Happy Saturday!

Zach told me I had to make something Indian last night. I haven’t been feeling well and didn’t necessarily want to be a slave at the stove last night. How did I meet in the middle? I made my yellow curry in a hurry!

What make this so simple is that I am cooking shrimp as my protein; feel free to substitute chicken or another light fish, but shrimp complements this dish well and cooks in approximately 3 minutes.

This dish does not require anything absurdly obscure to make delicious. Yes, I used good ol’ fashioned McCormick curry powder; nothing “authentic” or specific to make you feel discouraged from making this. The optional ingredients here you may have handy, or you may not, but don’t feel the need to go out of your way. To make the sauce, you essential need curry powder, sautéed onion and garlic, honey, hot sauce, and coconut milk. These are all what you may already have or very accessible. The prep time is minimal, and the taste is fabulous. From start to finish, you could have dinner done in 20 minutes. Because my post is all about speed, I will stop writing about how wonderful it is and let you get to it! 🙂

In a Flash

• 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 1 1/2 pound peeled and deveined shrimp (shoot for larger shrimp for maximum flavor)** (also they could be frozen)
• 1 whole medium yellow onion diced finely
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-2 tablespoons of minced/finely grated ginger root
• 1 tablespoon or more of curry powder (to taste)
• 1-2 teaspoons of Garam Masala (optional, but I love it!)
• 1 can of coconut milk (make sure it’s full fat and from a can–you need the thick consistency)
• 2 tablespoons of honey (but probably if you like sweeter curries)
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt (or more)
• 1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked pepper (or more)
• 1 -2 teaspoon(s) of red pepper flakes (to taste)
• 1 bag of frozen broccoli florets** (you can use any green vegetable you like such as peas, but I like the florets with the sauce)
• 1 lime juiced (optional, but I like it!)
• 1 tablespoon or so of Sriracha or any other hot sauce
• 12 whole basil leaves chiffonade (sliced thinly into ribbons)
• 2 cups Basmati rice (any rice is fine, but basmati screams Indian!)

The Need for Speed

1. First, get a cold bowl of water and put frozen shrimp in the bowl. If desired, add some salt to water. This is a great way to thaw the shrimp will retaining tenderness through a light brine. In the meantime, measure out two cups of Basmati rice and cook to directions (usually a 1:2 ratio) with salt and butter (or olive oil).
2. Meanwhile, do your prep: diced your onion finely and mince garlic and ginger.
3. Heat up a pan with olive oil or butter on medium high heat. Cook the shrimp about 2 minutes or so until they turn pink and are no longer translucent. Make sure you don’t overcook the shrimp! Put the shrimp aside on a plate while you prepare the sauce in the same pan.
4. Next, add the diced onions and sauté for a few minutes. Add about a tablespoon or so of water to the pan to make the onions extra soft. Repeat as necessary (but do not add too much water!) Next, add the ginger and stir around for a minute. Lastly, add the garlic (do not burn the garlic.)
5. Once all of the aromatics are in the pan, throw curry powder on them and stir. Cook for a minute, and then open up a can of coconut milk. Stir around to incorporate everything. Turn the heat up on the stove to medium high to let the sauce bubble up. Once the sauce is heated through, put on a lower setting. While the sauce is cooling slightly, heat up frozen microwave to directions (I did about 3 minutes). Throw shrimp and broccoli into the sauce.
6. Stir into your sauce chiffonaded basil, honey, squeeze lime, Sriracha sauce, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir around and adjust seasonings to taste. Right before serving, add optional Garam Masala (if you add it too early, it will lose all flavor so make sure you do it at the end.)
7. Add rice to the bottom of a bowl and pour on top the sauce and shrimp. devour immediately.