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2 tablespoons canola oil

2 cups beef broth

1½ pounds medium shrimp (about 35 per pound), peeled and deveined; 1½ pounds cleaned sea scallops, each cut into 2 disks; or 1½ pounds cleaned bay scallops; or a combination of all three to weigh 1½ pounds

1 cup regular or low-fat yogurt (do not use fat-free)

¼ cup packed chopped cilantro leaves

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Mix the cumin, coriander, chili powder, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, cloves, and saffron in a large bowl. Add the potatoes and 1 tablespoon canola oil; toss well to coat. Set aside at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Heat a large pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat. Swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, then add the potatoes and all their spices, making sure you scrape the bowl clean. Cook, stirring frequently, until the potatoes start to brown a little and the spices are quite aromatic, about 2 minutes.

Pour in the broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits on the pan’s bottom. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer slowly, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the shrimp or scallops, raise the heat to medium-high, and bring back to a full simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp are pink and firm or the scallops are opaque, about 3 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt until smooth. Season with cilantro and salt before serving.

Variations: For a sweeter stew, add 1 large carrot, shredded through the large holes of a box grater, with the potatoes in the spice mixture.

For a lighter stew, substitute vegetable broth for the beef broth.

Reduce the shrimp or scallops to ¾ pound and add 1 pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded, with the remainder. Simmer the soup until the mussels open.

Add 2 cups baby spinach leaves with the shrimp or scallops.

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Shrimp: Packaging, Peeling, and Deveining

Although the shrimp lying on the ice at your market may look fresh, they were almost certainly frozen at harvest. In the end, you’re better off doing what the market does: buying them in frozen packs and defrosting them yourself. Look for packages labeled “IQF” or “individual quick-frozen,” meaning that each shrimp has been frozen separately, rather than in a tangled mess in a block of ice. Thaw overnight in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.

All labels for shrimp—“jumbo,” “colossal”—are mere window dressing. The only way to tell the size is knowing how many make a pound. By and large, we call for those that take about 35 to make a pound—they are large but not gigantic. So-called U-10s (under 10 per pound) are huge; U-5s, gigantic.

In most cases, shrimp must be peeled and deveined. To peel a shrimp, turn it over so that its legs face you, take the shrimp in both hands, and use your thumbs to pull the legs gently away from each other, thereby tearing the shell down the middle of its thinner underside. Peel back the shell, then grasp the very end of the tail, just at the feathery flippers, and pull the meat free.

To devein a shrimp, place it on your work surface so the convex (or curved out) side faces you. Run a paring knife along the curve, slitting the meat only until the dark vein is revealed. Use the end of the knife to pull up the vein (which, of course, you discard). That unsavory vein, by the way, is actually the shrimp’s digestive track.

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Shrimp or Scallops with Lemon Dill Cream Sauce

Adding an egg yolk keeps the cream sauce from curdling in the face of the lemon juice—and makes the dish even more luxurious. Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1½ pounds large shrimp (about 20 per pound), peeled and deveined; 1½ pounds cleaned sea scallops; or 1½ pounds cleaned bay scallops

2 tablespoons chopped dill fronds or 1 tablespoon dried dill

1 cup heavy cream

1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl, at room temperature

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, preferably white pepper

Melt the butter in a large skillet or sauté pan set over