Spicy (really spicy) Shrimp Stir Fry with goose berries (served over Quinoa)

At lunch while heating food in the kitchen I got into a conversation with one of my colleagues, about what else but food. She had purchased a bag of red chili powder from the Indian store thinking it would be similar in taste to the ones she is used to buying in a regular grocery store.

She found it a lot more spicier and less flavorful. The ones she was used to had a smokier taste but a bit more spicy than paprika and less spicy than cayenne. Having purchased only paprika and cayenne but not just red chili powder I could not help much with her why question. I offered to get her some Kashmiri chili powder to taste before investing in a huge bag thinking it might provide the taste she is looking for.

I do not buy chili powder or any Indian spices in the regular grocery stores as they expensive for the quantity and for the amounts I buy I'd go broke pretty soon. The exact reason why she went to an Indian grocery store. I patronize the spice aisles in the grocery stores only when I am in need of spices that are not available in my trusted Indian grocery store.

I learned something new about chilies and that leads nicely to the recipe today which utilized 3 kind of chilies and turned out to be a lot spicier than I expected it to be. So go easy on the heat if you cannot take it but if you are game for some heat go right ahead and give it a try.

Quinoa is one of those grains that is a good substitute for rice when eating with curries. It is still high in carbohydrates but provides variation of grains in the diet.

A sour agent is very essential in any seafood preparation. In this curry the sour taste comes from the gooseberries. I used the American kind, if you can get hold of the small variety Indian kind they'd be a good substitute. If you cannot find gooseberries green mangoes will do the trick as well.

I had some fresh gooseberries and used those.

Shrimp Stir Fry with goose berries
Ingredients
1. 24 Medium sized shrimp
2. 1 onions sliced lengthwise
3. 6-8 garlic cloves chopped
4. 1 1/2 tbsp grated ginger
5. 3/4 tbsp Fried Chili paste (see note)
6. 6-7 slit green chilies (shake out the seeds) - optional
7. handful of gooseberries chopped roughly
8. 1 lemon sliced
9. 1 tsp of red chili powder - optional
10. salt to taste
11. 1 tsp oil (see note)

Method
1. Marinate the shrimp in salt and chili powder and set aside for 20-30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a saute pan and when hot add the onions and green chilies and saute till the onions start to get translucent, add in the garlic and ginger and saute for a couple of minutes more.
3. Add the chili paste and saute for a few more minutes.
4. Add in the gooseberries and let them cook for a few minutes. (see note)
5. Now add the shrimp and saute on high heat for 4-5 minutes and then turn off the heat. Add more salt if required.

Serve over Qunioa (see link and look under Cooking Quinoa).

Note:
1. Any chili paste would do or just plain chili powder. Kashmiri Chili powder for the color but less heat.
2. The fried Thai Chili Pastes has a lot of oil and garlic so I reduced the amount of oil used for sauteing.
3. I wanted the gooseberries to have a bit of crunch so did not cook for them too long. If you want them mushed cook a bit longer.