Kerala Shrimp Curry

Right from my childhood days shrimp used to be my favourite apart from chicken. Those days my mom used to have a hard time making me have seafood curries since I preferred few fishes that time. But shrimp was definitely an exception and on days when there was shrimp curry I was too happy to indulge on it without any help. During my work days at India whenever I went home there was shrimp curry waiting for me! As I grew up I outgrew the distaste I had for other fish varieties and now prefer seafood next to chicken. I do prefer to have shrimp in any way-be it in curries, or fried or grilled-the sight of it makes me drool!

Kerala, the coastal state is famous for its sea food dishes which form an important part of the cuisine. The seafood is so popular in the state that it has become virtually impossible to have a complete meal without it. Here in this post I have described Kerala style shrimp curry using grated coconut, spices and coconut oil. Grated coconut may be replaced with coconut milk too. But I prefer the thick texture imparted to the curry by addition of grated coconut. I adopted the recipe from my mom but changed it to suit my taste. Here I have used tamarind paste instead of gamboge. Again this was a personal choice. You may use Gamboge to get the authentic taste. Also I highly recommend the use of shallots rather than big onions and coconut oil instead of any other oil for perfect recreation of Kerala style shrimp curry. The dish forms a perfect combo with Appam/ steamed rice/ Chapati/ Roti/ Naan.

Ingredients:

Raw shrimp- 2 lb with outer shell removed

Shallots(small onions)- 15-20 sliced

Ripe tomatoes- 2 chopped

Fresh ginger minced- 1.5 tsp

Fresh garlic minced - 1 tsp

Chilly powder- 3/4 tsp(adjust according to your taste buds)

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Fenugreek powder - 1/2 tsp

Chicken masala/Garam masala - 1 tsp

Freshly grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Tamarind paste - 3/4 tsp dissloved in water

Salt to taste

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 sprigs curry leaves

3 green chillies slit

Coconut oil for cooking

For marinating shrimp:

3/4 tsp turmeric powder

3/4 tsp chicken masala/garam masala

1/2 tsp ground pepper

Salt

Method:

• Clean and drain shrimp well and marinate with ingredients mentioned under marinade.
  
• Keep for 3 hours in the refrigerator.
  
• Grind grated coconut to a smooth paste adding enough water. Keep aside.
  
• In a pan heat 2 tsp coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds.
  
• Add curry leaves and saute till it turns crisp and you get the aroma.
  
• Add minced ginger, garlic and saute till raw smell goes.
  
• Add sliced shallots along with green chillies and saute till shallots turn brown.
  
• Add chopped tomatoes and cook till it turns mushy.
  
• Add chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, masala, salt and saute till the raw smell of masalas go.
  
• Add tamarind paste dissolved in water, ground coconut and enough water to cook shrimp.
  
• Bring to a boil.
  
• Add marinated shrimp, reduce heat to low and cook with a closed lid until shrimp is cooked well.
  
• Remove lid increase heat to medium and cook for few minutes more until gravy turns thick.
  
• Add fenugreek powder and mix well.
  
• Add freshly torn curry leaves, 1 tsp coconut oil, mix well and remove from heat.
  
• Serve hot!
  

Pooja.

Serve wih:

Other Seafood Dishes:

Grilled Fish

My husband doesn't like to cook. Not that he doesn't know but feels lazy! He says that he can cook only special dishes and that I shouldn't expect him to cook the usual dishes! But once in a blue moon and sometimes during weekends he gears up and cooks up few dishes of his own. He doesn't like to follow any recipe available but likes to experiment on his own. He used to always brag about a grilled fish dish that he made for his friend during his bachelor days and how his friend was taken by surprise on seeing his cooking skills..(The story goes on and on..). For me this always remained as a tale as he never made it after marriage! Whenever I asked him to make the dish he kept postponing saying that he would make it during summer. This long due promise was fulfilled last weekend.

