Shrimp Curry ~ Royyala Koora without Tomato

After a nonstop mega blogging marathon (bm) last month, I am back for another edition of bm. This is our regular marathon where we blog for three consecutive days every week of the month. For regular marathons I usually blog two weeks a month and this is my first week of BM # 57. I have some unposted recipes from last month’s BM and chose dry or gravy curries as my theme.

Shrimp curry is my go to recipe when I have guests at home. It is one of the easiest non-veg curries to cook. Here in the US, we get peeled fresh or frozen shrimp and it makes cooking very easy. I usually stock up from frozen shrimp for emergencies. I already have two versions of shrimp curries here & here. In both the versions I posted earlier, it was with tomatoes. Today’s recipe is no tomato curry. I made today’s shrimp curry for my Telugu meal that I prepared for last month’s Buffet on Table. I made the no tomato curry as that is how it used to be cooked years & years ago when we were growing up.

Total Time: 30 minutes
Preparation: 5 - 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2 - 3

Ingredients:

1 lb Shrimp (I used 40 - 50 ct. shrimp)
2 - 4 tbsp. Oil. I used 4
2 Cardamoms (opt.)
1 - 2 Cloves (opt.)
2 - 4 Curry Leaves (opt. I did not use)
1 extra large Onion or 1 ½ cups chopped Onion
1 ½ tbsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
4 small green Chilies, slit and cut into two
1 tbsp. Coriander Powder
½ tbsp. Chili Powder
¼ tsp. Turmeric Powder
¾ - 1 tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
¼ tsp. Garam Masala (Powder of 1 Cardamoms + 1 Clove + small piece of Cinnamon)
¼ - ⅓ cup Yogurt, lightly beaten
Cilantro to garnish

Preparation:

I bought peeled and tail-on frozen shrimp. Thaw shrimp and remove the tail. I usually take frozen shrimp in a bowl, pour warm water over it and let stand for 5 minutes or until shrimp is easy to handle. Then I remove the tail.
Wash the shrimp and leave it in room temperature water until ready to use.
Heat oil in a pan, add cardamom, cloves and curry leaves, if using. When cardamoms are lightly roasted in oil, add onions.
Saute onions until light brown.
Add ginger garlic paste, green chilies and saute for a minute or two until ginger garlic is no longer raw and chilies change color.
Add coriander powder, chili powder, salt, turmeric powder, garam masala and stir until spices are well blended.
Reduce the flame to low or even turn off the flame, add yogurt and stir immediately until it blends into the onion mixture.
Turn the heat onto medium high - high, cook stirring constantly until oil begins to separate. Reduce the heat to low.
Remove shrimp from water, squeeze out as much water as possible, add it to onion yogurt mixture. Increase the heat to high and stir for a minute until shrimp is coated with the spices.
Cover and cook for 3 - 5 minutes until shrimp curl up and is just cooked.
Remove the lid, continue cooking on medium - medium high flame until curry is dry. This would take about 4 - 7 minutes.
Stirring occasionally cook for another 3 - 4 minutes or until the curry is done.
Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice.