Bottle gourd shrimp curry

 I was looking for something new for dinner and I stumbled upon this Bengali recipe with some gourd and shrimp and it looked super delicious and I improvised it with bottle gourd and it turned out to be spectacular. So here you go

Bottle gourd shrimp curry (Spicy curry with bottle gourd and shrimp)

Bottle gourd shrimp curry

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium to large bottle gourd peeled, cored and cut into quarters length wise and sliced into 1/2 inch thick 1-1.5 inch ling strips (quarter circles)
2. 12-16 oz medium small shrimp peeled and deveined
3. 1 medium small onion sliced
4. 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 1 teaspoon of salt divided
7. 1 teaspoon each of chilli powder, coriander powder, onion seeds (kalonji)
8. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
9. Cilantro for garnishing

Clean the shrimp and add 1/4 teaspoon salt and turmeric, mix and set aside for 10 minutes

In a pan heat the oil and fry the drained shrimp for 1 minute. Drain and set aside. In the same pan add the onion seeds (add 1/2 tablespoon more oil if needed) and fry for a minute. Add the onions and fry till they start becoming dark brown. Add ginger garlic paste and try and fry for a minute. Add the bottle gourd pieces and add salt and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and cover and cook for 10 more minutes. Add all the spices and cook on medium high flame for 5-7 minutes until the curry is semi dry. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with white rice and dal

Goan Shrimp

Shrimp is coconut gravy can be made in so many different ways...really spicy, mild spicy, sweet and spicy. The dish here is the really spicy level, but you can reduce the heat by reducing the chilli paste. Do try it...its mouth wateringly LOL  delicious

Goan Shrimp (Shrimp is spicy coconut gravy)
Ingredients:

1. 12-15 oz large shrimp
2. 1 tablespoon garlic chilli paste
3. 1 medium onion ground to paste
4. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste
5. 1 cup desiccated coconut or 1 cup coconut milk + 1 tablespoon dried coconut
6. 1 heaped teaspoon coriander powder
7. 1 teaspoon each of cumin powder, turmeric
8. salt to taste
9. 1 chicken bouillon
10. 1 tablespoon oil
11. 1/2 cup thick juice from a mini golf ball sized tamarind

Marinate the shrimp with salt and  turmeric for 15-30 minutes.

If using only dried coconut, grind the it to paste. 

If using coconut milk and dried coconut, grind it along with the onion.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the ground onions till golden brown. Add all spices and ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add shrimp and stir well.  Add coconut milk and tamarind juice along with the chicken bouillon and 1 cup water and simmer for 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and sliced green chillies and serve.

Sem Phalli Baingan Jhinge

Semphalli or Sem ki phalli or Indian broad beans or Chikkudu kaaya in Telugu is one of my favourites and when it has plump seeds in it they are much better. But anyway here in the US of A whatever you find you would have to use.

So, I made this curry with the broad beans and eggplant and shrimp. For a vegetarian version you can just skip the shrimp. Here is the original Sem Phalli and Baingan recipe

Sem Phalli Baingan aur Jhinge (Indian broad beans with eggplant and Shrimp)

Shrimp with Indian broad beans

Ingredients:

1. 1/2-1 lb shrimp peeled and de-veined
2. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
3. The ingredients for the original recipe

Cook the shrimp as it says in Original recipe. Heat the shrimp with the shrimp until they all turn pink. Add the curry to the shrimp and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes and garnish with cilantro and server

Maharastrian shrimp curry

So after a long gap I am back on the blogspot and today I made a yummy shrimp curry from the central part of India, specifically from Maharastra. Maharastra has a coast line on the west bordered by the Arabian Sea. This is a curry with a coconut and tomato based spicy gravy. I made Maharastrian rice to serve my curry with Maharastrian rice with my own twist on it
The actual curry is from the IndiaWest website

Maharastrian shrimp curry( shrimp in a tomato and coconut gravy)
Ingredients

1 pound shrimp/ prawns peeled

1 large onion chopped

2 medium tomatoes chopped

1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon tamarind paste

salt to taste

chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

half cup coconut milk

Combine the shrimp, ginger-garlic paste, red chillie powder, turmeric powder, tamarind paste, salt and allow it to marinate for 20 - 30 minutes. In a shallow bottom non - stick pan, heat oil. Once hot, add two crushed garlic cloves. Wait for a minute until it becomes fragrant. Next, add the onions and saute until the onions becomes transluscent. Add the tomatoes, stir for approximately 5 minutes. At this point add the marinated prawns and stir until they lose the grey color and turn pink. Add 1 cup water and let the curry come to boil. Then, add half cup coconut milk and the chopped coriander leaves. Taste and add salt if necessary. Cook further for a couple of minutes. Serve hot with Maharastrian Rice

