Easy Coconut Shrimp Curry
Curry has never been my strong suit. I have a recipe for Curry Chicken Salad in my first cookbook, and am devoted to Aimée’s slow-cooker chicken curry. Other than that, I didn’t have much else in my repertoire until I stumbled upon this Coconut Shrimp Curry recipe on Sophie Dahl’s cookbook. We’ve been eating more shrimp lately and this recipe looked accessible for a non-curry expert and simple enough for a weeknight.
The preparation was super simple and I was able to handle it all on the stovetop while my daughter did her homework. I even added a little extra coconut flavor by cooking the rice on coconut milk as well. It plumps up the rice so well and adds just the little hint of coconut, but you could easily use chicken broth or water if you’d rather not overdo it on the tropical flavor.
For spice I added extra jalapeño since we like heat, but, again, you can omit it if you’d rather not have the spice. I served it up as a one-bowl meal with the curry and shrimp on top of the rice to soak up the broth. It was a delicious meal that we all loved and gave me a little more confidence in my curry-cooking abilities. In the future I’ll make this again and I might add a bit of grated ginger and a cup or two of diced vegetables. Or, I’ll make it again just as it is, which is perfect.
adapted from Sophie Dahl's book, Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 ½ cups jasmine rice
- 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
- For the curry:
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 2 cups peeled raw shrimp
- 14 ounces light coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Cook the rice in coconut milk according to directions. Add water if more liquid is needed.
- In a large pan warm the olive oil and add the shallot. Heat until translucent, for about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and stir for about 1 minute, or until golden. Add the pepper and curry powder and cook for about 3 more minutes, or until the pepper softens.
- Add the shrimp to the pan and stir it well to coat with the curry mixture. Then add the coconut milk and mix to combine. Cook the curry for about 10 minutes, allowing it to simmer and stirring occasionally, stir in lime juice and coconut.
- Fill four bowls with rice and spoon the shrimp curry with rice and serve.
