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Conquering Demons!

Ginger Chilli Shrimp
Ginger Chilli Shrimp

I have a morning ritual of sorts - I wake up, freshen up, set up my fresh pot of coffee, check my emails, and then research. Not research on boring topics like the increasing cost of living, crime rates or even on Britney Spears’ declining popularity. No. What I spend the next few hours diligently pouring over, are pages and pages of recipes. Recipes I’ve gathered over time, some that are intriguing, many that I simply love, and a few that I think are worth a try. What I do look for between the lines however, are the flavour combinations, specific cooking methods and inspiration to create.

When it comes to cooking, I hardly ever follow a recipe. I often give it a quick read, making a mental note of the spices, and then just play by instinct. But baking, now that’s a whole different post altogether! Coming back to cooking, apart from my daily ritual of pouring through endless mounds of paper scattered all over my floor, I also make time to decide what would be on the day’s menu. Some days, I plan in advance, like say the night before, while most other days, I go by my mood.

Take today for instance, I woke up craving for shrimp. While I don’t often cook seafood, I do however, have tons of recipe ideas for them. And today was just the day to try one out, I thought. As I sipped my morning cuppa and went through my regular rounds of email, I heard a little voice in my head - “Ginger… Chili… Shrimp…”! As I read an email from a fabulous lady requesting me to review her latest cookbook, I heard it again - “Ginger… Chili… Shrimp…”! Half an hour later, drooling over an episode of Ina’s where she made the most delicious looking lemon loaf, there it was again - “Ginger… Chili… Shrimp…”! By the time it was mid-morning, I could take it no longer and set off to cook myself some lunch - “Ginger… Chili… Shrimp…”! There it was again!

GINGER-CHILI SHRIMP
Prep time: 20 min | Cooking time: 10 min | Serves: 2 

15-20 large
1 medium
1 tbsp
1 tbsp
2 tbsp
1 tbsp
1/4 tsp
1/4 tsp
1 tsp
2-3 tbsp		   shrimp, peeled and deviened
onion, finely sliced
ginger, finely chopped
tomato paste
soy sauce
lime juice
turmeric powder
red chili powder
crushed red chili flakes
light cooking oil
salt, to taste
chopped green onions, for garnish

MARINATE shrimp with turmeric, chili powder and lime juice for 20 minutes. Fry in a bit of oil till crisp on both sides. Set aside.

HEAT remaining oil and saute ginger till fragrant. Add onions and fry for a few minutes till tender and pink.

ADD chili flakes, salt, tomato paste and soy sauce, and stir-fry for a few minutes till it starts to give out oil from the sides. Add shrimp, and stir fry for a minute or two blending spices well.

GARNISH with chopped green onions and serve alongside plain rice and a large pitcher of ice-cold water.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 14th, 2007 at 12:03 am and is filed under Recipes: Non-Vegetarian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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