Curried Rice with Shrimp… Take Two

Today is snow day number two (for me, not Ben, unfortunately), and the extra free time has allowed for a little productivity with odd jobs around the house, as well as time to catch up on some old Sunday New York Times that have been piling up (my anniversary gift to Ben was a subscription to the New York Times…and for some reason I find it hard to keep up!)

Anyway, last night we decided to retry a dish we made some time ago. It was good then, but we made the mistake of using a generic (read: bland) for the key ingredient…curry powder. Big, flavorless mistake. So after a trip to Penzeys Spices (did you know it was a chain? I didn’t.) we were all set for take two. I think it turned out quite good this time so I thought I’d share it with all of Ben’s dedicated readers…

With some olive oil, over medium heat, soften a large onion and 3 carrots.

Then add two cloves of garlic and two teaspoons of curry (we used Maharajah) and stir it all up for about two minutes (oh it smelled so good!) Then toss in one cup of (uncooked) long grain white rice, 2 1/2 cups of water, some S&P and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. After that, “nestle in” 1 1/2 pounds of thawed large shrimp (the precooked, peeled and deveined kind) that have been seasoned with S&P, and cover and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Fold in 1/2 cup of fresh basil and…voila!

I’m a wimp when it comes to spicy foods, so the Maharajah curry was perfect. But next time I might get a bit daring and try a spicier one. Suggestions?

Does anyone have a favorite brand or a place to buy spices?

Don’t ask where the recipe is from. I have no idea…all through college and grad school I collected recipes that “looked good” and Ben and I have spent the past year eating our way through the pile.