Curry Shrimp

This is a really easy, fast, simple dish that I made up one day. It is not original but I had chicken curry in a Thai restaurant one day and loved it so i just changed some things around and made it shrimp (it is what I had at home). This is a great dish for a quick healthy dinner at home or for an extra dish at an 3azeemeh because it literally takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.

I started by chopping up some onions really small.

I sauteed them in a little bit of oil just until they are cooked but not breaking down.

I added in curry powder and some cayenne. (not in the picture but i also added in some ginger and garlic)

Then I added in chicken broth.

I buy my shrimp from Costco (they have the best i have found so far) and they say they are deveined but only the back one is cleaned, there is one located in the front so i take it out as well. When you buy shrimp you will notice a number range on the shrimp rather then small medium and large. Here is a chart I found online that tells you the size of the shrimp, the number that they sell them buy and how many are on average in a pound. So if you buy shrimp labeled 21/25 that means that there are about 21 to 25 shrimp per pound.

Extra Jumbo	16/20	18
Jumbo	21/25	23
Extra Large	26/30	28
Large	31/35	33
Medium Large	36/40	38
Medium	41/50	45
Small	51/60	55
Extra Small	61/70	65

After i cleaned and deveined the shrimp pat them dry and place them in the thickened curry sauce.

When the shrimp are cooked all the way through add in coconut milk.

At the very end I added in some fish sauce instead of salt but you can do either or.

Sprinkle with some cilantro and you are ready to go.

I served it with jasmine rice cooked with no oil so it is sticky like sushi rice.

Written Recipe:

1 lb of shrimp cleaned and deveined (size 21/25)

1 small onion

a little bit of oil

3 tablespoons of curry powder

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (more or less according to your taste)

2 smashed garlic cloves

1 inch piece of ginger grated

1 cup of chicken stock

1/2 can of coconut milk

1 to 2 dashes of fish sauce (or just add salt)

1/2 bunch of cilantro some mixed in and some on top.

Lib al Koosa/Koosa insides

Lib is what arabs call the inside of the koosa (squash), the part we core out before we stuff them. I always save the lib and cook it, there are 2 ways of cooking it and this is my favorite. If you just want to try the dish and didn't core any squash feel free to just roughly chop up the squash, same thing. Oh and sorry i have been so MIA lately on the blog but i needed a break from this all because i have been so busy and stressed about my practicum for next year. Anyways here is how i make lib al koosa or lib bzeit.

Ok so in a pan i add a little extra virgin olive oil and let it get hot.

Add in all of the lib (if you notice it really watery squeeze as much water out as you can or just strain it)

Stir the mixture a little so that the oil gets mixed in well.

Ok so without adding any salt A LOT of water will be released by the lib, let it keep cooking until it dries out. Keep an eye on it though because you don't want it to burn or stick to the bottom.

While you are cooking off all the water smash up some garlic with some salt. I don't add salt to this dish anywhere but here because the lib gets really salty really fast. Add as little salt as you can.

Once the mixture is cooked and most of the water is gone add in the garlic and mix

Once the garlic is mixed it add in the dried mint. I know not everyone has dried mint on hand all the time and i am sure you can use fresh mint but i have honestly never tried it. If you do try it with fresh mint let me know how it turns out.

Mix well

I serve it in a plate and drizzle the tiniest bit of more extra virgin olive oil on it. It is eaten with pita bread and is a side dish. This can be eaten hot or served cold (i prefer cold)

Written Recipe:

The lib of roughly 10 big Koosa

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (plus more to drizzle on later)

3 small cloves of garlic smashed with some salt

1 tablespoon of dried mint