My hubby’s mom makes AWESOME shrimp curry – it’s rich, creamy, spicy and sweet. It’s a simple recipe that’s simply fantastic and today, I’m going to share that recipe with you.
Whenever we visit Rob’s fam, my mother-in-law will cook a delicious Keralite feast.
For those that don’t know, Kerala is a state in India located along the Malabar coast. As you might imagine, seafood is a big part of their cuisine.
Rob and I are both observing Lent and since we’re not eating meat on Fridays, I HAVE to have dinner ready by the time he gets off work. Why? Because if I don’t… Roby will go to McDonalds and order their fish sandwich (filet o’ fish…). I can’t understand why, but he loves that place and he loves that square shaped fish sandwich. The great thing about this shrimp curry is that it’s a quick and easy dish to whip up. The only thing that takes time with this dish is browning the onions – but I prep the rest of my ingredients while I brown the onions – so it all works out.
To make this dish, cook the shrimp and set it aside. Then, add onions, curry leaves and a thai bird chili pepper to the saute pan. Once the onions turn golden, add the ginger, garlic and spices – then the tomatoes. Add the coconut milk and the shrimp – and viola, you’ve got good food.
Enjoy this shrimp curry. It’s fantastic and you’re going to love it. Want more tasty Indian recipes? Then check out my eBook: South Asian Persuasion: 100+ Paleo Indian Recipes.
Ingredients
Make Shrimp
- 1 tbs Coconut Oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 lb wild caught shrimp
Make Curry
- 1 tbs Coconut Oil
- 1 medium white onion or 2-3 large shallots, finely chopped
- 3 Romano tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 can Coconut Milk full fat
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 inch ginger. minced
- 1-2 thai bird chilies minced
- ¼ tsp of Kashmiri Chili Powder adjust to taste
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 15 Curry Leaves
Instructions
- In a saute pan, add 1 tbs coconut oil on medium heat.
- Add shrimp, salt and pepper – cook until done, then set aside.
- Drain any water in the pan, then add another 1 tbs coconut oil, onions, curry leaves and thai bird chilies to pan on medium low heat. stirring occasionally.
- When the onions turn golden brown, add ginger and garlic. After a minute, add the spices and tomatoes.
- Once the tomatoes get soft, add coconut milk. Cook for five minutes then add shrimp.
- Enjoy!
Addie says
Hello – I’m not sure this got posted so I’ll repeat it: this is not the recipe I made, I made the 1 Minute Shrimp curry using your onion masala. That said, the review still stands! 😊
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Haha, I’m glad you liked it, Addie! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂
Addie says
Hello! My husband and I loved this sauce; however, I got the dork of the day award by not noticing that the shrimp I bought were labeled “Easy-Peel” and not “Peeled”. As a result, we ended up eating the shrimp with our fingers since we had to peel them first! 😂😂 Very messy but delicious 😋
Rachel Peterson says
This was so good & so simple! My first time making Indian food 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Hi Rachel, that’s awesome! Love that you made Indian food for the first time!
Elizabeth says
Hi – just making this now. Sauce tastes delicious. I decided to just cook the raw shrimp in the sauce instead of precooking it. Is there a specific reason that you would precook them? Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Elizabeth, you can do it either way and honestly your way sounds much easier! I was taught this way by family (reason being to better season the shrimp) but I don’t think it makes much of a difference if any. I’m going to test it out and update the recipe if I find it doesn’t matter which is what I suspect. Thank you for bringing this to my attention – always great to save time!
Patricia says
This sauce tastes just like my favorite dish from a local Thai restaurant. Yum! They serve it with a choice of beef or chicken. I think I’ll do what a previous poster suggested and make a bunch and freeze it for fast future meals. Thanks!!!
My Heart Beets says
Happy to hear that!! Glad you like it, Patricia!
Molly says
HI Ashley!
Im looking forward to trying your recipes – i have quite a few pinned! Do you think this one could be made in in the Instant Pot very well? I just got one recently and am trying to find more recipes for it. 🙂 Not sure if fish or shrimp would adapt well since they cook so quickly already…. Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Molly! I don’t think an IP will save you much time when it comes to seafood. I’ll keep adding more IP recipes to the blog – there’s one coming later today actually 🙂
Jessica says
I absolutely love this curry sauce! I recently decided to use in in prepping freezer meals. I made the sauce and used an immersion blender to puree it, then filled ice cube trays with the sauce. I used a vegetable spiralizer to make sweet potato noodles, and I blanched some spinach, snap peas and mushrooms. Combine all ingredients in a bag after flash freezing and you have a healthy version of store bought freezer meals. Take out of the freezer and dump into a skillet for 3-5 min. Delicious curry instantly!
My Heart Beets says
Jessica, that’s awesome!! I’m so glad you like the sauce! Thanks for the tip – I’m definitely going to start making freezer meals with this too 🙂
Sonja Pahor says
I love the sound of your recipes but you never mention how many people they are supposed to serve. Could you consider this in future
My Heart Beets says
Hi Sonja, thanks! I will make more of an effort to include the number of servings. For the record, I’d say this shrimp curry is about 2-3 servings. Hope that helps!
Sherry says
Can you use dried curry leaves? I’m having trouble locating fresh ones. According to the shipping estimate, the ones on your Amazon link take almost 3 weeks to come in!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Sherry, yes you can use dried curry leaves! Jeez, there must be some high demand for curry leaves because they’ve bumped up the price to an unreasonable amount. I found a cheaper option for fresh curry leaves on amazon but they’ll still take a couple weeks to get to you. If you know of any local Indian grocery stores, you can almost always find curry leaves available for just a few bucks. Once you find them, buy a big bunch and freeze them! Let me know what you think of the curry once you try it 🙂
rlrg says
The dry spices go in with the tomatoes?
My Heart Beets says
Yes, I’ve updated the recipe. Thank you for letting me know I forgot to include that step!
Michele says
How much Coconut Milk? Not sure if I missed it, but I don’t see it in the list of ingredients!
:-/
My Heart Beets says
Hi Michele, thanks for catching that! I’ve updated the recipe – it calls for 1 can of full fat coconut milk 🙂 Let me know how this turns out for ya!
Priya says
Generally, what size can? I’ve been buying small ones for your naan recipe but do you think this one needs an average sized can?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Priya! I use a regular 13.5oz can. For future recipes, if you click on the ingredients, you can see exactly the size/product that I use/recommend. Hope that helps!
Roshni says
Could you use tomato paste instead of the tomatoes if I’m out?