One Fourth of July, years ago, I had all of this wonderful, beautiful shrimp that I'd thawed in the fridge readyto throw on the grill for our annual party.In a display of hostessing brilliance, I completely forgot about it.So Iwound up stuck with approximately nine million tons of the stuff. I used thisto my advantage, though, and made a handful of really delicious shrimp dishes.This scrumptious, exceedingly fast, andeasy curry dish was one of them. And man, was it ever good.It's now oneof my favorite curry dishes, and it takes almost no time to make!
What kind of coconut milk do you use for coconut curry shrimp?
Use canned coconut milk for this recipe. It's the variety usually found on the international aisle of grocery stores. When you crack open the can, you'll notice there's a thick, solid layer of cream on top and liquid just below it. That's completely normal; just scoop it all into the pot and stir!
What kind of curry powder do you use for coconut curry shrimp?
You can use whatever curry powder you want. When I was in New York once,and went to a spice market, I was blown away by how many different curry combinations there were! But rest assured, if all you have in your pantry is a mass-produced plastic spice bottle that says, simply "Curry Powder" on the label… you're just fine. Trust me, I have firsthand experience with this. I used yellow curry powder in this one.
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- Yields:
- 6 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 5 mins
- Cook Time:
- 15 mins
- Total Time:
- 20 mins
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp.
butter
- 1 1/2 lb.
jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1
medium onion, diced
- 4
garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp.
yellow curry powder
- 1
(13.5 oz.) can coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp.
honey, plus more to taste
- 1/4 tsp.
kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1
lime, juiced
- 12
basil leaves, chopped, plus more for serving
Hot sauce (optional)
Cooked Basmati rice, to serve
Directions
- Step1In a large skillet (I used non-stick), heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cookfor 2 to 3 minutes, turning them over halfway through, until fully cooked. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Step2Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and stir to cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle the curry powder over the onions and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for another couple of minutes.
- Step3Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour in the coconut milk, stirring to combine. Add the honey, salt, and lime juice, and allow the sauce to cook until bubbling gently.
- Step4Add the shrimp into the sauce, tossing to coat, and allow it to simmer until slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste the sauce and add more salt, lime juice, or honey if you like. Stir in the basil and add hot sauce if you want a little kick.
- Step5Serve the shrimp and sauce over the rice, topping with more basil. Delicious!
First, get some rice going! I used Basmati, because I love the flavor and light texture…and I think it’s perfect for curries.
But any rice will do!
Just cook it according to package directions, fluff it with a fork, and it’ll be light and perfect and marvelous.
Next, throw some butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat…
And throw in a bunch of peeled, deveined shrimp! Now, this shrimp I had gotten for the party it is colossal and enormous and gigantic. But you can use any size of shrimp you want. This is about a pound and a half…maybe a little more. So whether you go colossal or small, just use a pound and a half and you’ll be fine.
Cook them on the first side for a couple of minutes, then flip them over and cook them on the other side.
You just want to cook them until they’re opaque…
Then put them on a plate and set them aside for a bit.
Now, dice up some onion really finely…
Mince up some garlic…
And throw them into the same skillet.
Stir the onions and garlic around for a couple of minutes to start them cooking, then sprinkle some curry powder right over the top.
Now you just need to keep stirring and cooking the onions in order to wake up the flavors of the curry powder a bit.
P.S. Your kitchen smells very curry-ish right about now!
Now it’s time to move forward with the sauce, and there’s no better way to do that than by cracking open a can of coconut milk, which is mysterious, creamy…and a little bit gloopy, as you can see.
But oh…the magic it creates. Just pour in the whole can…
And stir it until it’s all combined. Now, you could absolutely use a combination of milk and/or half and half to get this creamy consistency…but the flavor of the coconut milk is what you want here.
Now, it all needs a little tang, so squeeze in some lime juice…
And I like a little sweetness to my curry, so add in some honey. You can use brown sugar instead, or you can just leave out the sweetness altogether if you prefer!
It definitely needs some salt, too. Add a little, then taste and see if it needs more.
Then, just to make my skirt fly up, I squeezed in a little Sriracha/hot sauce. Now, some curry powders are inherently spicy already, so you might taste the sauce first before you start adding in spice.
But I ain’t afraid of a little spicy.
In fact, I ain’t afraid of a lot of spice.
Did you know that ingesting spicy foods causes a release of endorphins? It’s true. And I’m so glad. I’d much rather eat a bowl of curry than jump off a mountain.
Now just stir it all around…
And let it bubble up and cook for another minute or so. And at this point, it’s really important to taste the sauce so you can add a little more salt, a little more lime juice, a little more honey, a little more spice—whatever you think it needs.
Then add the shrimp right back into the pan…
And let it simmer for another minute.
Now, you can add parsley or cilantro here…but I decided to add basil. It just felt right.
Just shop it up, add it in…
Stir it around…and it’s ready!
Dish up some rice…
Spoon on some of the shrimp…
Drizzle on some extra sauce…
And garnish with a little more basil and a wedge of lime.
I would totally eat this.
I mean…I DID totally eat this!
And it was so, so good. Creamy, flavorful, slightly spicy, and just completely lovely.
Here’s the handy dandy printable!
