Thursday, February 21, 2008

Masala Shrimp


I came up with this dish on a spur, really. I was thinking of what to make for Sunita's Think Spice - Star Anise event and was royally stuck. I googled for ideas until my eyes hurt (just kidding!), and kept reverting to the idea of making pulav rice. But, I wanted to do something a bit different. Then, I realized I had some shrimp... What if I ground some star anise with the masala?? And, voila! A new dish was born.



So, how did it come out, you ask? Well, we ate it for dinner last night and my usually silent husband couldn't stop complimenting me on the dish. Coming from him, this is huge!! Then, I took a bite and had to agree. It was sooooo good. By now, you want to look at the recipe, right? I hope you do, so here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

Medium shrimp - 1/2 lb, cleaned (I left the tails on, but that's up to you!)
Onion - 1 medium, sliced finely
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped finely
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, chopped
Butter - 1 tbsp
Oil, as required
Salt to taste

Grind to a paste:

Red chillies - 6, or to taste
Black peppercorns - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Star anise - 2
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon - a small piece
Garlic - 4 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil and butter in a pan. When hot, add the onions and fry until golden brown.

2. Then, add the ground paste. Fry until the raw smell is gone.

3. Add the tomatoes, salt to taste, and 1/2 cup water. Saute until the tomatoes soften and you get a thick consistency.

4. Add the shrimp and continue to saute on medium-high heat until the shrimp is cooked and coated with the masala sauce. This should only take 5 minutes or so. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp or they'll be rubbery!

5. Turn the heat off, add coriander leaves and a squeeze of lime juice, if desired. Check for seasoning.

Serve hot. Tastes great with pulav rice or by itself as a starter. If you make it a little looser, you could mix it with white rice. Enjoy!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey,great recipe for shrimps.Must have tasted heavenly :)

vimmi said...

Hi that looks so yummy. I make a masala shrimp which just takes 10 mins. will post it some time.

Anonymous said...

Masala shrimp looks real good...I love anything that involves seafood.

Kalai said...

Homecooked, it was really awesome! :)

Vimmi, I'd love to see your recipe, too! :)

Rachel, thanks so much and welcome to my blog! :)

Sig said...

wow, good one Kalai.. Ground star anise in small amount can really enhance the flavor..I overdid it once and screwed up the whole dish... :)

Cham said...

I love seafood . You are tempting me to cook again which i dropped eating :)

Dhivya said...

wow...shrimp..my all time favorite...keep rocking kalai...

amna said...

its been a while since i had good shrimp! oh wait.. i had it at a buffet recently :D but yeah.. i miss fresh shrimps available in kerala!

sra said...

The shrimp looks really good, Kalai. Lovely pic.

FH said...

Masala sounds great there, we could use that for other dishes too!Great entry!:))

Kalai said...

Sig, you are so right! When is comes to star anise, a little bit definitely goes a long way! :)

Cham, I love seafood, too! You stopped eating seafood? Sorry for tempting you!

Dhivya, shrimp and crabs are my all time favs! Will have more of those dishes in the future! :)

Kalai said...

Hi Nags! Long time, no see. Fresh shrimps in Kerala must be the best! I so want to visit Kerala sometime (who doesn't?)! :)

Sra, thanks a lot dear! :)

Ashakka, my thoughts exactly! The masala is definitely versatile to use for mutton or chicken, too! Thanks! :)

Sagari said...

nice shrimp recipe kalai ,my husbend will love this

Uma said...

Nice entry. Looks yummy!

Uma said...

Nice entry. Looks yummy!

Unknown said...

hi kalai! nice name!!i love prawns and your recipe looks delicious.

Cham said...

Kalai,
Here you go to my blog and get your surprise :)

Thistlemoon said...

This looks like a yummy dish!!!
I love star anise and it looks so pretty!

Welcome to The Foodie Blogroll!

Mansi said...

omg Kalai! this is great use of star anise! and pairing it with cinnamon is awesome idea girl:) looks great!

and thanks so much for the E award gal! I am truly gracious:)

Kalai said...

Sagari, try it and let me know what he thinks!

Uma, thanks and thank you so much for the award!

Saswati, thanks for the sweet compliments!

Kalai said...

Cham, that was a wonderful surprise and I can't thank you enough! :)

Jenn, thanks for adding me! :)

Thanks, Mansi! :)

Pravs said...

nice picture....looks tempting. Have not included star anise in the dishes i make with shrimp. Will try this recipe.

Kalai said...

Pravs, even I hadn't tried it until I made this dish. We just finished the leftovers and my husband is already requesting me to make it again! I guess that makes it a success, right? :)

zlamushka said...

Wow, star anise and shrimps? Looks fantastic. I d love to try that one :-)

Kalai said...

Zlamushska, welcome to my blog! Yeah, it sounds a bit unorthodox, but it's yummy! :)