Masala Shrimp

A little story behind the Masala Shrimps:

Masala Shrimps is one of my favourite dishes from childhood. This is the only fish that has no thorns and is so soft and yummy – no matter how you cook it. My mom used to sauté these shrimps in her favourite masalas and they would turn out so yum that I can still feel the flavour even now. Now that she is no more, I try to recreate that flavour and this time I came quite close to how she used to cook it.

My hubby has tried various variations of sautéing them but this one has been voted as one of the best yet so far by my family. So enjoy these masala shrimps and I will try to bring out more variations later on.

Ingredients for Marination:

• 1 kg deveined equador shrimp (with skin and head)
• 1 tsp kashmiri chilly powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste

Direction to Marinate:

• Clean and wash shrimps and keep aside to drain water;
• After 2 minutes , cut each shrimps into two halves*, add kashmiri chilly powder, turmeric, olive oil and salt to the shrimps and keep aside for few hours. I kept it for 5 hours (see picture below).

Ingredients for Masala:

• 4 tbsp mustard oil*
• 2 tsp mustard seed
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 2 medium diced onions
• 1 tomato
• 2 small potatoes cut into small cubes
• 2 tsp kashmiri chilly powder (or any chilly powder)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• salt to taste as desired

Direction to cook:

1) Heat oil in a cooking pan and first add mustard seed. Once it splutters add cumin seed and let it fry;

2) Add onions and sauté it till it softens. Once the onions have become soft and reduced in size add potatoes;

3) Once the potatoes have almost cooked, add tomatoes and sprinkle a little salt on top  – see image below for the colour of the onions (it should not become red in colour) and potatoes before adding tomatoes*. Do not stir after adding tomatoes but rather cover it and allow it to simmer on slow fire for about 2-3 minutes.

4) Stir the ingredients in the pan and mix it well, if you find the tomatoes have not become soft, then leave it for another 2-3 minutes and they should soften by then.

5) Add kashmiri chilly powder, turmeric, ginger paste and garlic paste. Stir the ingredients and allow it to sauté for 1-2 minutes;

6) Now add vinegar, salt to taste and stir all ingredients.

7) After about a minutes, add the marinate shrimps and allow it to cook on slow fire.

8) Once the colour of the shrimps turns white or non-transparent (see first picture posted above), remove from fire.

You can serve this dish as an appetizer or as an entree with flat bread, paratha, nan or roti.

Enjoy !!

*Tips:

• You can use any chilly powder if you don’t have kashimiri chilly powder. Kashmiri chilly powder is not very spicy, so use caution if you are using some other chilly powder and modify the quantity as per the spiciness.
• I cut the shrimps into halves as I don’t like big pieces. Also my family loves shrimps, so cutting into halves increases the quantity of the shrimps. If you love big pieces, then don’t cut into halves.
• You can use any cooking oil but remember the flavour will change as per the oil used.
• Do not overcook the shrimps otherwise it may become hard and lose its flavour