Shrimp curry is spicy and slightly sweet and absolutely delicious! This is my mother’s recipe and it was my favorite to eat growing up. It’s simple to make, with a caramelized onion base, spices, and shrimp—that’s it!
Growing up, whenever we would have special guests over for dinner my mother would make a tableful of curries including seafood curry (fish and shrimp), chicken, beef or lamb or goat curry, and different stir fry vegetables. B
But no matter how many different dishes she made, if her spicy shrimp curry was on the menu that would be the first thing I’d go for. Most of the time over and over again until I was full completely ignoring the rest of the dishes.
She always used really large shrimp, most of the time with the peel still on so it was so full of flavor. Once you remove the peel the shrimp meat inside was so tender and juicy and bursting with spicy flavor that paired perfectly with hot plain rice. I loved to load up on the onion gravy it was cooked in for an extra spicy kick.
As an adult now I realize her shrimp curry is actually very easy to make. The ingredients are simple, and that’s why her food always shone! You can use any kind of uncooked shrimp, as long as it’s cleaned and cook it low and slow in a spicy onion base for the perfect shrimp curry.
The Base
All Bengali curry bases (at least the ones I have learned from my Bengali mother) starts with a simple sautéed onion base.
Start by warming oil in a pot and add sliced or diced onions with a good sprinkling of salt. The salt helps the break down the onion by drawing out its moisture. Cover and cook on low heat until golden and caramelized—about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
Once golden, add minced garlic and Thai chili. For more spice, slice the chili in half to release the seeds. Cook until fragrant to remove any raw garlic flavor—just a few minutes will do.
Then it’s time for spices—a teaspoon each or turmeric, red chili powder, and coriander powder. Mix the spices into the onions and let it toast in the oil; about five minutes. Make sure to keep the heat on low to prevent burning! Cooking the spices before adding any other ingredients blooms them so they release more flavor.
After that add chopped tomatoes, mix, cover, and cook until they’re completely soft and melt into the onions. Your base is ready!
The Shrimp
You can use any shrimp for this curry buuuuuut the larger the better! My absolute favorite was when my mother would make it with giant tiger prawns with the skin still on but cleaned. It was fun to peel the cooked shrimp and I feel like the meat was even more tender when cooked inside the peel!
Once cooked, shrimp curl up and shrink in size, so the larger the better. I can’t always find tiger prawns so I usually use peeled and deveined colossal shrimp with tails on. It’s easier for the kids to eat, but growing up I loved the peel on shrimp.
Once the onion base is ready, add shrimp, mix it in, cover, and cook. The shrimp will release its juices and marry together with the rest of the base. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the oil separates from the sauce. Check for salt and add if needed, then garnish with coriander and it’s ready!
If you’re worried about overcooking the shrimp—that’s actually kind of the point. Shrimp meat works similar to beef. When cooked for a short amount of time it’s tender and juicy, when cooked for a medium amount of time it’s overcooked and rubbery. But if cooked low and slow for a long time it breaks down more and turns into a delicious tender soft meat.
At the end add a sprinkling of chopped cilantro to round off the flavor of the curry and add some freshness and flavor.
We love to eat this with white rice or pulao—which is a buttery rice with sautéed onions and sometimes small vegetables like chopped carrots and peas.
Variations
If you want to try different variations of the fish try adding vegetables to it! Traditionally shrimp curry is cooked with vegetables with a high water content, like different squash such as zucchini or yellow squash, eggplant, or spinach. You can try different combinations for a yummy shrimp curry with unique flavor profiles. Most of these vegetables can be chopped and added in at the same time with the shrimp since it takes about the same amount of time to cook.
Ingredients
Time: 1 hour
Serves: 6-8
- 1/4 cup neutral oil—like grape seed
- 1 large onion, sliced
- Salt to taste
- 6-7 garlic cloves, minced
- 1-2 Thai chili peppers
- 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 36 oz colossal shrimp or any large shrimp
- Cilantro to garnish
Directions
1. Heat a pot on low. Add onions and salt—cook, covered, until golden and caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes
2. Add garlic and Thai chili. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add spices. Mix and cook for 5 minutes until toasted
3. Add tomatoes, mix, and cover. Cook until tomatoes break down
4. Add shrimp and mix. Cover and cook until the shrimp releases its juices and oil separates from the curry—about 15 minutes
5. Garnish with chopped cilantro and enjoy with rice!
Shrimp curry is an easy and simple Bengali dish full of robust spice and flavor that’s easy and simple to put together. It pairs beautifully with rice and can be an everyday meal or perfect for a special occasion. The combination of a spicy base with the sweet succulent shrimp meat and fresh cilantro makes a delicious dish that’s a go to whenever I have shrimp on hand.
If you try this recipe please come back and let me know your thoughts.
Happy cooking!