Shrimp Coconut Curry

I love curry enough to make it fairly often. It all began with yellow curry when I made Curry Chicken, then my blossomed and I've since made several different kinds, including Red Curry and Massaman Curry. There's so many variants, all with different ingredients, flavors, and consistencies.

Curry as a word is a very generic way to describe all these dishes, but when you start digging, you learn there is a lot more to it. Thai and Indian curries are the styles most of us know well, with Thai curries tending to begin with a curry paste (see Red or Green Curry) and thinned out with coconut milk and meat or vegetables. Indian curry is often more like a chunky stew and has tomatoes and onions. The yellow curry I mentioned more is more aligned with the Indian style, though I'm sure it would be flavorless to someone with a more developed taste.

All that being said, I've fallen in love with what I've learned to create at home, and make curry at least once a month or so. I try to experiment with different varieties, but have not grown sick of yellow curry yet and make it often. The Curry Chicken I mentioned before is my go to base recipe, and over time I've made adjustments here and there. This time, though, I wanted to change up my meat and veggie options and go a little different route, using shrimp and mushrooms as main ingredients.

Often it starts with that whole, "Hey! I've got all this nonsense in my fridge and it's gotta gooooo!" to which my gears start turning to see if what I've got in my tool kit to make something with. There are weeks where I get into a habit of making repeat dishes (which, for a lady who started this blog largely due to an inability to cook, is huge to even have that rolodex), but for the sake of entertainment and an excuse to use my camera, I often try to think outside the box a bit.

This one I went with more of the curry paste style, creating a marinade for the shrimp and base for the sauce with a mix of  ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, cumin, tamarind paste (hello Pad Thai!), finely minced serrano pepper (straight outta the garden, too!), cayenne pepper, and a little lime juice. I mixed that all together and tossed the shrimp in it, leaving it to sit about 10 minutes. Note that lime juice is acidic and will begin to cook the shrimp, so this isn't a long-term marinade. 

In the meantime, I added a little coconut oil (other cooking oil will do) and heat to medium, then stirred in two small curry leaves and some fresh mushrooms. The curry leaves aren't a must, and as a matter of fact they are fairly uncommon and may require a specialty shop to find them. A friend of mine gave them to me fresh and I dried them to keep for cooking. 

I sautéed the mushrooms for about 3-4 minutes, until they became soft, then dumped the shrimp and marinade into a pan heated to medium with about a tablespoon of coconut oil (other cooking oil will do also). I let the shrimp cook about a minute, then flipped them and cooked the other side - shrimp is a fast cooker and if you overdo it, the texture becomes rubbery. They went for a total of 3-4 minutes for me before I stirred in about a cup of spinach, which wilted quickly in the pn. Then I stirred in the coconut milk (after shaking the can aggressively first) and heated it for a couple more minutes to heat through.

I opted to serve this with some cauliflower rice and voila!

Pretty look at, delicious to eat.

I'm so glad I made this with shrimp. I'm not a big shrimp eater; I mostly buy it frozen and use it for gumbo. But every now and again I'll get a bug up my A and come up with something good. I wouldn't consider this spicy at all, so another serrano or two wouldn't hurt next time. But everything came together nicely to create a savory, fulfilling dish that went well with the cauliflower rice. 5/5, will make again.

Shrimp Coconut Curry Recipe

Ingredients:

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined but tails on

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

1 teaspoon fresh grated or minced garlic

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon tamarind paste

1 serrano pepper, finely diced

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon lime juice

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2-3 fresh curry leaves (optional - I used dried)

6 ounces mushrooms, chopped

1 can coconut milk (15.5 ounces)

1 cup fresh spinach

2 cups cooked rice or cauliflower rice

Instructions:

Add shrimp to a small bowl, then mix in ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, cumin, tamarind paste, serrano pepper, cayenne pepper, and lime juice. Toss to coat. Set aside and let marinate for about 10 minutes. In a large skillet, add coconut oil and heat to medium. Add curry leaves, then mushrooms, and cook for about 3 minutes, until mushrooms begin to soften. Add shrimp and marinade and cook for about 3 minutes, flipping shrimp about halfway through. Pour in coconut milk and add spinach. Stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes to heat throughout. Serve over rice.

adapted from coconut shrimp curry with mushrooms