This is totally my way of making shrimp curry…

I know a few ways of making shrimp curry which I learned from my mom and I blindly follow them most of the time. Last time when I wanted to make shrimp curry, I felt it’s big time I cross the comfort zone. I decided to do a little experimentation in my kitchen with shrimp, however I didn’t go too wild. Using the ingredients I am familiar and comfortable with, I created a curry which tasted different and tasty. My hubby loved this curry a lot and suggested that this recipe is a must blog one. For making this curry, I used kashmiri red chilly powder which imparted the intense red color to this curry. Don’t be scared of the red spicy color, it’s not too spicy.

Red Curry Shrimp 

Ingredients:

• Oil- 2 tbsp
• Onions, chopped- 2 no’s
• Tomatoes, chopped- 2 no’s
• Water- 1/4 cup
• Salt- to taste

For cooking shrimp:

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Shrimp, de shelled and deveined large- 15 no’s ( I kept the tails on the shrimp)
• Cardamom, whole- 2
• Cloves, whole- 2
• Cinnamon, whole- 2 inch piece
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Coconut, grated- 1/2 cup
• Kashmiri red chilly powder- 2 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Water- 1/2 cup
• Tamarind, fresh- 3 inch slice soaked in 4 tbsp warm water

Preparation:

• Place a large pan over medium heat, add oil and add onions, little salt to it.
• Saute till onions turn translucent.
• Add tomatoes, cook till it turns mashed up.
• Remove the pan from the heat, let cool down a bit.
• Transfer the onion-tomato mixture to a blender along with 1/4 cup water and puree to a thick smooth paste.
• Place another pan over medium heat, add oil.
• Add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and cumin seeds to the oil, saute for a couple of seconds.
• Add grated coconut to it and saute till it turns golden in color.
• Pour the onion-tomato puree to the pan and add 1/2 cup water to thin it down.
• Cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add red kashmiri chilly powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt to the mixture, combine well.
• Now, add the shrimp and curry leaves to the pan.
• Cover the pan and cook till shrimp has cooked well, about 5-7 minutes.
• If using fresh tamarind, soak 3 inch slice in 4 tbsp warm water, squeeze it in water and strain the juice.
• If using tamarind paste, use may be 1/4 to 1/2 tsp, taste it and increase the amount accordingly.
• Add the tamarind juice to the curry, combine well.
• Have a taste and adjust the level of salt, spice and tamarind.
• Let the curry come to a boil and simmer for a few minutes so that the curry is not too watery, it should have a slightly thick constituency.
• Transfer to a bowl and serve with plain rice or rotis.

Welcoming Fall with this hot soup…

Any day any time I prefer shrimp over chicken or any other meat. One of my favorite soups has been sweet corn chicken soup, and yes only Ind0-Chinese restaurants serve this soup. This doesn’t mean that you cannot make it in your kitchen. Here is the recipe for Sweet Corn Chicken Soup - one of the most popular recipes on my blog. Go ahead and make it, it tastes delicious. I have made this soup quite a few times, yet not tired of it.

Last Friday being a rainy day, as soon as I came home I got into the kitchen to make a soup. I had shrimp, cream of corn and I wasn’t reluctant to combine them into a soup. One bowl of this hot soup and I felt so good. Honestly, this tasted better than the chicken version of the soup and my hubby agreed with this.  If you are a shrimp lover like me, you will turn into a die hard fan of this soup.

Happy Fall everyone!

Shrimp Sweet Corn Soup

• Serves: 4 people
• Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Shrimp small, cooked- 20-25 no’s
• Chicken stock (low sodium) or Bouillon cube- 2 1/2 cups stock or 1 bouillon cube
• Cream of corn, canned- use 3/4 th of 14 oz can
• Corn starch-  1tbsp
• Rice Vinegar- 1/2 tbsp
• Soy Sauce, low sodium- 1 tbsp
• Ground Pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Egg beaten- 1

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, heat the chicken stock.
2. If you are using bouillon cube, put the cube in 2 1/2 cups water and heat it stirring to dissolve the cube.
3. Add cream of corn into the chicken stock and combine it well.
4. If you only have whole kernel corn (canned), puree this in little water to make it into a cream.
5. Use only 3/4 of the 14 oz can, if you use too much cream of corn the soup will have a sweet taste.
6. Now, add the cooked shrimp into the pot and cook it for 3 minutes.
7. In a small bowl, dissolve the corn starch in 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar.
8. Add the dissolved corn starch into the soup and keep stirring.
9. Add the soy sauce and ground pepper to it.
10. Taste and add salt if needed.
11. Add cilantro to the soup, combine.
12. In a bowl, beat the egg well.
13. Increase the heat to medium high and let the soup come to a boil.
14. Slowly add the beaten egg and keep stirring the soup till the egg forms into threads.
15. If you don’t stir the soup while adding the egg, you won’t get the thread shape instead lumps of cooked egg will form.
16. Combine well and remove from the heat.
17. Ladle into soup bowls and enjoy it when it is still warm.
18. If you want more spice, sprinkle ground pepper while having it.

