Shrimp Curry / Caril de Gambas

My shrimp curry today didn't turn out as great as last time, mainly because last time the store-bought curry sauce was better and the shrimp was better quality. Hopefully next time I make this it will be perfect again like last time!

And yes, this is a Portuguese recipe, interestingly enough. Portuguese cuisine is pretty simple and doesn't usually have many spices, but you will find shrimp curry on the menu at most "Portuguese" restaurants. I guess this is because of Portugal's connection to India (Portuguese discoverer Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India and Portugal had colonies in India). It's common to eat shrimp curry or chicken curry here.

The ingredients:

500g frozen shrimp

1 cup rice

1 cup white wine

1 bay leaf

3 tomatoes (or however many you want!), peeled, seeded and chopped

1/2 onion and 1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce

Cream (I used 250 ml and it was too much! I'll get a smaller packet next time)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon salt

cilantro (preferably fresh cilantro or parsley, I used frozen cilantro)

The recipe:
Bring the rice (any kind you'd like!), 2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil and simmer until all the water disappears. (About ten minutes) Cover and set aside.

Boil the shrimp in 4 cups of water and 1 cup of wine, with a bay leaf for 10 minutes or according to package directions (mine said bring to a boil and then turn off). Then drain and set aside. I tried using only half the bag but the shrimp was to tiny I ended up boiling the whole 500g. Next time I think I will buy bigger shrimp.

Fry the onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, hot pepper sauce and paprika. Saute for 10 minutes.

Mis the cream with the curry powder and a teaspoon of salt. (Don't put too much curry powder! I did :/)

Add the shrimp to the pan.

Saute for a couple of minutes.

Add the curry cream and heat it until it comes to a boil.

Serve over rice, top with cilantro and FINITO:

Serve with soup or veggies and reserve half for your next meal.

Happy weekend!