porn and recipes, usually separately, but never before have I taken photos every step of the way to share with everyone else. At the urging of many drooling friends and family, I have decided to finally give a little taste of my own e-cooking lessons. (That sounded more clever in my head than it does on screen.) My goal as of late is to learn how to cook Indian and Pakistani foods, and maybe go back to my Thai obsession for a brief period. I spent several hours reading recipes and, inspired by a particular shrimp curry recipe on AllRecipes.com, developed this version. :)

[Note: After the dish was complete, I learned that it's better to err on the side of not enough oil than too much. Otherwise, this recipe was met with great approval. Indian approval, at that. ::cheers::]

Are you ready?

Rory's Shrimp Curry
Main Ingredients
1 Tbsp peanut oil
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 tsp salt
4 tomatoes, diced
1 14-oz can of coconut milk
1 lb fresh or fresh-frozen shrimp
plenty of cilantro
dried basil and cilantro
(Note: I would have liked to add fresh basil as well, but unfortunately did not have any.)

Spices
1 Tbsp dried crushed garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1-1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1-3 tsp cayenne powder (adds heat; choose your level carefully!)

Step 1. Bring water to a boil and put in shrimp.

Step 2. Heat peanut oil in a skillet and add diced onion; cook until translucent or mostly brown, depending upon your preference. I chose to caramelize only slightly.

Step 3. Blend spices and add to skillet; stir together and remove from heat.

If your shrimp was fresh, it should be fully cooked by now. Poke or stab with fork to test texture. Remove from heat, drain hot water (and be careful not to burn yourself like I did!), then place shrimp in bowl with cold water.

Step 4. Dice tomatoes and add to skillet. Sprinkle in salt. Stir tomatoes to coat with spices.

Step 5. Throw everything from skillet into a large pot. Add coconut milk.

Step 6. Simmer for about a half hour or so, stirring occasionally. The mixture will appear pale orange at first, but will become a more vivid and darker orange as the curry thickens.

After about 15 minutes might be the ideal time to start cooking basmati rice, depending on your rice-cooking techniques.

Try not to eat too many snacks as you impatiently wait for this delicious-smelling curry to reach perfect consistency! While I was waiting, I relaxed in the sun and "shucked" shrimp. :) (In other words, I peeled off their shells and icky little legs.)

Step 7. Peel shrimp.

Step 9. Stir in shrimp, fresh cilantro and dried cilantro. Cook for another couple of minutes.

Step 10. Cover rice in a bowl with the curry, and top with even more fresh cilantro.

And then... Eat! :D (My favorite part.)



Questions, Comments, Suggestions, Ideas? Please share! :) kthxbai