I swear, this is the best stir fried noodles that I made in my kitchen. Whenever I eat noodles from any Asian restaurants I always wished if I could make such tasting noodles at home. And I kept wishing for many years. A few weeks ago I had curry chicken and vegetable noodles for lunch from Manchu Wok in my campus, I totally loved it especially the taste of the noodles. Since then, I’ve been experimenting different recipes with noodles. I’ve always used rice noodles or vermicelli, so this time I tried with dried chow mein noodles.

I found out that using dried chow mein noodles gave a really delicious taste rather than using rice noodles. Also, I love shrimp in my noodles rather than chicken or beef. So, go ahead and try this recipe. Just like me, you will be making this quite often.

Shrimp Chow Mein

Ingredients:

• Dried chow mein noodles- 1/2 packet or according to your needs
• Butter- 1/2 tbsp
• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Garlic, chopped- 2 tsp
• Ginger, chopped- 1 1/2 tsp
• Green chilly, chopped- 2 no’s
• Small onions, chopped- 7 no’s
• Red Onion, chopped small- 1
• Green pepper, diced- 1
• Shrimp, deveined, large- 15 no’s
• Soy sauce- 4 tbsp
• Sambal Oelek or Ground Chili paste (optional)- 1/2 tsp
• Green onions, chopped- 2 stalks
• Sesame oil- 1 tsp
• Water, to cook noodles- 1 – 1 1/2 cups

Preparation:

• Devein and wash the shrimp under running water, keep aside.
• Heat a wok or pan over medium heat, add butter and oil.
• Add chopped garlic and ginger, saute for a minute.
• Add green chillies and small onions, saute till onions turn tender.
• Now, add the chopped red onions and saute till it gets translucent.
• Add green pepper and cook for a minute.
• Add shrimp, cover the wok or pan and cook till shrimp is well done, about 5-7 minutes.
• Add the chow mein noodles and water, cook covered till noodles turn tender.
• Don’t over cook the noodles, it should be slightly crispy.
• When the noodles turn tender and all the water has dried up, add soy sauce, chilly paste and combine well.
• Add chopped green onions, saute for a couple of minutes.
• Finally add the sesame oil and give it a stir.
• Transfer on a plate and serve hot.

Tips:

• Make sure to use dried chow mein noodles, it wouldn’t be tasty if you use rice noodles or vermicelli.
• You could make with boneless chicken or use just veggies.

If you love Thai, Vietnamese or Indian cuisine, then you are definitely going to go crazy for this dish. Even though the spices used for making this curry are mostly Indian, I got a feeling that I am enjoying Thai/Vietnamese dish. This curry is spicy with slightly tangy flavors swimming around and is strongly aromatic. And the fresh tail on shrimp in it made this curry taste even more delightful. You have two choices, either serve this curry along with plain rice/Jasmine rice/rice noodles or enjoy it as a soup. I tried both ways and found both of them are equally good.

I adopted this recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor and tweaked quite a bit to suit my taste. I also added green pepper along with shrimp. Vegetarians can make this using a mix of green pepper, red pepper, carrots, beans etc, it’s going to taste great this way too.

Green Curry Shrimp

Ingredients:

To make into a paste:

• Garlic- 5 cloves
• Ginger, fresh- 2 inch slice
• Cloves, whole- 4
• Cinnamon, whole- 2 inch slice
• Whole pepper corns- 5 no’s
• Cilantro, chopped- 3 stalks 0r 1/4 cup chopped
• Green chilly, chopped- 1

For making curry:

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Large Shrimp, deveined tail on- 15 no’s
• Onion, chopped small- 1
• Garlic, minced- 3 cloves
• Salt- to taste
• Green pepper, diced- 1
• Turmeric powder- 2 pinches
• Chill powder- 1/4 tsp
• Tamarind paste- small gooseberry sized soaked in 3 tbsp warm water
• Lemon grass, dried (optional)- 1 inch slice ( 3 no’s)
• Water- 1 cup
• Coconut milk, thick- 1/2 cup

