This is a famous Afro-Brazilian dish from the city of Bahia. It's a kind of shrimp curry, with a sauce made from onions, coconut milk, peanuts, cashews, and thickened with bread crumbs. Traditional ingredients also include dried shrimp, which give it a much stronger flavor, and palm oil, which gives the dish it's beautiful yellow/orange color. Although the flavors are rich and complex, this dish is simple to prepare using frozen shrimp. A food processor also comes in handy.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups torn pieces of white bread
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup roasted, salted peanuts
- 3/4 cup roasted, salted cashews
- 2 cups water or fish stock
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 lime
- 1 pound of frozen shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 large onion
- 1 red chile pepper, roughly chopped with seeds removed
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tablespoons palm oil, or vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
- Soak the bread pieces with the coconut milk for 10 minutes. Place them in the blender (with the coconut milk) and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Grind the peanuts and the cashews in a food processor until finely ground. Set aside.
- Bring 2 cups of fish stock or water to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, and add the garlic and juice of one lime. Add the shrimp and boil until pink, about 5 minutes. Remove the shrimp and set aside. Reserve cooking liquid.
- In the same food processor, add the onion, chile pepper, and garlic, and process until finely chopped.
- Heat the palm oil (or vegetable oil) in a skillet, and sauté onion mixture for about 5 minutes, until soft and golden.
- Add the ground nuts to the skillet and sauté a few minutes more, adding a little oil if necessary, until golden.
- Add the bread crumb and coconut milk mixture and 1 1/2 cups of the shrimp cooking liquid to the skillet. Cook, stirring, until sauce has thickens, about 5 minutes, adding more liquid if necessary.
- Add shrimp to sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve warm, over rice.
