Sweet, snappy shrimp swimming in a spicy chutney made of chiles, lots of cilantro, and ample garlic is one of my favorite ways to enjoy the crustaceans, and it’s fairly simple to make. The preparation is my own spin on one of my maternal grandmother's very best recipes, in which I swap the chicken she used with shrimp.
I grew up with her Indian cooking and I loved everything she made, whether family recipes she learned from her mother and mother-in-law or the recipes she picked up in her travels around India as an army wife. Naturally I looked forward to eating my favorite snacks and meals every summer when we visited: from her guava toffee and coconut pastries to her delectable tomato-coconut soup. One of my favorites was her cilantro chutney chicken; breast meat marinated in a homemade cilantro chutney, and gently simmered until the chicken was tender and the chutney cooked to a sauce, ideal for laddling over big bowls of rice or scooping up with bread.
Years later in California in 2007, when I started my own catering company called Un-Curry, I reimagined my grandmother’s cilantro chicken dish, replacing the chicken with shrimp. In my opinion, the shrimp are the perfect vehicle for the fragrant, garlicky cilantro chutney, a fact supported by the recipe's popularity at my catering company and among friends when I serve it at dinner parties.
The result is an easy weeknight recipe that comes together quickly aside from a brief hands-off marination period in a portion of the chutney (and honestly, if you're in a rush, you can shave some time off the marination without much trouble).
Once marinated, the shrimp are quickly seared to develop flavor and then simmered with the remaining sauce until plump and tender. It's a complete meal when served over rice, but can also be prepared as an hors d'oeuvres with the chutney as a dipping sauce on the side (see instructions at the bottom of this headnote for how to do that).
The recipe is simple, but there are a few key technical points worth discussing.
Key Techniques for a Smooth Sauce and Juicy Shrimp
Use a high-powered blender for the cilantro chutney. In Maharashtra and some other Indian states, a thick, flat, rough-hewn grinding stone and pestle (called paata-varvanta in Marathi) were traditionally used to produce chutneys and pastes.
Placed on the floor where cooking was often done, or on a counter, the long stone pestle was rolled back and forth horizontally over the ingredients placed on the stone. A small addition of liquid like water, tamarind paste, or citrus juice could help the grinding process (if called for in the recipe), but those liquid additions were minimal, keeping flavors concentrated and not diluted.
This can be challenging when making a chutney or paste in a blender, which often requires more liquid to get the ingredients moving around the spinning blade. One solution to this is to add the needed liquid and then cook it down afterwards to remove the excess, but that leads to dull, overcooked flavors. The best approach that I've found is to use a high-powered blender, like a Vitamix, which will chop the ingredients efficiently without requiring water that would dilute and mute flavors.
For juicier shrimp, brine with salt and baking soda. Tossing the shrimp with salt and baking soda briefly before cooking greatly enhances the shrimp’s flavor and seasoning; brining with salt helps keep the shrimp nice and moist as they cook, while alkaline baking soda delivers a crisp, firm texture.
Here, I toss the shrimp with the salt and baking soda and a portion of the chutney to let it brine briefly. In my tests, I found the shrimp to be most flavorful and with the best texture when brined for about 45 minutes. Just make sure to refrigerate them during this time.
Gently Simmer the shrimp until just pink. There are few things worse than rubbery, overcooked shrimp. Yes, brining will help retain the shrimp’s juicy texture, but the best way to keep the shrimp in perfect form is to simply not overcook them. It’s a matter of knowing when to stop: as soon as they've lost their translucency and developed that hallmark pink hue. The cooking time from start to finish is just a few minutes, so make sure to stay close and monitor the pot.
How to Convert This Recipe for Hors d'Oeuvres
When I created this recipe years ago for my catering company, I originally served it as an appetizer. It was easy to prep and cook for events, and clients love the aromatic, spicy one-bite appeal.
To serve the shrimp in this way, sear them in a 12-inch skillet (do this in at least two batches to prevent overcrowding) until fully cooked; do not add the remaining chutney for simmering. Instead serve the seared shrimp with the reserved chutney on the side as a dipping sauce.
For the cilantro chutney and marinating the shrimp: In a blender, add 1/3 of the cilantro along with the garlic, chiles, 3 tablespoons lime juice, salt, and 1/4 cup water and blend, scraping down the sides of blender as needed, into a fine, soft paste, 30 to 60 seconds. Add remaining 2/3 of the cilantro, 1/4 cup water, remaining 3 tablespoons lime juice, cumin seeds, and sugar, and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender jar as needed, about 60 seconds. Season to taste with salt. The chutney should be smooth.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup (180ml) chutney with the baking soda; add the shrimp and toss until well coated. Refrigerate for 45 to 60 minutes. Store the remaining (about 1 cup) chutney separately. Before washing the blender, pour the remaining 1/4 cup water into it and briefly pulse to collect any remaining chutney in the jar. Add this to the reserved chutney.
For cooking the shrimp: In a large sautée pan, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the cumin seeds and cook until they pop and are fragrant, about 10 seconds, then immediately stir in onion and turmeric. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, 3 to 5 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, remove shrimp from marinade, letting excess marinade drip back into the bowl, and add to the pan in one even layer. Cook for 30 seconds without moving, then stir and continue to cook until beginning to brown, 1 minute.
Reduce heat to low, and pour in the remaining reserved cilantro chutney mixture. Stir to combine and bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring occasionally; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the shrimp are just pink and opaque, about 1 minute longer. Serve immediately over steamed Basmati white rice.
Special Equipment
High-powered blender, large sautée pan
Make-Ahead and Storage
The chutney can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 5 days or frozen for 4 weeks. When freezing the chutney, I like to use an ice cube tray to store it in portions. That way you can remove only as much chutney as you need.
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