An Invitation to Indian Cooking - Madhur Jaffrey [51]
Cut the caps off the green peppers. Slice each in half lengthwise, then into 3 or 4 long strips. Remove seeds.
Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a 10–12-inch skillet over a medium-high flame, and fry the slices of pepper, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until they brown a bit and turn slightly limp. Remove them with a slotted spoon to a plate.
In the same skillet, adding a little more oil if necessary, stir and fry the shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes or until they become pink and opaque on the outside. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl.
Turn heat to low. Add a tablespoon of oil to the skillet, and put in the minced onions and garlic, cardamom, bay leaf, and cinnamon. Sauté for 4 to 5 minutes or until onions get a bit soft. Now add the tomato sauce, coriander, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, brown sugar, the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, the fried green pepper slices, and ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer very gently for 10 minutes.
Remove the cover and add the shrimp along with any juice that may have accumulated in bowl. Turn heat to medium high. Stir the shrimp to coat them with the sauce, and continue cooking and stirring 4 to 5 minutes while the sauce thickens. You should be left with only a little sauce at the bottom of the skillet.
To serve: Place in a shallow bowl and serve with rice and some kind of dal. Plain boiled rice and karhi together with Cucumber and Tomato with Lemon Juice would make a very nice meal.
Shrimp in bread crumbs, Indian style
SERVES 3–4
Follow recipe for Chicken Cutlets. Substitute 1 pound of jumbo shrimp for the chicken breasts. To prepare shrimp, peel and de vein them first, leaving the tails on. As you slit their backs for deveining, cut almost all the way through the shrimp but not quite—leave a bit of flesh intact so the shrimp can open up like a butterfly. Flatten each shrimp by hitting it with the broad side of a cleaver so it lies open (otherwise it will curl up).
You do not need to prick shrimp with a fork. Nor do you need to marinate it for 4 hours—2 hours in the refrigerator will do.
Directions for breading and frying shrimp are the same as for the chicken. You will, of course, be able to fry more shrimp in the skillet at one time.
Shrimp with brown sauce
SERVES 6–8
3 pounds shrimp (medium or jumbo size)
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
8 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
A piece of fresh ginger, about 1-inch cube, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons vinegar (white or red)
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon whole fennel seeds
¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
12 whole fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ cup tomato sauce
5 tablespoons tamarind paste
2 teaspoons salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional—use as desired)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground mace
3 tablespoons finely chopped Chinese parsley (coriander greens or cilantro)
Peel and devein shrimp. Wash, drain, and dry thoroughly. Cover and set aside.
Place the onions, garlic, ginger, and vinegar in the container of an electric blender. Blend at high speed until you have a smooth paste.
Heat the oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed, 4-quart pot over a medium-high flame. Drop in the whole fennel, cumin, and fenugreek seeds, and as soon as they begin to. darken pour in the blender paste, using a rubber spatula to get it out quickly. Stir and fry the paste for 10 to 12 minutes or until it is a golden brown.
Add the coriander, cumin, and turmeric to the fried paste, lower the heat, and continue to stir and fry for 2 minutes. Pour in the tomato sauce, raise the heat to medium, and stir and fry another 5 minutes. Finally, add the tamarind paste, salt, pepper, cayenne, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, mace, Chinese parsley, and 1 cup of water. Mix well, bring to a boil, cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for 30 minutes. (This much of the recipe can be made ahead of time if necessary.)