During my last trip to Trinidad, my aunty Toy (Dad’s sister) made me the most delicious curry shrimp with pigeon peas and dhalpuri roti. I have been craving it for a while and decided to call her for the recipe.
She explained that she fries the shrimp first and then adds it to the curried peas, which essentially makes it a curried peas with shrimp peas—but who cares. This was a technique I have never heard of before but was eager to test out in the kitchen.
One can never go wrong with peas or shrimp. The result was very enjoyable but I still miss Aunty Toy’s cooking. I look forward to making another trip to Trinidad soon and hopefully we can get her to show us her exact method of making this delicious combo.
It is perfect with dhalpuri roti, but just as delicious with plain Jasmine rice and a salad for a quick week night dinner. Curry shrimp with peas is also great with paratha, dosti roti, aloo roti or sada roti for a comforting weekend meal.
If you wanted to skip the frying of the shrimp you can as well. Add the shrimp in about 10 mins after cooking the peas. Cook 10-15 mins more or until the shrimp is fully cooked and the sauce is flavorful.
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Curried Shrimp and Pigeon Peas
Ingredients
To cook peas
- 12 oz pigeon peas
To season:
- 2 lbs shrimp small, shelled, deveined, rinsed and drained
- 4 tbs green seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
To cook curry:
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or your preferred oil
- 1 small onion thinly sliced
- Hot pepper to taste
- 4 tablespoons curry powder
- 2 tbs green seasoning
- 6 leaves culantro substitute with 2 scallions or 3 tbs cilantro
- 2 tbs minced garlic less or more to your taste
- 1 pimento pepper chopped
- 1 tbs thyme leaves
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Peel, devein and wash shrimp in cold water. Season with green seasoning, salt and black pepper. Marinate for several hours, overnight or not at all.
- When ready to cook, mix in 1/3 cup flour into the shrimp or dredge individually. Heat oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add shrimp, enough to fit into the pot without overcrowding, and fry until golden brown. Flip and fry the other side. Remove to a tray. Repeat with the remaining shrimp. Set aside until later.
- Heat oil in a narrow, heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven, over medium heat. Add the reserved sliced onion (and slices of pepper--if you are using). Cook until the edges are golden brown.
- Add curry powder and 1/2 cup of water, 2 tbs green seasoning, garlic and cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the curry becomes grainy and separates from the oil, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add in the peas, salt and stir continuously for 2 mins to combine with the curry paste. Stir in culantro, pimento pepper and thyme. Add 3 cups hot water and stir well scraping up and bits at the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until tender about 15 minutes, checking every 5 mins to ensure that it is not sticking.
- When the peas are fully cooked and the sauce has thickened slightly, add fried shrimp, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, checking and stirring in a basting motion. If you prefer a lot of sauce, add more hot water and adjust salt as required.
- Serve warm over rice or with any type of roti.
Notes
Nutrition
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