Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto for Magazine Mondays

Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto

You might recall that a couple of months back I decided it was time to try and whittle down the embarrassingly large pile of food magazines I have lying around the place.  In order to do that I set myself the challenge of cooking something out of the magazine pile at least once a week.  Well I'm pleased to say that I've been doing just that, even though I haven't always been able to post the outcomes.  I also can't really say that I've made much of a dent in the pile, as some of these magazines are so good that I've been stuck in the same one for a month!  But, never mind, at least I'm using them, and I've even finally managed to discard one or two.

As you may have noticed, when I have managed to actually get one of these magazine gems posted, I've joined in with the Magazine Mondays group which is usually hosted by the lovely Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice.  Since, Ivonne is a little busy this week I'm honoured to be hosting on her behalf this week.

My contribution this week is a Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto, which I adapted from a recipe for Crab & Coconut Risotto which appeared in the December/January 2004-2005 issue of Delicious magazine.  I made a few minor changes to the recipe, firstly using shrimp instead of crabmeat (which is not readily available here), secondly replacing lemongrass with freshly grated lemon zest, and lastly adjusting quantities because I didn't have four people to feed.  You can see the original version of the recipe by following the link above, or my adaptation at the end of this post.

Other contributions to Magazine Mondays this week came from:








Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto Recipe
Serves 2
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 teaspoon medium curry powder
3 large handfuls of arborio rice (1 handful per person & 1 for the pot)
4 cups fish or chicken stock, hot
250g fresh shrimp, peeled & uncooked
3/4 cup coconut cream
generous handful chopped coriander
toasted shaved coconut to serve (optional, also see note at end)

Heat the oil and half the butter in a large frying pan, set over medium heat.  Add the shallot and cook until softened, approximately 2-3 minutes.  Add the garlic and grated lemon zest, cook for another minute, then add the curry powder and rice.

Stir until the rice is well coated with everything, then add a ladleful of stock and continue stirring until all the liquid is absorbed.  Then continue in the same way, adding the stock one ladleful at a time, and each time stirring until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next spoonful.  You want to continue doing this until the rice has begun to release its starches and becomes "creamy", but still has a little bite left to it.  When you feel as though the rice is almost done, and you feel as though you are probably only going to add one more ladleful of stock add the shrimp to the rice at the same time.  By the time the rice has absorbed that last batch of stock the shrimp will be almost cooked and will finish off cooking in the final resting time.

Now remove the pan from the heat, stir in the rest of the butter and the coconut cream, cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Stir the coriander into the risotto and serve.  Garnish with a little extra coriander and the toasted coconut shavings if using.  (Note I used toasted shredded coconut, and I have to say that even though I love toasted coconut, I didn't like the texture of the "crispy" coconut with the soft, unctuousness of the rice - it just seemed to be too much of a contrast, rather like coming across toenail clippings in your dinner!  Maybe if I had fresh coconut which I was able to shave and then toast it might have been better.  Either way - you choose)

One more ingredient that would really finish this dish off nicely - a tropical island paradise in which to eat it!

Magazine Mondays Badge

While you're here, check out my new event "Make it with ..... Mondays" - this week we're cooking with saffron and I'd love you to join in.  



I'm also giving away a free copy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything iPhone application (also works on iPod Touch and iPad) - full details here.  There are lots of opportunities to win, and this application really is brilliant, so do go and check it out.  All comments left on this post automatically get an entry to win.

17 comments:

  1. oh my gosh, this risotto looks incredible!

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  2. Yum, I could totally go for this right now...I've got seafood on the brain!!! :D

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  3. Your recipe is beautiful and sounds so delicious. I wonder if I replaced the curry powder with something else, if it would turn out good. For some reason I do not like curry, but I bet there is something I can replace it with. Regardless, a great recipe!

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  4. Simply Life - thank you - that's so kind.

    Hi Heather - hope you give it a try - I seem to be seafood mad right now too :-)

    Thanks Angie - I think you could probably replace the curry powder with a bit of cumin and some cayenne pepper would still be a nice compliment to the coconut cream.

    Sue xo

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  5. this sounds amazing ... I am at the point in winter when I am craving bright, tropical flavors rather than warm, hearty soups. Can't wait to make this!

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  6. Ciao Sue,

    just popped by to say:

    Happy New Year!!!!

    Alessandra

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  7. Damn this looks crazy delicious. I love fusion versions of risotto and anything curry-infused sounds good to me!

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  8. Hi Nico - thanks for stopping by - yes, winter gets like that, doesn't it - you start to crave light, bright, fresh, summery flavours :-)

    Ciao Alessandra - thanks for stopping by - happy new year to you too :-)

    Thanks Danielle, and thanks for the follow :-)

    Hi Joanne - yes, this is totally up your alley - you would love it. I've never really tried any kind of a "fusion" risotto before, but totally hooked now - want to experiment with a Thai Green Curry flavoured risotto next.

    Sue xo

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  9. recently i'm binging on risotto...they is so good shrimp and curry sounds hits like a Indian flavour! Love!!

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  10. The creamy curried risotto looks just fab! even if I'm not a huge risotto fan (I know... bite my tongue)

    But it paired with coconut and shrimp, its just too perfect to pass up

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  11. Hi Ananda - I'm eating lots of risotto right now too - my partner doesn't really like risotto, so while he is away for two months I am making the most of it - he is in India in Kerala at present and even though this is not a traditional dish for India, this taste of shrimp and curry and coconut definitely brings images of Kerala into my mind :-)

    Hi Toby - well I know that you are not alone in not being a big risotto fan, but hopefully this interpretation might tempt you.

    Sue :-)

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  12. Sue,

    Thanks for doing such a great job hosting MM!

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  13. I Sue,

    I just found out about this post yesterday via Ivonne. I've been out of the loop & wasn't aware you were hosting MM. Thank you for the link!

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  14. Ugh...getting off to a great start, eh? That should read "Hi Sue!"

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  15. Ivonne - it's my absolute pleasure - happy to help out anytime :-)

    Wandering Coyote - my pleasure :-)

    Sue

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  16. The recipe sounds great. I usually put my put of season magazine away and bring them out the following season and always find something new to cook, can't bear to part with many.

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