When I made my Instant Pot Cauliflower Rice, I had a little surprise in store for today’s post: Easy Shrimp in Curry Sauce. I say surprise because if you’re on a budget any dish with shrimp might be surprising. I’ll show you, towards the bottom of the post, how to bring in your shrimp without tossing the budget out of the window.
Easy Shrimp in Curry Sauce with Cauliflower Rice
This dish is so incredible that you might very well be incredulous that this is a fast, easy, and relatively cheap meal!
About Easy Shrimp in Curry Sauce:
This curry is gorgeous, light, just a teensy bit spicy, and bound to be a pleaser for anyone who loves curry and anyone who loves shrimp.
The easy curry is based on the blend of Garam Masala bolstered with a few select spices just to make things a little more interesting. If you are not familiar with Garam Masala, it’s an Indian Spice blend, sometimes called the backbone or heart of Indian cooking. While many Indian cooks build their own mix, these days it can be found in many grocery stores. If you have a market you might find it’s more cost-effective there.
If that’s not an option for you, consider mixing up your own blend or use one of the substitutes listed here on Spice Cravings. Likely, you won’t be pleased if you use the plain old generic curry powder found in almost every U.S. Supermarket.
In addition to the shrimp in this recipe, and the spices, you’ll find strips of onion and bell pepper filling out the dish as well as coconut milk as the creamy sauce base.W
Serve your Shrimp Curry With:
I love this curry with cauliflower rice. The flavor of the cauliflower complents the curry in a magical way! You can buy cauliflower already riced, although it’s a little pricy, rice your own which is soooo messy! Or use my Instant Pot Cauliflower Rice Mashed in the Pan.
You can’t go wrong with plain old rice or basmati. If you’re cooking rice, start it first; the curry will likely be done before the rice has finished cooking and resting. Again, I like to pull out the instant pot for my Perfect Instant Pot Rice; it keeps me able to concentrate on the curry because the IP method is so hands-off.
Making Easy Shrimp in Curry Sauce:
Now that you’re familiar with the cast of characters, let’s talk about putting it together. First of all, if serving with rice, start that first! The curry cooks so fast it won’t take as long as the rice. You’ll want to have your ingredients prepared and at the ready when you start to cook. This dish cooks quickly and there won’t be time to do this once you start cooking.
Add your oil to the skillet, heat, and toss in the onions and bell peppers. Get them softened but not to the point they’ll be mush. Not crunchy but it’s nice to have a little bit of crisp for freshness.
Stir in your spices and “bloom” them, cooking until the fragrance permeates the area! Immediately add your coconut milk. Did you know that coconut milk can separate in the can, forming a layer of fat and another layer of liquid? For this dish, stir it together before adding. Once that’s heated through, and you may want to add more or less of the amount depending on how thin or thick you’d like your sauce, you will add in the shrimp. They will literally cook in minutes.
Options for Easy Shrimp in Curry Sauce:
Feel free to modify this dish by subbing in other or adding additional veggies. you may even want to turn this into a vegetarian dish. Just be aware of the sizes and cooking times because that will vary with the vegetables used:
- If you are using a harder veggie, cut it on the smaller side and add it in towards the beginning of the cook, before the onion and peppers. An example might be broccoli florets or cauliflower.
- Something much softer or smaller will need less cooking, perhaps even added at the very end, just to heat through. This will apply to spinach, peas, and such. Other greens, not as soft as spinach will need to be tossed in earlier.
Storing and Reheating:
Your Easy Shrimp in Curry Sauce will store in the fridge well for three to four days; generally, you’ll want to keep an especially tight grip on any dish containing fish or seafood. Benjamin Franklin famously said that guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days. I suppose visa versa applies!
Reheat very carefully or the shrimp might become tough. If you are particular about such things, consider removing the shrimp while the rest of the dish heats through and adding the shrimp back in at the end. Add in some leftover coconut milk if you need to thin the.
Do not freeze; the end result will be less than stellar!
Saving Money on Easy Shrimp in Curry Sauce:
- Coconut Milk: can vary wildly in price and quality. This is an item I prefer to pick up at any Asian or Indian market; if you don’t have one in your area, check both the Asian and Indian sections of the store. Pay attention to ingredients and watch for sales. If you don’t have use for any extra after opening, add it to a smoothie or other dish that calls for milk.
- Shrimp: In most areas of the country, your best bet for shrimp is to buy frozen. Not my first choice but there are some tricks. I prefer easy peel, deveined, shell on. They thaw better. If possible, thaw overnight in the fridge on several layers of paper towel on a plate. Cover loosely with another paper towel. Some damage happens to the shrimp as they freeze; more damage can happen as they thaw. The shell, the slow overnight thaw and the paper towels as well as air circulation help keep t from becoming soggy.
- Shrimp Sales: Do watch sales carefully; you’re going to find the best sales during Lent, which happens at a different time period every year. Lent is the previous six weeks or so before Easter and this site has a schedule for the next few years. Stock up! Watch for sales several weeks before Christmas and of course before “Special” Holidays where you can count on fancier offerings: primarily New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day.
- You’ll find the most great sales before holidays. Check out my post on Winning at the Grocers. That post has links to a post for every major food holiday and the best sales to look for prior to each holiday.
Easy Shrimp in Curry Sauce
Easy Shrimp in Curry Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3 to 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 large onion, cut into strips pole to pole
- 1 large bell pepper, red or orange preferred, cut into thin strips
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons grated garlic
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 can coconut milk, possibly more; full fat is best
- 1/2 pound of medium-sized shrimp, 26 count, preferably easy-peel, deveined, enough for three or four per person
- green onion and/or cilantro for garnish
Instructions
Add oil to skillet and heat over medisum-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook until slightly softened, several minutes.
Add in ginger, garlic, garam masala salt, turmeric, and cayenne, and cook for a few seconds, stirring, until fragrant.
Immediately add coconut milk, stirring to blend, then shrimp and cook for an additional minute or so, just until shrimp are cooked through. Remove from heat and serve over rice or cauliflower rice.
If desired, additional coconut milk may be added to bring to desired consistency.
Garnish with green onion & cilantro, if desired.
Keywords: Bell Peppers, coconut milk, Curry, Fish and Seafood, Indian, Shrimp
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I’ll be bringing this dish to Fiesta Friday, hosted this week by Monika @ Everyday Healthy Recipes and Sandhya @ Indfused
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