Curried Shrimp and Crab Gumbo
Published January 8, 2019
Sara Essex Bradley for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 1¾ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
FOR THE ROUX
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
FOR THE GUMBO
1 medium white or yellow onion, finely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
6 cups homemade shrimp stock or store-bought seafood stock
3 medium tomatoes, crushed in a food mill, or 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 sprigs curry leaves (about 15 leaves)
2 dried bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon Kashmiri chile powder or ground cayenne
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
¼ pound blue lump crab meat (about ¾ cup), or use other lump crab meat
Cracked black pepper, for serving
½ cup chopped cilantro stems and leaves, for serving
½ cup chopped scallions, for serving
Steamed rice, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
63 grams carbs; 221 milligrams cholesterol; 856 calories; 33 grams monosaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 48 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 1553 milligrams sodium; 44 grams protein; 11 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the roux: In a large pot, heat the oil over medium until just short of smoking, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour into the oil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring almost constantly, until the roux is the color of milk chocolate, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Step 2
Add the onion, bell pepper and celery to the roux. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Step 3
Stir in the stock, crushed tomatoes, curry leaves (discard the stems), bay leaves, turmeric and thyme, along with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon chile powder. Bring the gumbo to a boil over high heat. Once the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the flavors meld, skimming the skin that forms on the surface, about 1 hour.
- Step 4
Season the shrimp with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon chile powder. Stir the shrimp into the gumbo and cook until shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 2 minutes. Stir in the crab meat and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
- Step 5
Crack black pepper into empty soup bowls, then divide the cilantro and scallions among the bowls. Add a scoop of steamed rice to each bowl then ladle the gumbo on top to serve.
Private Notes
Comments
Curry leaves fresh?
This makes way more than four (4) servings. Maybe as many as 12. One cup of flour for the roux is a lot. Then 32 ounces of seafood stock. I will say this was a delicious recipe. Especially the twinkle end where the cracked pepper, cilantro leaves, and scallions were placed in the bottom of the bowl before the gumbo was poured in. This recipe was a huge hit in our family. But it serves more than four (4) people. I would have cut the recipe in half for my wife and I. Thank you!
Curry leaves have nothing to do with curry powder. Curry leaves impart a subtle flavor to a dish, in much the same way bay leaves do. Curry powder was an invention of the British Raj that came out of the British mispronunciation of the word "Karhai" which is the name of the cooking vessel commonly used in Indian cooking. The brits wanted to take home an approximation of the spicing they came to love in India, so they invented curry powder - or else their cooks did it for them.
Accidentally pureed the onions and sauteed the veggies first but couldn't see the roux color change after 10 mins so next time get roux almost chocolate milk cookie then add veggies to saute. Was still good but I think it could have been better with a darker roux color.
This was astounding! I couldn’t get a tub of lump crab, so I learned how to pull meat from snow crab legs! Anyway, I tried the one to one proportion for the roux as several suggested. With the amount of stock called for, it was quite soupy/thin. Next time I’ll reduce the amount of stock. The curry leaves are key. If they’re hard to find, perhaps order online.
This recipe is terrible and misleading. One cup of flour is excessive to make a roux, but an inexperienced cook such as myself who follows the recipe carefully would not know that. This error ruined the dish and wasted excellent ingredients. A supposed pro chef should be more meticulous when listing the ingredients.