Shrimp Curry (Without Coconut Milk)
Tired of the same boring recipes? Go global with Shrimp Curry without coconut milk and have dinner ready on the table in 30 minutes or less.
Shrimp Curry For Two in a hurry – ok, ok so the name is a little cliché, but I wanted to emphasize how fast it is to make this, which means that this dinner can be ready in 30 minutes or less.
This is a recipe I’ve been making since college, and considering what my cooking skills were back then (read: still developing), it is very easy for anybody who loves spice to cook.
Indian food is one of my favorite cuisines, mainly because nobody else eats it.
Dad may be an adventurous eater, but he draws the line at curry. Mom certainly won’t eat it. My brother may or may not eat it (he might eat chicken dishes if they aren’t too spicy).
I have one friend who ate it with me in college, but since there were no Indian restaurants near campus, it was very, very rare.
I think that’s why I love Indian food so much – it tastes so good, yet I never have it.
That’s the beauty of cooking at home – you can make anything you want without worrying about take out prices.
If you love shrimp, vegetables, and spice (or if you’re feeling adventurous in trying a new cuisine), then this Shrimp Curry is a must for you.
If you’re new to Indian food, curry is a great place to start.
Curry refers to a dish of meat and vegetables in an Indian-style sauce of strong spices and is typically served with rice.
Curry powder, which is what I used in my sauce, is a spice mixture that can vary on the blend. Mine is a Madras-style powder with turmeric, cayenne, coriander, ginger, cumin, fenugreek, white pepper, cinnamon, fennel, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, and black pepper.
They can also vary in spice level. Mine is specifically labeled hot curry powder, but not all curry powders are that spicy.
You can pick up curry powder where you buy your spices. Mine came from Penzey’s Spices.
The first time I’ve tried curry sauce was…from a grocery store in Ireland (bet you didn’t expect me to say that).
It was jar of pre-made curry sauce. I don’t even know how I ended up with it; I think I was tired of spaghetti sauce and wanted something new.
Studying abroad in Ireland marked my transition into cooking since moving out of my parent’s house. For the first year and a half on campus, I had a meal plan and ate at the dining hall every day.
When I spent a semester in Ireland, I had my own kitchen. Well, I shared it with three other students, but I bought my own groceries.
Sure, the University of Limerick had a few eateries on campus, but you paid out of pocket each time. $6 for a sandwich every day? No thanks.
I knew how to cook but wasn’t well versed in cooking from scratch. Add in that we didn’t own a microwave nor money for kitchen tools that we’d end up tossing after a few months, and I ended up with a few shortcut ingredients such as jarred sauces and packaged soup mixes.
When I started my junior year back in the U.S., I lived in an apartment with a kitchen. No more dining hall for me!
I also went through this phrase where I cooked everything I could from scratch. Jarred sauces were the first to go.
I absolutely loved that curry sauce I bought and set out to recreate it. I became obsessed with making curry. Chicken curry, mushroom curry, butternut squash curry, broccoli curry, beef curry (yes, I know beef goes against Indian beliefs, but hey I had beef in the freezer).
It wasn’t until I started my first big girl job that I made shrimp curry since I could now afford shrimp.
Shrimp is probably one of the fastest cooking proteins, which is why I often make shrimp dishes when I need dinner in a hurry.
You can certainly change up this dish as you see fit. I toss in whatever vegetables I have on hand, usually broccoli and mushrooms but today’s recipe has carrots and peas.
Replace shrimp with chicken or make it vegetarian by bulking up the vegetables and using vegetable stock.
You can also go non-traditional and make Curry Chicken Wings.
More Shrimp Recipes
Shrimp Curry Without Coconut Milk
Tired of the same boring recipes? Go global with Shrimp Curry without coconut milk and have dinner ready on the table in 30 minutes or less.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 pound (8 ounces) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and patted dry
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 4 button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup peas
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, add the rice and water then bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and cover. Simmer 10-12 minutes or until the water is absorbed and rice is fluffy. Remove from the heat and let stand covered 10 minutes.
- While the rice is cooking, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, curry powder, sugar, salt, and ginger.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter and big pinch of salt. Once hot, add the shrimp. Cook until the shrimp are pink and no longer transparent, flipping once halfway through, about 5 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a bowl and keep warm.
- Using the same skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Add the onion, mushrooms, carrot, and a big pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour mixture to coat and form a roux (paste). Slowly stir in the broth. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in the milk, lemon juice, peas, and cooked shrimp. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
- Once everything is ready, serve the curry over cooked rice.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchase.
This dish and your photography are both absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks, Isabel!
WOW this sounds sooooo good! I love curry and haven’t had it forever because my guy says he doesn’t like Indian food :/ what is with these people? I may just make it anyway and tell him he needs to hush up and eat it!!
What?! Tell him that he’s crazy! ;) This recipe only makes about 2-3 servings, so if you still can’t convince him to like it, at least you can make it for yourself then have leftovers for lunch the next day :)
I love curry and this look amazing! Totally pinning it! I love all your other selections too. Funny, I had my first taste of curry in college too and Indian is one of may favorite cuisines.
I think Indian is quite a popular college choice, although we didn’t have any restaurants nearby. And I didn’t have a car. But one of my good college friends was Indian, so we did manage to splurge when we could.
I love Indian food too. Back when the world was flat and I went to London, one of my co-workers insisted that I eat Indian food. I almost ignored her, but I did it. Oh my goodness! Indian restaurants were pretty sparse in the Seattle area at that time. Now I live more rural and have to travel 2 hrs to get to one. Sigh. I am going to Seattle in a couple of week with old college friends. Yep, Indian food is in my future. Since I live in a seaport town now, shrimp is a staple. So perfect recipe—–
Before I moved back to Pittsburgh, I believe the closest Indian restaurant was about 40 minutes away. A lot closer than your 2 hours but still far for me to go by myself and take home. Now I see Indian restaurants everywhere!
I adore shrimp curry! Your version looks marvelous, Carla!
Curry is quite common in many Asian countries where I’ve lived so I don’t really think of it as Indian food and beef curry is one of the more popular versions!
Ahh see I didn’t know that! I’ve only known Indian curry. Good to know there are beef curry versions too.
Wahoo! Finally someone posted a curry recipe that doesn’t require coconut milk. I wanna kiss you right now, Carla!
Funny you mention that! I thought about upgrading and using coconut milk, BUT I never cooked with coconut milk in college. For my story, I wanted to stay true to how I made it.
I know I’m a little late to the Shrimp Curry party but I just made this and…OMG…YUMMY! Will definitely make again and experiment with different proteins and vegetables. Thank you from the other side of PA…Allentown :-)
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! It works really well with chicken too.
Beef is not against Indian beliefs. Just Hinduism beliefs. Kerala,a state in india,beef is almost a staple. You get beef curry for breakfast too ????and lots of dry beef dishes with the kick of spice.
Thanks for clarifying!
I’ll be making it tomorrow. Have to eat that pork chop in the fridge first :( I plan to try it over grits cooked in coconut milk as my own try at an upgrade
Love the idea of serving it over grits! How did it turn out?
I have made it twice! The first time I had searched for a recipe without coconut, simply because I did not have any in my pantry. It was delicious! The second time, just for fun, I made it with some coconut milk. Also delicious, perhaps a touch sweeter tasting. I had Coconut Curry Prawns once in a pub that closed years ago and this is the closest I’ve found to that wonderful taste. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it!