My Style Shrimp Curry

Shrimp tops everyone's list when questioned about one's favorite seafood. Shrimps are also known as 'Royellu in Telugu', Zinga or Kolambi in Marathi'. Dried shrimp is commonly used in Andhra and Maharashtrian cuisines frequently and they taste great with eggs, bottle gourd, ridge gourd and eggplants. Being living in coastal cities like Mumbai (Bombay) and Visakhapatnam, got a chance to try all varieties of seafood readily available fresh out of fisherman's net.

I remember in Mumbai when the early morning local train reaches its destination the Machiwala's (fisherman also called a Kolis) rushes out of the luggage compartment with big baskets of fresh fish to the local markets. Early hours also means very busy hours in the streets of Mumbai while I used to catch the 7:53 am Kalyan start fast Local train to go to Kurla for my work. I used to hear "Machi pani ...Machi pani" in distance when these Kolis (fishermen) used to carry the fish-loads with fishy water dripping. They shout and warn pedestrians about the fishy water that drips and we all use to give way for them.

Gosh! those fishy, smelly memories of Mumbai...... I feel Mumbaites reading this might relate it in some way or the other. Well moving on to the recipe... prawns are very easy to handle in the kitchen but they can be disastrous if overcooked. They will turn out real rubbery and hard to chew on. This curry is my isshtyle recipe for shrimps which is so juicy to taste, delectable and enticing ever, Enjoy my version of this recipe!

Click here to read on how to clean shrimp (video) and for more nutritional info on shrimps click here

Source : My own
Cuisine: Andhra, South Indian
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins
Makes: 4 people
Ingredients:
1 pound of devined shrimps
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1 large ripe plum tomato, finely chopped
3-4 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp red chilli powder, cayenne pepper
½ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
2 tbsps coconut milk
few curry leaves
salt as per taste
1 tbsp cooking oil
roast and grind into smooth paste:
1" stick of cinnamon
2 cloves
½ tsp poppy seeds/khus khus
2 tsp grated coconut (fresh or dried)
2 cloves of garlic
small piece of ginger (optional)
2 dried red chillies
1 tsp of cumin seeds/jeera
1 tsp of coriander seeds/dhaniya
Method:

1. Clean the shrimps as shown in the above links or you can buy cleaned ones. Marinate them with salt and chilli powder, keep covered in fridge for 15 mins.
2. Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai and fry onions for few mins until pink and translucent. Add little bit of salt to sweat the onions and then add green chillies, tomatoes and fry for another 10 mins or so till the tomatoes are soft.
3. Once all the ingredients turn soft add turmeric powder and the prepared paste.
   
4. Fry till the raw smell of the paste goes off. Add the coconut milk and stir in the shrimps. Let it to cook for 5 mins approx.
5. You will know they are cooked when shrimps curl into small circles, immediately turn off the heat you don't want to overcook them and end up eating the stubborn shrimps.
   
6. Serve hot with rice or rotis, Indian bread.