Jamacian Shrimp Curry

This is  a wonderful dish to prepare, good for family meal or company. The original recipe was shared with me by a generous work friend who often brought samples of his cooking to share.  Serve with brown basmati or jasmine rice with sliced pineapple for dessert.


Some of his cooking notes:

• For the “seafood broth” I used clam juice (I got it at Golden Produce near my house).
• For the curry I suggest using Rainbow’s organic curry in their bulk spice section – rich and more complex; I used half that, and half normal yellow curry plus about a teaspoon of allspice.
• The shrimp I got at Safeway in the frozen section — they only had one size that was raw and deveined, not an exact match to the size the recipe calls for, and it turned out fine.

 Makes 4 servings, about 2 cups each; cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
   * 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
   * 1 large onion, chopped
   * 2 stalks celery, sliced
   * 4 cloves garlic, chopped
   * 1 serrano chile, minced (optional)
   * 2 tablespoons curry powder
   * 1 teaspoon dried thyme
   * 2 cups seafood broth or stock or clam juice
   * 1 14-ounce can “lite” coconut milk
   * 3 ripe mangoes, diced (see Tip)
   * 1 1/4 pounds raw shrimp (21-25 count; see Note), peeled and deveined
   * 1 bunch scallions, sliced
   * 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation
  1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, chile (if using), curry powder and thyme; stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add broth (or stock or clam juice), coconut milk and mangoes. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
  2. Puree 3 cups of the soup in a blender. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Return the puree to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add shrimp and cook until pink and firm, about 3 minutes. Stir in scallions and salt.

Tips & Notes
   * Tip: To peel and dice a mango, slice both ends off to reveal the long, slender seed. Set the fruit upright and remove the skin with a sharp knife. With the seed perpendicular to you, slice the fruit from both sides of the seed, yielding two large pieces. Turn the seed parallel to you and slice the two smaller pieces of fruit from each side. Dice into desired size.
   * Note: Shrimp is usually sold by the number needed to make one pound. For example, “21-25 count” means there will be 21 to 25 shrimp in a pound. Size names, such as “large” or “extra large,” are not standardized, so to get the size you want, order by the count per pound. Both wild-caught and farm-raised shrimp can damage the surrounding ecosystems when not managed properly. Fortunately, it is possible to buy shrimp that have been raised or caught with sound environmental practices. Look for fresh or frozen shrimp certified by an independent agency, such as the Marine Stewardship Council. If you can’t find certified shrimp, choose wild-caught shrimp from North America—it’s more likely to be sustainably caught.