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Tiger Shrimp With Lime, Ginger, and Mustard Seeds

5.0

(6)

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Photo by Martin Poole

Shrimp are quick to cook, but still manage to feel rather special. This recipe borrows spices from the southern shores of India; I tasted a dish similar to this when I was learning about the local cuisine. At first, you get pure heat from the chiles; when it subsides, you're left with delicate and delicious flavors. Here, I have toned down the chiles and added some background warmth by using fresh ginger instead. I’ve used tiger shrimp and removed most of the shell, apart from the tail. I prefer to leave the tail on, as it means that you have something to hold on to when biting into the shrimp, but you can take the entire shell off if you prefer. Just make sure the shrimp are raw and that they have been deveined.

Editor's note:

This recipe has been updated as a part of our archive repair project.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    20 minutes

  • Yield

    Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp black peppercorns, crushed with a pestle and mortar
20 fresh curry leaves (optional)
2 scallions, finely sliced
1 fresh red chile, finely sliced
1 tbsp peeled and julienned fresh ginger
20 raw jumbo shrimp, shells removed but tails left on, deveined
Good pinch of sea salt
Good drizzle of honey
2 tbsp roughly chopped cilantro
Juice of 1/2 lime, to taste

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Gently heat the oil in a large skillet and add the cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, turmeric, peppercorns and curry leaves (if using). Once they start to sizzle, stir through the scallions, chile and ginger and allow to soften for around a minute.

    Step 2

    Stir in the shrimp and watch how they turn to a golden pink color. Flip them over and sprinkle over a good pinch of salt. Once they are cooked through—and it won’t take long, only a few minutes on each side—drizzle over the honey and sprinkle in half the cilantro and the lime juice. Mix well and serve sprinkled with the remaining cilantro.

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Reprinted from The Indian Family Kitchen: Classic Dishes for a New Generation by Anjali Pathak. Copyright © 2015 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd. Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.

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