Indian-Spiced Shrimp

This is a recipe that I “stockpiled” over the summer. I saw it on Yahoo (originally from Epicurious), loved it and bookmarked it for trial during cooler weather. I liked it so much that, when I ran into “A” at a party last month, I told her that I had the perfect recipe for the shrimp that has been in my freezer for too long. The recipe was called …um…um…some kind of Indian dish. I thought I was having a Senior Moment.

I hopped on my computer as soon as I got home and pulled up the recipe. Phew! No Senior Moment. I couldn’t recall the name because it’s not really “named”, just described as “Indian-spiced”. As I was making out my shopping list, I liked this recipe even more. Not only did I already have the shrimp, albeit a little frost bitten, I also had all of the spices. I’m going to have to check back on this blog to see what I have been cooking that I have coriander and turmeric on hand.

The prep time on this is estimated at 40 minutes which is accurate. Peeling and deveining the shrimp took up most of that time. I thought that chopping the tomatoes would take more time than it did and it might have if I had peeled them first. I didn’t have any fresh ginger so I substituted ground ginger at a ratio of 1 to 3. In this case it meant using ⅓ teaspoon of ground ginger instead of 1 teaspoon fresh ginger.

Once you get past all of the peeling and chopping, this is a quick and easy recipe. It smelled heavenly as it was cooking, although it’s probably a good thing that my windows are all closed. I’m not sure how my neighbors feel about Indian food. People who don’t like it often complain of the smell when someone else is cooking it.

The taste, on the other hand, was only so-so. I just couldn’t work up any enthusiasm for it. It tasted okay, not great, just okay. Perhaps I just don’t care much for this particular combination of spices.

Verdict: No bad, but I probably won’t be making this again.

Indian-Spiced Shrimp(source: Epicurious)



1 medium onion, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced lengthwise
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno, including seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¾ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon turmeric (optional)
1 pound tomatoes, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 pound large shrimp in shell (21 to 25 per lb), peeled and deveined
½ cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped if desired

Cook onion in oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Add jalapeno, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring, until jalapeno, is softened and garlic is golden, about 1 minute. Add cumin, coriander, salt, and turmeric (if using) and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break down and sauce is thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add shrimp and cook, turning occasionally, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in half of cilantro. Serve sprinkled with remaining cilantro.

Recycle: Vegetable oil bottle, spice bottles

Compost: onion skin, jalapeno stem, garlic skin, ginger peels, tomatoes skins, cilantro stems