I have to confess I totally made this up. It is loosely based on a Kadai Shrimp recipe by a famous Indian chef, Sanjeev Kapoor, and also loosely based on what was in my refrigerator and pantry at the time. I tweaked a few things here and there and TA DA! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Ingredients:
1 lb medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, finely chopped (preserve juices)
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 to 3 oz baby spinach (about half of a 5oz box)
1/2 cup vegetable broth (use water if broth is not available)
5 dried red chillies
8 black peppercorn
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies, julienned (these can be any green chili you like; I like to use Thai green chillies but you can substitute with jalapenos or habanero peppers)
1 inch piece of ginger, julienned
4 stems cilantro, chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp red chilli pwd
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Cilantro leaves and chopped scallions for garnish
Prepare:
In a spice/coffee grinder, add dried red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorn. Grind to a coarse powder.
Cook:
Heat oil on medium/high heat in a wok (the indian version of this is called a kadai, hence the name of the dish).
Add ginger, green chili and onions and saute until light brown.
Add tomatoes and tomato paste and cook until the consistency is almost paste like.
Add chili pwd, turmeric pwd, salt, cilantro and spinach and mix well with tomato paste. Cook until spinach is wilted.
Stir in the coarse ground spice mixture so it is well combined.
Add shrimp and vegetable broth and coat with all the spices and tomato mixture.
Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Once shrimp are cooked, add garam masala.
Garnish with cilantro and scallions.
Enjoy with basmati rice or quinoa or on it's own if you can withstand the heat!
Note: If you find this to be too spicy the first time you make it, you can reduce the number of dried red chillies in the coarsely ground spice mixture to just 2 or 3.
It is helpful to realize how chillies carry heat. With any type of chili, whether it is fresh or dried, green or red or yellow, the longer it has to cook by itself (or even with onions or with ginger and garlic), the more the spice level breaks down and it loses its intensity. A lot of what gives a chili pepper its spice level is the oils contained in its seeds and skin. So when the oils are cooked (i.e. without much liquid), they lose some flavor. On the other hand, if you just add the chili into a sauce (basically anything with lots of liquids), the oils don't really break down, instead they just mix in with the sauce and transfer all the intensity to it.
Ingredients:
1 lb medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, finely chopped (preserve juices)
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 to 3 oz baby spinach (about half of a 5oz box)
1/2 cup vegetable broth (use water if broth is not available)
5 dried red chillies
8 black peppercorn
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies, julienned (these can be any green chili you like; I like to use Thai green chillies but you can substitute with jalapenos or habanero peppers)
1 inch piece of ginger, julienned
4 stems cilantro, chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp red chilli pwd
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Cilantro leaves and chopped scallions for garnish
Prepare:
In a spice/coffee grinder, add dried red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorn. Grind to a coarse powder.
Cook:
Heat oil on medium/high heat in a wok (the indian version of this is called a kadai, hence the name of the dish).
Add ginger, green chili and onions and saute until light brown.
Add tomatoes and tomato paste and cook until the consistency is almost paste like.
Add chili pwd, turmeric pwd, salt, cilantro and spinach and mix well with tomato paste. Cook until spinach is wilted.
Stir in the coarse ground spice mixture so it is well combined.
Add shrimp and vegetable broth and coat with all the spices and tomato mixture.
Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Once shrimp are cooked, add garam masala.
Garnish with cilantro and scallions.
Enjoy with basmati rice or quinoa or on it's own if you can withstand the heat!
Note: If you find this to be too spicy the first time you make it, you can reduce the number of dried red chillies in the coarsely ground spice mixture to just 2 or 3.
It is helpful to realize how chillies carry heat. With any type of chili, whether it is fresh or dried, green or red or yellow, the longer it has to cook by itself (or even with onions or with ginger and garlic), the more the spice level breaks down and it loses its intensity. A lot of what gives a chili pepper its spice level is the oils contained in its seeds and skin. So when the oils are cooked (i.e. without much liquid), they lose some flavor. On the other hand, if you just add the chili into a sauce (basically anything with lots of liquids), the oils don't really break down, instead they just mix in with the sauce and transfer all the intensity to it.
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