Preparation:

• In a blender, grind the above mentioned “to make a paste” ingredients till it’s smooth.
• Devein and clean the shrimp under running water, if possible keep the tail.
• Heat a large pan and add oil, add minced garlic, fry it till it starts to turn golden in color.
• Add the chopped onion, salt and saute for a while.
• Add the ground paste and cook for a few minutes.
• Add green pepper, turmeric powder and chilly powder, combine well.
• If you are using lemon grass add that too.
• Now, pour the soaked tamarind juice without any seeds in it.
• Add water, let it come to a boil.
• Add the shrimp and cook covered till shrimp gets cooked well.
• Open the lid and let the curry gets thickened.
• Add coconut milk and heat for some more time.
• Serve hot with rice or enjoy as a soup.
• You could adjust the spice level by adding more of coconut milk or by not adding chilly powder.

Tips:

• Vegetarians can add veggies like diced carrots, green pepper, red pepper, beans etc.

Some days, I just love to curl up on my couch with my eyes glued to a movie or my ears glued to music. Those days I do wish if there was some way to cook food without my direct involvement. Well, there are frozen food options which I am not so keen about. Sometimes, I do cook food in a hurry burry. Even in a hurry burry I make sure to make it delicious as my taste buds and body are so particular about that.

Whenever I make easy dishes and when it tastes great, I get the feeling that food can be always made in an easy yet delicious way. Here is one such dish I made on an extremely lazy day which turned out to be just great.

Sesame Shrimp Salad

Ingredients:

• Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp
• Whole dry Red Chilly- 2 no’s
• Onion, chopped- 1
• Celery, diced- 2 stalk
• Carrot, diced- 1
• Shrimp, deveined small- 30 no’s
• Sambal Oelek- 1/2 tsp
• Soy sauce- 4 tbsp
• Sesame oil- 1 tsp
• Sesame seeds- 1/4 cup
• Cilantro, chopped- 1 handful

Preparation:

• Clean and devein shrimp, keep aside.
• Place a pan over medium heat and add oil.
• When the oil gets hot, add dry red chilly, saute.
• Add onions and saute for a minute.
• Add the diced celery and carrots, saute for a few minutes.
• Now, add shrimp and cook covered till shrimp gets cooked well, for a few minutes.
• To the cooked shrimp, add sambal oelek and soy sauce, combine well.
• Stir fry the shrimp.
• Add sesame oil and sprinkle sesame seeds over the shrimp.
• Finish it off with chopped cilantro.
• Serve hot along with salad.

Couscous has been always my favorite quick fix meals. Each time I make couscous, I throw different ingredients to it like chicken, veggies, dates, nuts and sea food. Among them, couscous combined with shell fish is my most preferred way of devouring it. I added two of my my favorite shell fish: shrimp and mussels. This is a complete meal that can be made effortlessly in very less time. This could be made ahead of time and refrigerated to enjoy for next day lunch.

Shellfish Couscous:

Ingredients:

• Shrimp, deveined, de shelled, large- 15 no’s
• Mussels, cleaned- 15 no’s
• Onion, chopped- 2
• Tomato, chopped-1
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
• Green chilly, chopped- 1
• Garam Masala- 1/2 tsp
• Chilly powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Fennel powder- 2 tsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 1 handful
• Water- 1 cup
• Couscous- 11 4/ cups
• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Devein and de shell the shrimp and wash it under running water.
• Clean the mussels and wash under running water.

• Place a wide non-stick pan over medium heat, add oil to it.
• Add the chopped onions to it followed by little salt, let it turn translucent.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and green chilly saute for few minutes.
• Add chopped tomato and let it get mashed.
• Add the garam masala and saute for a minute.
• Add chilly powder, turmeric powder, fennel powder, salt and combine well.
• Add the shrimp and mussels, cover with the lid and let the shell fish cook for about 10 minutes or so.

• If the mixture is getting dry, add little water to it.
• Add the chopped cilantro and combine everything.
• Once the shell fish has cooked well, pour 1 cup water to it.
• Let the water come to a rolling boil.
• Add 1 1/4 cups couscous, immediately cover the pan with its lid and remove the pan from the stove.

• Let it stand for 3-4 minutes.
• Open the pan, combine the couscous with a fork.
• Serve the couscous on a plate topped with shrimp and mussels.

Tips:

• You could make this with boneless chicken.
• Make sure the chicken has cooked well before you add couscous.
• Adjust the spice level according to your needs.
• You could even add crab to this.