Maharastrian Style Rice (Rice cooked with Potato and eggplants)

Maharastrian Potato Eggplant rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups basmati rice washed 
2. 2 medium potatoes peeled and cubed small
3. 3 medium small Indian eggplants washed and cubed
4. 1/2 cup onions chopped
5. 1 serrano chilli chopped
6. 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
7. 1 tablespoon oil
8. 3/4 teaspoon salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they start changing colors. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds. Add the chillies, potato and eggplant and fry for 5-7 minutes. Add salt and turmeric and mix well. Add 4 cups water and bring it to boil. Add rice and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is done. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy hot hot

Ginger Shrimp

Today I am a bit nostalgic and am craving something from the days when was not responsible for anything other than my own things...read "when I was a kid" :D
                      Anyway, I loved Hyderabadi Ginger Chicken in those days and today I tried it with Shrimp and it turned out to be equally delicious.

Ginger Shrimp (Shrimp and bell pepper in a ginger based gravy)

Ginger Shrimp

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb medium- large shrimp peeled and deveined
2. 1 medium red onion
3. 2-3 inches of fresh ginger peeled
4. 1 large or 2 medium tomatoes
5. 3 garlic pods
6. 1/2 teaspoon cumim
7. 2 tablespoons oil 
8. 3/4 teaspoon or to taste salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder
10. 1 tablespoons tomato ketchup
11. 1 bell pepper your favourite color cut into bite size pieces
12. 1 jalapeno or 2 serrano peppers chopped
13. 2 bay leaves
14. 1 inch cinnamon stick broken

Pat dry the shrimp. Heat 1 tablespoon oil, till it gets very hot and add the shrimp (Take care not to splatter yourself). Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Drain and set aside.
Grind the onion along with ginger and garlic and cumin into a smooth paste. Add this to the oil and fry till it starts to get dark brown. Add all the spices and stir to combine. Grind the tomatoes and add it to the pan and fry for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and shrimp and a cup of water and bring it to boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until oil separates. Serve with your favourite Roti

Jhinga fry Jhinga curry Jhinga Biryani

Back in the olden day when I was a kid (Man!!! that seems so long ago...well I am not that old you see. I am only 3 decades old) my dad used to have a friend who had shrimp farms. At one time in India or atleast in Andhra there was this craze about opening shrimp farms and exporting Tiger prawns to US and European countries.
              Anyway, my father's friends' farms were very profitable until one day there was a typhoon (Hurricane) and all this shrimp farms were destroyed
             Anyway, the point it, once or twice an year when they used to harvest these shrimps or prawns he would send us a bucket or about 3-4 Kilograms of fresh shrimp and for 2-3 days my mom would make every possible delicious dish with shrimp until we all will get tired of eating shrimp any more.
           Today I am going to b-log three of those recipes and and here is one more recipe the Jhinga Shami Kabab

Jhinga Fry (Amazing shrimp pan fry curry)

Fried Shrimp with Sliced Onions

Ingredients

1. 1 lb medium shrimp peeled and deviened
2. 3-4 tablespoons oil
3. 1 medium red onion ground to paste
4. 2 cloves and 1 inch cinnamon stick broken
5. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin
7. 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
8. 2 green chillies slit
9. Few curry leaves (optional)

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cloves and cinnamon and curry leaves with using and fry for a couple of minutes. Add cumin and fry for 3 more minutes. Add onion paste and fry till it starts to become dark brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes. Add all the other ingredients and stir to combine. Fry till the shrimp are cooked through 5-10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or pulao

Jhinga Curry (Shrimp curry Indian style)
Ingredients

1. 1 lb medium shrimp peeled and deviened
2. 3-4 tablespoons oil
3. 1 medium red onion sliced thin
4. 2 cloves and 1 inch cinnamon stick broken
5. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin
7. 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
8. 2 green chillies slit

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add cinnamon and cloves and green chillies and ginger-garlic paste and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add shrimp and fry for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and simmer till the gravy thickens. garnish with cilantro and serve with rice, roti or Pulao or Zeera Rice

Shrimp Biryani (Rice and shrimp)

Jhinga Biryani

Ingredients

1. 2 cups rice cooked till they are half done
2. Shrimp curry cooked above
3. 1 medium onion sliced and deep fried till golden brown
4. 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
5. 2 tablespoons chopped mint, fresh squeezed lemon juice

In a oven safe dish, add rice topped with shrimp curry, topped with mint and cilantro and fried onions and lemon juice. Repeat the layers. Cover and bake in the oven at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Enjoy