Shrimp Curry

  

  
This is a plain recipe.  It does not include lemon grass, or ginger or any of a dozen other ingredients you might and should put into a seafood curry dish.  The reason I include it is for its very simplicity, and its ability to educate on the basics.  There are some cooking fundamentals that once learned, can provide the building blocks for a myriad of meals over a lifetime.  Take roux: it uses a 1:1 ratio of butter and flour.  For gravy, that can be expanded to 1:1:1 with 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp flour and 1 cup stock.  Of course, all sorts of good things can be added such as softening some shallots in the cooking fat, perhaps adding some garlic, deglazing the cooking pan with white wine, and then adding the stock and roux.  
    
This shrimp curry recipe helped me start to break down some of the basic mysteries surrounding curry.  I have a metal tin of it in the cupboard, but how much to use, and when?  This recipe uses the same 1:1 ratio with 1 tbsp of curry powder with a roux based on 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of flour mixed with one cup of liquid.  The original recipe called for that liquid to be divided equally between fish stock and cream.  I think substituting coconut milk for the cream would add an extra dimension, but that is the point.  From a base like this, you can add all of the additional aromatics and vegetables you like.  Experiment and enjoy.  Serves 2.
   
Ingredients:
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 cup fish stock
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup coconut milk
salt/pepper
1/2 lb shrimp, shelled and de-veined
1/4 cilantro
1 cup rice, cooked
    
Directions:
Warm the oil in a medium saute pan over low heat.  Add the onions and bell pepper and saute until softened, approximately 8 minutes.  Stir in the curry powder and let cook 1 minute.  Stir in the fish stock and let simmer.  In a small pan, melt the butter and then whisk in the flour.  After a roux is formed, allow it to cook a further minute to cook off the flour taste.  Add the roux to the simmering stock and whisk to mix.  Add the cream and bring to a simmer.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the shrimp and cover, cooking a further 4 minutes.  Mix in the cilantro and serve over rice.