Lasaan Vali Jhinga – Shrimp with garlic (ok lots of garlic)

My husband turned vegetarian during college. Partially a gambit to lose weight and get healthy, partly to follow a more traditional, Indian diet. His jobs have always involved travel to the far east and finding filling vegetarian fare is always a challenge. Afterall one can only eat so many eggs, fruit and toast at the all you can eat buffets. Always a practical person, DH decided to add shrimp to his rotation.

One of his favorite shrimp dishes is this Lasaan Vali Jhinga. Garlicky, spicy, and incredibly easy to make – it’s the perfect dish to serve guests as an appetizer or as a quick meal with rice and a vegetable side or salad on a busy night.

Lasaan Vali Jhinga 

Yield: 4 servings for an entrée, 6-8 servings for an appetizer

Ingredients:

• For Marinade:
  • 1 lb Shrimp – peeled, deveined, washed and patted dry
  • 1/4 tsp Ground Turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp Chili Powder (or more to taste)
  • 1 tbsp Oil
• To Prepare Dish:
  • 2 tbsp Oil
  • 1/2 tsp Black Mustard Seeds
  • 5 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
  • 1 Green Chili (finely chopped) – (or more to taste)
  • Juice of 1/2 Lemon
  • 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped Cilantro

 

Method:

1. Put clean and dry shrimp into a bowl, add 1 tbsp oil, turmeric and chili powder – massage into shrimp – set aside.
2. Heat oil in pan – over high heat.
3. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds.
4. Once they pop, add garlic and stir until garlic is light brown in color -this goes fast, keep watch so the garlic doesn’t burn.
5. Now add green chili and stir.
6. Add shrimp – stir over high heat until opaque – 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat once cooked – shrimp will turn opaque.
7. Squeeze lemon juice over shrimp.
8. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and cilantro.
9. Serve Immediately

Tips:

• I buy my shrimp from Whole Foods – from their seafood cold case. I usually buy the 21-30 count for entrée portions or 16-20 count for appetizer portions.
• You could make the dish with shells on – my family prefers shrimp peeled and deveined.
• Same thing with tails – personal preference here.
• You can prepare shrimp earlier and keep in a container or plastic bag in the fridge until ready to use.
• If serving as a main – you can serve on top of rice, or with a green salad.

Share the garlic, er love!

Take care,

Shruti