We went in search of Salmon to the grocery store but ended up in buying Orange Roughy-a deep sea fish, instead. We were seeing this fish for the first time and decided to give it a try. You may substitute this with any white fish too. This dish goes well with Persian Dill rice. Since we hadn't planned on making this dish in advance we didn't have dill rice to go with this but since I had enough dried dill we mixed it with steamed rice at the last moment. Though we couldn't recreate the taste and flavour of Persian dill rice, this was enough to satisfy our cravings.

The dish is hot and spicy with a tinge of sweetness added by dried raisins and cranberries. You may adjust the spiciness to suit your taste by varying the amount of ingredients mentioned below.The addition of roasted cashew pieces imparts crunchiness to the dish. A cast iron skillet was used to make grill marks appear on the surface of the fish and to seal the outer layer of the fish so that the juices still remains inside. The vegetables are also added at this stage for a similar purpose. This whole skillet containing the vegetables and fish is then baked in an oven for some time until the fish and vegetables are cooked. This is later garnished with dried raisins, cranberries and roasted cashews.

Ingredients:

Orange Roughy(or any white fish)- 1 lb

Asparagus Spears-8

Small red potatoes-3 chopped with skin

White onion-1 chopped into squares

1 tsp dried raisins

1 tsp dried cranberries

Few pieces of roasted broken cashews

For marinade:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp ground pepper

3/4 tsp paprika(you may vary the amount to suit your taste)

Salt to taste

1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black,white,green, pink peppercorns

Dash of powdered cardamoms and cloves

Fresh garlic cloves-3 finely chopped

1 tsp fresh lemon rinds

Method:

• Pat dry the fish pieces with a paper towel.
• Marinate the fish with the ingredients mentioned under marinade. Marinate the vegetables too with left over marinade.
  
• Preheat oven to 350 F(180 C).
  
• Heat a cast iron skillet at high heat. Spray and grease the skillet with enough oil.
  
• Place the fish pieces with serving side down first on the skillet until the grill marks appear on the surface and the outer layer has sealed.
  
• Turn the other side down and add the vegetables. Drizzle more olive oil.
  
• Cook till the grill marks appear on the surface of the fish, the vegetables and until the outer layer has sealed well.
  
• Place the entire skillet in the oven and bake till done. It took about 15-20 min.
  
• Before removing the skillet from oven keep at broil mode for 1-2 minutes.
  
• Remove from oven.
• If the vegetables aren't cooked completely even after the prescribed cooking time, remove the fish slices onto the serving plate, place the skillet containing the vegetables at high heat, add about 1 tbsp butter to grease the pan and to add extra flavour and cook till done.
• Garnish with raisins, cranberries and cashews.
  
• Serve hot with Persian Dill rice.
  

And a Lovely Blog Award award from Hema of Salt To Taste. Thanks a lot for the award Hema.

This award has got the following rules:
1) Add the logo of the award to your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs (Only if you like).
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blog.

I hereby pass the award to all the blogs I love and to all those who support me and posts valuable comments and suggestions. Love all your blogs :) I sincerely hope I havent missed anyone out.

Pooja.

Other Seafood Recipes:

Serve With:

Kappa Puzhukku(Mashed Tapioca/Yucca) & Mathi(Sardine) Curry

'Kappa Puzhukku' which is mashed Tapioca (Yucca) with fish curry used to be the weekend lunch special at home. Tapioca can be prepared in a variety of ways but with fish curry mashed tapioca is a superb combination and is a Kerala speciality dish. On a normal day lunch at home used to be rice, a curry to pour over rice, fish curry and a vegetarian side dish. In my state as we get fresh fish of various kinds all the year round, most of the people in my state cannot have lunch without fish curry. At home fish curry is prepared in a meen chatti(earthenware pot) and this imparts a distinct flavour to the dish. After years of having freshly made fish curry at home I overlooked this fact until I made fish curry in US. I couldn't bring an earthenware pot from home and couldn't find one in anyof the Indian shops here. The curry made in a non stick pan or any other vessel doesn't have that unique taste. Hence I plan to bring one when I make a visit to my homeland. Hope it remains intact until it reaches here!