Yes, I am a die-hard fan of shrimp. If you are a constant visitor of my blog you might know this better than anyone else. May be because I grew up eating a hell a lot of shrimp, that too catch of the day shrimps. I love shrimp cooked any way, however my most favorite way of eating shrimp is by frying it. I want my shrimp fry to be spicy and aromatic, every bite should bring the word “yummm” out of my mouth. I usually fry the shrimp after removing its head and shell. But this time I wanted to try with the head and shell-on. I am glad that I tried it finally, as it tasted much tastier than the shelled ones.

I had a lot of fun not only frying the shrimp but also eating it using my both hands removing the shells and heads. Now that’s how you should eat shrimp. Do you think I thrashed the heads just like that from the fried shrimp? No way! I did thrash it but only after chewing it and sucking the juices from it, it was delicious. In fact, the head is the most flavorful part of the shrimp and by frying it you could enjoy the head as well.

Head-on Shrimp fry

Ingredients:

• Head-on shrimp, cleaned and deveined, large- 12 no’s
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 1tsp
• Chilly powder- 1 1/2 tsp ( depending upon your spice level)
• Ground pepper- 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Garam masala- 1/2 tsp ( whole cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon ground together)
• Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
• Salt- to taste
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig, add to the shrimp while frying
• Oil- enough for frying

How to devein and clean head-on shrimp:

• Wash the head-on shrimp thoroughly under running water.
• Cut off the long whiskers and the sharp points on the head, pat dry it.
• Using a sharp knife, make a slit over the shell and not over the head, where the vein is seen.
• Remove the vein from it.
• Try not to rip off the shell and the head.

Preparation:

• Make a paste with the above mentioned ingredients except the curry leaves by adding little water to it.

• Spread the paste over the shrimp and marinate it for 15 minutes or longer.

• Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add enough oil for frying.
• Add the curry leaves into the oil and fry the shrimp until it turns golden brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes.

• Transfer the fried shrimp on a paper towel to get rid of the excess oil.
• Serve immediately when it is still warm.

Tips:

• Adjust the spice level according to your needs.
• You could also marinate the shrimp overnight which will enhance the taste of the fried shrimp greatly.
• Be careful while cleaning the head-on shrimp as its head has sharp points.

It’s time to dig out the grill or the griddle and let the BBQ party begin…

I am back from a week long road trip, we covered Colorado,Utah, Arizona and Nevada. While in Utah, I felt like I have landed on some other planet, it’s full of breathtaking views and stunning canyons. I haven’t yet gotten out of the road trip hangover. Still looking at the pictures and cherishing the wonderful moments.

Here is a picture of me taken in Antelope Canyon, AZ, one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

The week before my road trip most of my cooking was on the griddle placed on the patio. I was obsessed with griddle cooking and so I threw almost everything that came to my hands on the griddle.

Here are the few dishes I cooked on the griddle.

Cooking on the Griddle menu, Asian Flavors:

• Asian Shrimp
• Vegetable stir fry
• Asian Chicken
• Asparagus from the griddle

Asian Shrimp from the griddle

Ingredients:

• Shrimp, deveined, de-shelled- 14 no’s

For marination:

• Soy sauce- 3tbsp
• Ground pepper- 2 pinches
• Lemon juice- 2tbsp
• Chilli garlic paste- 1tsp
• Garlic minced- 1tsp
• Onion, minced- 1tbsp
• Cilantro- 2tbsp

Preparation:

• Soak 2 large skewers in water for an hour so they will not burn on the grill or griddle.
• Devein and de-shell the shrimp and wash under running water and keep aside.
• In a bowl, combine the above mentioned marinating ingredients.
• Spread the marination on the shrimp, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so.

• Remove skewers from water, pat dry and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• Skewer the shrimp.

• Turn on the griddle to 350.
• Place the shrimp and grill on both sides till it turns slightly browned, about 5 minutes per side.

Stay tuned for other Cooking on the Griddle recipes.

Happy Griddling!

I can literally eat shrimp everyday, I am truly not exaggerating. Shrimp has been my favorite shell fish ever since I was a kid. Only thing that is stopping me from making shrimp everyday is the fact that it’s high in cholesterol. I’ve been doing a lot of internet research about this and have found that many studies prove that high cholesterol in shrimp doesn’t do much harm to our body. Even though it increased people’s bad cholesterol, it also boosted their good cholesterol enough to offset the increase in bad cholesterol.

This is definitely a good news to all the shrimp lovers. Also, it is low in fat and contains fish oils which is good for our heart. However, consuming too much of anything will make us sick. Hence, eat shrimp in moderation and avoid frying it. Instead, grill it or bake it and enjoy it with no guilt.

