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You are here: Home / curry / Bhuna Hua Jhinga (Poached Shrimp in a Slow Cooked Onion Sauce)

Bhuna Hua Jhinga (Poached Shrimp in a Slow Cooked Onion Sauce)

January 5, 2010 By Laura 18 Comments

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Bhuna Hua Jhinga (Poached Shrimp in a Slow Cooked Onion Sauce)

I have never really tried Indian seafood before–which is crazy as I am well aware a large part of the country has seashore–so I was not quite sure what to expect with this dish. I will not go so long next time. This was fantastic–sweet, savory, sour. It complemented the shrimp perfectly. I would even venture to say that this shrimp dish was the star of my Indian Holiday Dinner with my in-laws. There was copious quantities of all dishes, including this on, to start with, leading to much leftovers–except this dish. As a matter of fact, I doubt there was even one serving left.

Iyer notes you can make the dish without the back salt, using sea salt instead, but that the dish will lose some of its smoky appeal. I have the black salt, so I used it–I will warn you, do not smell it. It is highly sulfurous–and the smell kind of lingers in the nose. I panicked about my dish the entire time it was cooking, imagining I could smell rotten eggs in it!! However, much like fish sauce, anchovies, asafetida and other odiferous delicacies that elevate finished dishes, the black salt smells terrible (to me anyway) but tasted just fine in the finished dish.

Bhuna Hua Jhinga (Poached Shrimp in a Slow Cooked Onion Sauce)

Bhuna Hua Jhinga (Poached Shrimp in a Slow Cooked Onion Sauce)
Adapted from 660 Curries, Raghavan Iyer

2 T vegetable oil
1/3 cup minced ginger
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb red onions, thinly sliced and fried down in (additional) 2 T vegetable oil on medium heat (30 minutes or more)
2 T tomato paste
2 t amchur powder (mango)
2 t ground coriander
1 t ground cumin
1/2 – 1 t black salt
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t cayenne or paprika, to heat tolerance
2 T brown sugar (optional)
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined but tails left on
2 T chopped cilantro

First prepare the onions by slowly caramelizing them in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Scrape out of pan and set aside when done. Re-use the same pan.

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and fry until golden brown and fragrant, 1-3 minutes. Add it to the onions and transfer the entire mass to a blender. Add 3/4 cup water and the tomato paste. Puree to make a thick paste. Transfer the paste back into the skillet. Pour 1/4 cup water into the blender and swish it around–add this water to the pan.

Add the amchur powder, coriander, cumin, black salt, turmeric and cayenne/paprika. Bring the pan to a simmer over medium heat and cover it. Simmer, covered, for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 7 minutes, add another 1/2 cup water into the pan and re-cover it. Simmer, covered, another 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour another 1/2 cup of water into the sauce and stir it in. Simmer, covered, again for 8-10 minutes. The sauce will thicken, and the oil in the sauce may separate, which is fine, desired even (mine never seemed to separate much by my standards, but it tasted fine). Add the brown sugar, if using, to taste.

Add the shrimp and stir. Cover the pan and poach the shrimp in the sauce, until curled and salmon-orange, 8-10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with basmati rice (or flatbread).

Filed Under: curry, Indian recipes, shrimp

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Comments

  1. Sharon says

    January 5, 2010 at 9:47 pm

    I've actually never had Indian seafood either. This looks packed with flavor…and you know my love for shrimp!

    Reply
  2. Joanne says

    January 6, 2010 at 6:22 am

    I can't say I have ever had Indian seafood, but I love the sound of this onion sauce. Delicious.

    Reply
  3. grace says

    January 6, 2010 at 7:44 am

    the shrimp i can do without, but that onion sauce is, as good ol' guy fieri would say, off the hook. seriously, just give me a spoon.

    Reply
  4. noble pig says

    January 6, 2010 at 10:25 am

    I love the idea of the onion sauce and slow-cooked, yum.

    Reply
  5. Elizabeth W says

    January 6, 2010 at 6:26 pm

    Sounds amazing although I can't stomach shrimp at the moment. 🙂 Is this curries book one you recommend? You seem to use it a lot. I really want to get more into Indian cooking, and would like to get a good cookbook.

    Reply
  6. Laura says

    January 6, 2010 at 6:32 pm

    Elizabeth: absolutely, especially bc it is so encyclopedic. The 3 I recommend most–right now anyway 😉 –are this one, Lord Krishna's Cuisine (all vegetarian), and Indian Home Cooking. Although I have quite a few more I am loving. Indian cuisine is so huge and diverse it makes for endless cookbook acquisition.

    Reply
  7. Mary says

    January 6, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    This looks delicious! I have all the ingredients, the cookbook, and my husband loves shrimp! I'm bookmarking it to make next week!

    Reply
  8. Rahin says

    January 7, 2010 at 2:55 pm

    mouth watering, reminds me of my mom 🙂

    Reply
  9. Mother Rimmy says

    January 8, 2010 at 12:13 am

    Sounds terrific! I've never heard of mango powder. Where did you find it?

    Reply
  10. Laura says

    January 8, 2010 at 1:27 am

    Mother Rimmy: any Indian grocer would carry it. I get mine at a large international grocery store in Cincinnati. It also goes by the name "mango powder" (it is green mango powder, sour not sweet).

    Reply
  11. Anna says

    January 8, 2010 at 1:35 am

    Hummm I love the spices in this dish and the onions slow cooked. looks delicious.

    Reply
  12. Kristin (KrisKishere) says

    January 8, 2010 at 1:24 pm

    That looks and sounds like nothing I've ever tasted before. I'd like to try it, however I'm not sure if I'll be able to find the amchur powder. Any substitute?

    Reply
  13. Laura says

    January 8, 2010 at 2:00 pm

    Kristin: although I strongly recommend trying to find the amchur (it is my new favorite spice–I LOVE it), hitting the dish with the juice of 1/2 lemon or lime at the end of cooking should sub ok. Amchur is sour with an earthy quality–you will lose the earthy quality, but it should be ok.

    Reply
  14. Tasty Eats At Home says

    January 8, 2010 at 2:31 pm

    Never had Indian seafood either! Where do you find the mango powder? Do you order it?

    Reply
  15. Laura says

    January 8, 2010 at 2:47 pm

    Tasty: see above answer to Mother Rimmy. 🙂

    Reply
  16. Bromography says

    January 11, 2010 at 12:34 am

    I love spicy foods. I will give this a try. The mango totally sold me.

    Reply
  17. Family Cuisine Food And Recipe says

    January 11, 2010 at 9:23 pm

    Thank you for sharing. Cheers!

    Reply
  18. Katja says

    January 17, 2010 at 6:40 pm

    yum- we love anything with lots of onions!

    Reply

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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