Sardine is one my favourite fishes. This fish has a high nutritional value as it is rich in omega 3 fatty acids which is heart healthy. It is also a good source of vitamins and proteins.In my state fish curry is made using fresh sardines and canned ones arent popular.The fish curry mentioned below has a slight deviation from the traditional fish curry preparation in Kerala as I added garam masala.Also the curry made with Kudam Puli(Gamboge) imparts a special flavour to the curry than one made with tamarind extract which is popular in Indian stores here. As I personally do not like the flavour of Gamboge I made curry with tamarind extract. In the traditional preparation shallots/small onions and coconut oil are used which gives the required flavour.Also another important point to be kept in mind while making this traditional curry is to add the right amount of tamarind extract and chilly powder. Of course you may vary the amount of chilly powder to suit your taste buds but without the right amount of sourness imparted by tamarind this curry wouldnt taste good.

Kappa Puzhukku(Mashed Tapioca/Yucca)

Ingredients:

1 big size Tapioca/Yucca with outer skin removed and cut into pieces

1/2 cup grated coconut

1 tsp cumin seeds

3/4 tsp turmeric powder

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp black mustard seeds

2 sprigs curry leaves

2 dry red chilly cut into halves

4 shallots/small onions

Salt to taste

Water for boiling yucca

Coconut Oil for cooking

Method:

• In a large pan(with sufficient depth) put the yucca pieces and fill with enough water to cover the pieces. Add enough salt. Bring to a boil. When it starts boiling reduce heat(keep at medium heat) and cook until the yucca pieces are soft and almost breakable with a spoon.
• Meanwhile grind coconut, cumin seeds, turmeric and garlic together by adding water till it turns into a smooth paste. Keep this aside.
• Heat about 1 tsp of coconut oil in a non stick pan and saute small onions till it turns dark brown. Drain and keep aside.
• Heat the remaining oil(or add 1 tsp oil if it was used up) and splutter mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and broken red chillies. Saute for a few seconds until the curry leaves have become crispy. Turn off heat and keep this mixture aside.
• When the yucca pieces are cooked drain off water but reserve some water(about 1/4 cup) in another vessel.
• Mash the cooked yucca with a masher/spoon and slowly add some of the reserved liquid while mixing well.Take care to see that the mixture doesnt become watery but should be of the consistency as shown in the figure.
• Keep this yucca mixture on low-medium heat and check if there is enough salt.Add the ground coconut mixture. Stir well so that it gets mixed well. Now add mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chilly mixture along with the small onions. Mix well and remove from heat.

Mathi(Sardine) Curry

Ingredients:

8-10 sardines cleaned and cut into pieces

12 small onions/shallots chopped

2 tomatoes

4 garlic cloves minced

1 tsp fresh ginger minced

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 sprigs curry leaves

3 split green chillies

1 tsp chilly powder

3/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 1/2 tsp coriander powder

3/4 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp fenugreek powder

1 cup coconut milk

3/4 tsp tamarind extract dissolved in 1/4 cup water

Salt to taste

Coconut Oil

Method:

• Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and then green chillies. Saute for few seconds.
• Add minced ginger and garlic and saute for few seconds till you get the aroma.
• Add chopped onions and saute till it turns brown.
• Add tomatoes and cook till it turns mushy. If you dont have enough time then you can puree the tomatoes and add at this stage.
• Reduce heat and add the spice powders-chilly, turmeric, coriander ,garam masala and salt. Saute until the raw smell goes.
• Increase the heat and add tamarind water and coconut milk along with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil.
• Now add the fish pieces, reduce heat and simmer with a closed lid until the pieces are cooked well.
• Evaporate some water if the curry is too watery. Before turning off heat add fenugreek powder, torn curry leaves, 1 tbsp coconut oil and mix well. Turn off heat.
• Enjoy with Kappa.

Pooja.

Other Seafood Recipes: