Shrimp Curry

Mellow Yellow



I don't know why I don't cook with curry powder more often. I'm love the flavor and it's a surprisingly flexible seasoning that can even work in desserts. Perhaps it's because the odor can linger for a day or two and smells far better in the evening when you're hungry than in the morning when you've just gotten up. Or perhaps it's because anytime you use it it's an in-your-face flavor. But for whatever reason it's not a regular component of my cooking.

Last weekend I had lunch with my parents and my mother made a quick shrimp and crab curry that I really liked. In fact, it was so quick and easy I had to make it myself a few days later just to fix the idea in my mind.

You could serve this with the usual rice, but my mother served it in puff pastry shells and they contributed a lot to the flavor and added a touch of elegance to the meal.

Shrimp Curry
Serves 4.

1/2 lb cooked salad shrimp
1/2 c canned crab
1/2 ea md. onion, minced
2 c coconut milk
4 ea scallions, cut into short lengths
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp butter
1/2 ea lemon, juiced
salt to taste
Madras curry powder to taste

Cook four puff pastry shells according to package.

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium low heat, add onion and cook until translucent. Add flour and about a tablespoon of curry powder and cook, stirring constantly, for about three minutes. Add coconut milk and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens. Add lemon juice, shrimp, crab, some of the crab juice, about half the scallions, and salt. Taste and adjust seasonings. Spoon into pastry shells and garnish with remaining scallions.

There's no need to use lump crab, it's best if the crab is evenly distributed throughout more as a flavoring than an ingredient.

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