I try different things with shrimp and I dare to add shrimp to almost everything. So, last time when I had cooked shrimp, I made a bisque out of shrimp. To make it healthy, I had made the bisque without adding the fish stock or chicken stock. I added water instead and finished it off by adding very little fat free cream.

This is a good recipe for anyone who is on diet and wants to enjoy shrimp.

Shrimp Bisque:

• Recipe: Thas

Ingredients:

• Shrimp, shelled, vein removed and cooked- 12 no’s large
• Onion, chopped- 1
• Celery, diced- 2 stalks
• Potato, diced- 1
• Garlic, minced- 1 1/2 tsp
• Thyme, fresh- 2 sprigs
• Parsley chopped- 1 handful
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Fat free cream- 1/4 cup
• Olive oil or butter- 1tbsp
• Water- enough to thin down the bisque
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• You could use cooked frozen shrimp or uncooked fresh ones.
• If using uncooked shrimp, remove the shells, devein it and wash thoroughly under water.

• Heat a wide cooking pan over medium heat and add olive oil or butter.
• Add chopped onions and little salt, saute till tender.
• Add garlic minced, thyme sprigs, potatoes and celery, cook covered till potatoes turn tender.

• Add shrimp to the cooked veggies and add some water to it and season with ground pepper and salt.

• If using uncooked shrimp, cook the shrimp for few minutes.

• After the shrimp has cooked, transfer the veggies and shrimp to a blender and puree it to a smooth constituency.
• Transfer the pureed shrimp back to the cooking pot placed over medium heat.

• You could add water to thin down the bisque.
• Taste it and if required add salt and ground pepper.
• Add cream and bring it to a simmer.
• Finish it off by garnishing with fresh parsley leaves.

Tips:

• Save the tails of the shrimp and wash it under running water, you could use this to decorate the bisque and the soup bowl.

It’s creamy, it has shrimp, it has cheese and it’s on a jalapeno, oooo it’s spicyyy and oh wait, it’s baked too…

My obsession with jalapeno has started not so long ago, it’s only been an year now. When there is a hint of jalapeno in my dishes I will devour it happily, of course with few glasses of ice cold water. My favorite pizza topping is jalapeno. My favorite burger is the one loaded with pickled jalapeno. My favorite Thai food is garnished with jalapenos. My favorite bread is jalapeno cornbread. By now it must be crystal clear to you that I am a genuine jalapeno lover This doesn’t mean that I will ever dare to eat jalapeno as it is, I am not in for such challenges. I would rather hide

I’ve had stuffed jalapenos in many Mexican restaurants, since then I’ve been wanting to make this in my kitchen. Finally, I did make it. I bought a few pounds of jalapeno during my last grocery shopping. I wanted to make a different stuffing for the jalapenos. That day I had shrimp in my freezer. So, I made a stuffing with shrimp, cream cheese and parmesan cheese.

Be careful while seeding the jalapenos, if you want you could have the hand gloves on. Avoid the screaming part by accidentally rubbing your eyes with your jalapeno hands. If this happens for some reason, wash your eyes with cold water several times and if this doesn’t seem to work “Call 911″ immediately (just kidding).

I loved the bite of the shrimp from it, the creaminess and the mild spiciness from the jalapeno. While baking this, your house will smell as if you have jalapeno candles lighted on. Your eyes will have a slight burning sensation, but when you have a bite of this baked stuffed jalapeno you’ll forget about everything and your taste buds will melt into this.

Creamy Shrimp Stuffed Jalapeno

Ingredients:

• Jalapeno, halved and seeded, large- 7 no’s

• Shrimp, deveined, cooked frozen, minced- 6 no’s
• Cream cheese- 5 tbsp
• Parmesan cheese- 3 tbsp
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Dried Parsley- 1 tsp

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 425 F.
• Rinse the jalapenos, pat dry and cut them into halves vertically.

• If you want you could wear a hand glove while removing the seeds from the jalapenos and keep aside.
• Mince the deveined, cooked shrimp and keep aside.

• In a large bowl, combine the shrimp, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, ground pepper and dried parsley.

• Place 1 tsp of this stuffing on to each jalapeno.

• Bake the stuffed jalapenos for 25 minutes or until the top of the stuffing starts to turn golden.

• Let cool down for few minutes and serve immediately to kick off your smashing party.

Tips:

For Vegans: You could substitute shrimp with other veggies like green pepper or potatoes.