March 14, 2011

Pan Fried Shrimps..

A whole lot of prayers and wishes going towards Japan and its catastrophe.  As heartrending the earthquake's visuals are, the radiation's aftermath will be worse.   Hope they control the reactors from releasing radiation and creating unspeakable tragedies. Brought back memories of the Bhopal Gas tragedy an era ago. Makes you wonder why they do have nuclear power plants in the first place. Let's hope everything gets resolved soon.

On a more positive note, slowly, the snow has melted away and the chill around me has also thawed.  I have also started coming out of my hibernation and started smelling the spring in the air. There is less of the ice in the air and more of a cool nip.. even the birds have decided to stop by and say hello on their way to warmer weather.. swooping down in hordes, settling on the trees and grass, searching the ground for some leftover seeds and leaving en-masse in a flash.. the original flash mob.
Shrimps are something ready to cook in a flash, defrost and cook in under 10 minutes. BUT.. maybe its the masala gene in me, I prefer it marinated and spiced up well enough to compliment the sweetness of the shrimps. Usually, the shrimps back home (best ones in my opinion, though they are miniscule) are made into moliyar/molaku chaar, (a super spicy red shrimp curry) or deep fried into extinction.  Or shrimp varatiyathu, or shrimp biryani... i could go on but then I would have to book tickets to go home.

But over here, that deep frying just ends up smelling up the winter insulated sealed house and is not "supposed" to be "good for you" so now we have started pan frying the shrimps with very little oil, just enough to cook the spice paste and leave the shrimp juicy inside. Grilling works well too but in that case 1 tsp of oil has to added to the marinade.
This is usually made without any chili powder( or only paprika) for the kids and with the whole spice cartel for the grown ups. Adjust the spice and salt to taste.
The ready to buy chili paste, sambal olek works wonders with getting flavor into the shrimp so you can marinate the shrimps in just that for as much time as you like and pan fry too. Fry only when everybody is at the table and you are ready to serve.:)

You Will Need:
Shrimps-about 25 (1/2 pound) medium sized ones
Red chili powder- 1 tsp
Paprika/Kashmiri Chili powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric-1/2 tsp
Vinegar- 1 tbsp
Salt- about 1 tsp.
Ginger Garlic Paste-1 tbsp.

Preparation:
Shell, devein and wash the shrimps well and drain excess water. Marinate with all the ingredients for about 1 hour (at room temperature ) or upto overnight in the refrigerator.

Heat a cast iron skillet or a frying pan with  1-2 tbsp oil. Coconut oil tastes good but use any oil preferred. Add the shrimps in one layer around the pan (don't crowd them) and cook on medium high heat for 2 minutes on each side. Cover the pan and cook on medium heat for another 3 minutes and then raise the heat and let the shrimps sear on each side on a minute. Toss in couple of curry leaves and saute. Serve hot with rice or chapathi.

17 comments:

Suman Singh said...

Easy and delicious shrimp fry..nice recipe..will try this sometime..thanks!

Sarah Naveen said...

I badly wanna get some spring freshness mallugal!!
Shrimp fry looks yumm!!!
U r right , shrimp is so good for a quick fix...
Sambal olek njan ippo ella curry yilum idum...nammalum ichira eruvu kooduthal ishtam ullavara...

Sudha said...

Lovely shrimp recipe you have here!Looks absolutely lip-smacking!

Cheers!
Wit,wok&wisdom

sra said...

I love shrimp done this way!

Anonymous said...

I love shrimps, the spicier the better.

Nish said...

Drool... it will be yummy. Thanks for the recipe.

Julia said...

Well, it certainly makes you wonder why people build nuclear plants in active earthquake zones! Thoughts are with all those affected!

Now, those prawns. I love your posts as we're obsessed with spicy food in our house. We'll have to try those as they look so quick and simple - but delicious!

Myra said...

Simplicity but oh so good!!!! j'adore.
Shaheen,what is the difference between Chili powder,and Kashmiri chili powder?
yours Myra xx
P.S.My prayers are joined with yours ...

My Kitchen Antics said...

that is definitely the easiest n tastiest looking shrimp prep ive stumbled upon...

Miri said...

Really? less than five ingredients for such a nice looking dish? I must try...

Rekha shoban said...

simple n easy fry!!

Irene said...

Great recipe.

Shah cooks said...

Suma, do try.. its easy especially if you get individually frozen shrimps, already clean.

Sarah, ichira eru.. i bet u like it head scratching spicy.:))

wit., nish. thanks

sra.. easy peasy recipes get made more often than the elaborate ones.

rachel, yup.. a person after my own heart.

julia, i see how u add red pepper flakes to all ur dishes.:)

myra, red chili powder comes in a lot of grades at the Asian stores.. spicy , superr spicy etc.. Now Kashmiri chili powder is from a particular chili which add more color and flavor than spice. If I don't get that, I keep a stock of good quality paprika for that color and a tinge of flavor. Mind u, paprika in large quantities muddies up the curry and makes it taste of sawdust.. or something like that.

open book.. well, i used to think shrimps wouldn't taste good unless they were deep fried.

Miri.. never thot of it as 5 ingredient.. if u use sambal olek + ginger +turmeric, its 4 ingredients.

rekha, irene.. thanks

Sushma Mallya said...

Looks delicious , coconut oil gives such a beautiful flavour, grt recipe as well:)

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious shrimp looks wonderful

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Geeta Kakade said...

Love this recipe...easy, breezy shrimp.
Thanks for the tip about the sambal olek...love great shortcuts too.