It is Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago (the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday) and what better way to show some love that to celebrate with some curry shrimp! I ate this meal on my first day in Trinidad and Tobago last year and I am still dreaming of it. So naturally I wanted to replicate it.
Truly one of the most delicious dishes there is! You can’t really go wrong with curry shrimp, buss up shut, pumpkin and bodi (green beans). The recipes for pumpkin and bodi are coming up. This recipe is pretty straight forward, easy to follow and you need to add it to your roster.
I am calling this green seasoning a “quick or shortcut version” because typically more ingredients like thyme, celery and green peppers are blended into the green seasoning. Also important, the West Indian herb CULANTRO aka SHADO BENI is typically used instead of cilantro in this dish. Cilantro is the most widely available substitute with a similar flavour profile.
Buss up Shut Recipe Here
Curry Shrimp
Ingredients
Green Seasoning
- ½ onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 3 green onions
- ½ cup cilantro leaves or culantro/shado beni
- ½ cup parsley leaves
- 1 habanero or scotch bonnet
- Neutral oil as needed to blend
- Water as needed to blend
Shrimp
- 680 grams of shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2-3 tablespoons green seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Curry
- 3 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
- ½ onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoons thyme dried of fresh
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped hot pepper like scotch bonnet, alternatively, add 1 scotch bonnet in whole
- 2-3 green onions chopped
- 1 medium tomato seeds removed, chopped
- 1 potato peeled and chopped medium to large
- Pinch of salt or to taste
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro to finish
Instructions
Make Green Seasoning
- Roughly chop all the ingredients for your green seasoning and add them into a blender or food processor. Add about 3 tablespoons of oil to start and a tablespoon of water and blend until very smooth. Add more oil and/or water only if necessary.
Marinate Your Shrimp
- Take peeled deveined shrimp, season with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, or to taste, and scoop 2-3 tablespoons of green seasoning over the shrimp and mix well. You want your shrimp to be well coated but you dont want it swimming in the green seasoning. YES, there will be leftover green seasoning and my only suggestion is to freeze it in a ziploc bag, place in fridge if using within the next couple days OR you can add it to your curry though this will result in a greener looking curry.
- Cover your shrimp and set aside in fridge until ready to use.
Make Curry
- In a medium to heavy bottom frying pan, add your oil, add your diced onions and sautee for about 3 minutes stirring constantly on medium heat so it does not burn.
- Add your minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.
- Add your curry powder, cumin powder and turmeric. Fry stirring constantly. It will stick to the pan but this is okay. Just used a wooden spoon to scrape up the curry. fry for about 2 minutes.
- Add your green onions, diced tomato and diced hot pepper. If adding whole hot pepper, add when you add potatoes into the pan.
- Pout about 1/2 cup of water to the pan and scrape the Cury off the bottom of your pan and cook on low to medium heat until the water has evaporated and it is dry again.
- Add about 1/2 cup of water yet again, and add your chopped potatoes. Top with enough water so potatoes can cook and become tender. Season with a small pinch of salt here and add your thyme. Mix well and cover with a lid and reduce heat to simmer so potatoes can cook. Take a look periodically to make sure it is not burning and to make sure the water is not evaporating too fast. it should be saucy around your potatoes not dry.
- After about 10 minutes, perhaps 15 minutes depending on how large you cut your potatoes, your potatoes should be tender.
- Take your marinated shrimp and mix them into your curried potato mixture, add more water as needed to simmer the shrimp but it is crucial you do not add too much water here. The shrimp takes max, 5 minutes to cook and this is not enough time to allow a lot of water to cook off.
- Taste and adjust for seasoning if necessary. Typically I don't add too much salt because remember we seasoned the shrimp.
- Mix in your chopped cilantro and serve hot with rice, roti, and veggie sides of your choice. I served this with pumpkin and bodi (green beans)
