Tonight's dish was one that I hadn't cooked in at least ten years, but while looking desperately around the grocery store trying to figure out what to make for dinner, I spied some organic Pacific shrimp on sale. This dish is fairly quick and easy to make and nothing more is necessary except a sliced vegetable salad and/or perhaps a vegetable curry. One important note on cooking any dish with yogurt: all dairy products have a tendency to curdle in cooking if you aren't careful and while it doesn't ruin the dish, the little pieces of curdled yogurt don't look particularly appetizing. After using yogurt for years, I have found that typical American yogurts always curdle, especially the low fat ones. Part of the reason is the added ingredients needed to hold them together, as many of them are nothing more than dairy "jello". If you have an international grocery store near you, buy the full fat yogurt, which is usually 210-230 calories per cup. It is all yogurt and no fillers like gelatin or other binding agents. It also just tastes a lot better.
Jhinga Pulao
1/2 pound raw shrimp (head on/off, shell on/off doesn't matter, but don't use salad shrimp or precooked)
One onion, finely diced
1 cup full fat yogurt
2 cups basmati rice (no substitution on this!)
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon cayenne powder (less if you like, but remember it will flavor the rice too)
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
Salt to taste; at least 1 1/2 teaspoon
Put rice into a bowl and cover with water and allow it to sit while you are preparing the shrimp. This allows basmati rice to start expanding, so that by the time you cook it, its wonderfully long, slim kernels will have expanded to their fullest and fluffiest. In a separate bowl, add the yogurt, turmeric, garlic, cayenne, coriander, cumin, and black pepper and stir to make the marinade for the shrimp.
If your shrimp need cleaning or prepping, do that, then add them to the marinade and let them sit as well. In a non-stick pan, heat the oil, then add the diced onions, allowing them to become golden. Next, drain the rice, and add it to the oil and onion, making sure that there isn't a lot of water going in with it. Stir it for a few minutes, allowing the rice to slightly fry with the onions, then add the shrimp with all it's marinade. Continue cooking on medium to allow the spices in the yogurt to cook, because raw spices in Indian cooking is a major faux pas.
After about five minutes, add enough water to the pot to cover the rice and shrimp, add salt, cover, and cook on medium until water is almost absorbed in the rice. Try to leave the lid on as much as possible to allow the steam to cook the rice. A glass lid is handy for keeping an eye on your dish. Once the dish has absorbed most of the water, turn off the heat, keep the lid on, and allow the rest of the water to absorb and steam-fluff the rice. Before serving, stir the rice carefully, making sure not to mash or cut up the long grains. This serves about 3-4 people and is very light on meat protein. If you want, you could add a full pound of shrimp, but less is actually more authentic.
As you can see from the photo, I used shell on shrimp. Leaving the shell (or even the heads on) will give more flavor to the pulao. If you use some good shrimp, it shouldn't have a fishy taste, which I have found that the frozen, pre-cooked type does have. These shrimp were about 3 inches long and very meaty. This is one case where bigger is better.
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