“Shrimp again?” quipped my husband when he unpacked our supermarket order of EZ-peel shrimp on Friday? I could understand the remark; since we’ve been sheltering in place since March, our seafood orders have been limited to shrimp on sale from our local supermarket, frozen, though rather expensive, salmon fillets from celebrity chef Curtis Stone, and Italian tuna in olive oil from Amazon.

As evidenced by many posts here, and a blog-wide search will confirm, I typically turn to Mediterranean recipes for shrimp, often incorporating some type of pasta. But to address my better half’s weariness with “the usual,” I decided to take a risk with what appears to be an Indian inspired dish: Sticky Mango Prawns.

The recipe is from Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients: Quick and Easy Food cookbook, which as its title suggests is a compilation of recipes that use five ingredients and require no more than 30 minutes to prepare. When I announced my decision, my husband expressed his skepticism as laconically as he did his boredom: “Really?”

I too had some reservations about the recipe, which called for six cloves of thinly sliced garlic fried until crisp and then sautéed prawns in garlic infused oil along with curry powder, followed by a dollop of mango chutney and a squeeze of lime. Nevertheless, I decided to give the recipe a go and set aside enough shrimp, which I substituted for the recipe’s prawns, in case of failure.

Well, I’m happy to report that there was no need for a backup. The shrimp were extraordinary, tender and juicy, savory and sweet from the curry powder and chutney, subtly spiced and wonderfully aromatic. What made the dish even more appealing was the contrast in flavor and texture provided by the crisp garlic slices.

Needless to say, the dish was a hit. In fact, it was so good that my husband asked me to repeat the dish the next night with the batch of shrimp I had set aside. I relied to his request, echoing his previous incredulity: “Really?” It was just as good the second time around.

Except for substituting E-Z peal shrimp for prawns, adding half of the called for lime zest to the sauce, and using just a tad more olive oil, I pretty much followed the recipe as written. I chose to serve the shrimp with steamed green beans but think that rice would make a nice addition.

Since this is my first dish of 2021, let me take this opportunity to wish my readers a happy and healthy new year.

Sticky Mango Shrimp (adapted from a recipe by Jamie Oliver in 5 Ingredients: Quick and Easy Food)

Ingredients:

10-ounces large E-Z peal, de-veined shrimp
Extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, sliced thin, about 1/8-inch thick
1 teaspoon curry powder, or more to taste
1 heaped tablespoon mango chutney, close to 2 level tablespoons
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lime, zested and quartered

Directions:

1. Pull the legs and tails off the shrimp and peel off the shells.
2. Put a large non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and the sliced garlic. Fry the garlic slices, tossing occasionally, until crisp, about 6 to 7 minutes.

3. When done, remove the garlic with a slotted spoon, leaving the garlic-flavored oil behind.

4. Stir the curry powder into the oil, then add the shrimp. Fry for 4 minutes, or until the shrimp are cooked through, tossing regularly.

6. Sprinkle with ½ of the lime zest.

7. Stir in the mango chutney and ½ of the lime zest for 30 seconds, taste, season to taste with salt and black pepper.

8. Serve the shrimp on warmed plates, scattered with the crispy garlic, and sprinkled with the remaining half of the lime zest, along with lime wedges, for squeezing over.

Wine Pairing: Chardonnay, Dry Riesling