For the last week of Buffet on Table the theme is blogger’s choice. Initial suggestion from the group for this week was travel theme, where we could do a travel post or a recipe we tasted during one of our travels. Later it was changed to open theme where we could whose our own theme. To go along with the initial suggestion of travel theme, I am posting a recipe that was inspired during one of my travels. This is the first recipe I made for this marathon. If this were not the first recipe I cooked for this month, I would have done a non recipe post for today and this is the only recipe post for this week. Next two posts for this week are going to be non recipe posts.

Past July I was in Niagara and we stayed at the Seneca Niagara Hotel Casino. For dinner we went to a Chinese restaurant at the casino and ordered chili prawns. The prawns were dipped in a thin batter, deep fried and, garnished with fried peanuts and dry red chilies. I do not know which variety of red chilies were used but those were mild and tasted good with the shrimp. I liked the flavor of the dry chilies and inspired by that chili shrimp, I made today’s version of chili garlic shrimp. I used the regular dry red chilies from the Indian store and I did not deep fry the shrimp. I sauteed the shrimp in chili flavored oil and we liked the shrimp. Sauteed shrimp itself is not new to me as I have cooked sauteed shrimp many times. What is new is, flavoring the oil by roasting dry chilies and then sauteing the shrimp with minimal spices. I made this shrimp many times post Niagara trip and I usually am liberal with oil. But when I cooked for the blog, I used only 2 tbsp. of oil. If one doesn’t mind excess grease, I would recommend at least 3 – 4 tbsp. oil.

Total Time: 25 – 35 minutes
Preparation: 15 – 20 minutes (includes minimum marination time)
Cooking Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Serves: 2 – 3

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Shrimp (I used jumbo shrimp, 16 – 20ct. with shell on)
• ½ tsp. Salt (opt. to be used when washing the shrimp)
• 1 – 2 tsp. Lime/Lemon Juice or Yogurt or Vinegar
• 2 ½ – 3 tsp. Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
• ¾ – 1 tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• 2 – 4 tbsp. Oil (I used 2 tbsp but prefer adding more)
• 4 – 6 Dry Red Chilies
• 3 – 4 large Cloves of Garlic
• ½ tsp. Cumin Seeds

Preparation:

• Peel & devein shrimp.
• Rub ½ tsp. salt & lime juice to shrimp and let stand for few minutes. Wash several times under running water. Squeeze excess water from the shrimp and keep aside in a bowl.
• Add 2 tsp. of chili powder & salt to shrimp and mix well. Keep aside for atleast 10 minutes.
• Crush together garlic and cumin seeds. When crushed, it would be about 1 tbsp.
• In a 10” or a 12” pan, take oil. When oil is hot, add broken dry red chilies and saute until chilies change color.
• Add shrimp and saute on medium high to high flame until shrimp curl up a little, about 3-5 minutes. Turn or stir the shrimp for even cooking.
• When shrimp are 75% cooked, add crushed garlic, remaining ½ – 1 tsp. of chili powder and stir.
• Continue to cook until shrimp are curled and well cooked. Keep stirring the shrimp for even cooking.
• Taste the shrimp and adjust salt & chili powder, if required.
• Serve hot as an appetizer or as a side dish with rice.

This day in 2011: B&W Wednesday – Reserved Table
This day in 2014: Rosemary Popovers

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 56