Shrimp Dry Roast...deliciousness on a plate !!

I love having Shrimp , my mom makes the most amazing Shrimp curry I have tasted. Any time we go to any seafood restaurants I always end up ordering some shrimp based dish or salad.

However Manish cannot have any shellfish as he had some allergic reaction to it as a child and is afraid that he may be allergic to shellfish, so preparing shrimp is off our menu list. So after our wedding this is the first time I am actually making shrimp at home. Thanks to my sis-in-law who came over for the holidays, I had an excuse to prepare and someone to share the dish with :-)

I initially thought of making simple Kerala style spicy shrimp fry...then I thought of making it a bit more interesting by making a dry roast like dish where I roasted some shallots, ginger-garlic and curry leaves until the curry leaves are crisp and added it to the fried.shrimp. This added some additional flavour and the dry masala tasted simply awesome.

Shrimp Dry Roast Recipe
Recipe source: My own
You'll need
Shrimp or Prawns - 1 lb ( I bought large Gulf Shrimp)
Red chilli powder - 1-2 tsp ( depending on how much spicy you prefer)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Ginger-Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Water - 2-3 tsp (or enough to marinate the spices on the shrimp)
Small Pearl Onions or Shallots - 6-7 ( sliced)
Minced Ginger - 1 or 2 tsp
Minced Garlic - 1 or 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2springs (about 8-10 leaves)
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying shrimp + 2tblsp ( I used Canola oil, Coconut oil would provide an authentic keralite flavor)

Directions:
1. Wash and clean the shrimp. (Mine was already cleaned with the Tail on , I used it as it is after washing)

2. Take the shrimp on a plate and add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, ginger-garlic paste and salt and add a little water and marinate evenly on each shrimp. Refrigerate for 15-20mins to marinate well.

3. Heat some oil (about 4-5 tblsp) in a non-stick pan and add the shrimp and let them fry. Keep the pan aside. (Do not over-fry shrimp as it tends to turn rubbery.)

4. In another non-stick pan, add 2 tblsp oil and add the shallots (or pearl onions) , minced ginger , minced garlic and curry leaves and keep roasting until the curry leaves are fried crisp and the onions are nicely carmelised.

5. Add this dry roasted mixture into the pan with the fried shrimp and mix very well, such that the onions and curry leaves are coated with the masala from the fried shrimp.

Serve hot with plain rice or chapathi .

This dish was really nice and spicy and shrimp was fried perfectly.The dry masala from the shallots and curry leaves tasted superb , all in all it was Finger licking good !!

I seriously wished we had made more...Manish was left to enjoy the smells :-)

Hope you all are eagerly waiting for the New Year!! Wish you all a Very Happy New Year 2012!!

- Manju