Wendy's Signature Curried Seafood

Curried seafood is one of my most delicious signature recipes. It is easy to prepare and explodes with flavors that capture the tropical eclectic essence of the West Indies. This recipe is fundamentally Jamaican, with an Asian and East Indian twist. The key to success in recreating this recipe is knowing the cooking times for all the different seafoods used. This recipe serves 2-3 people. This is one of my all time favorite dishes. I hope that you enjoy it too!

Course dinner, Entree, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Asian fusion, Indian fusion, Jamaican fusion, West Indian

Keyword curried shellfish, curry, lobster curry, madras curry, pescetarian, seafood curry, shrimp curry

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Marinading 1

Total Time 2

Servings People

Calories 681kcal

Author Dr. Wendy Dearborne

Equipment

1 heavy bottomed sauté pan with tight fitting lid or wok with a lid.
Large bowl

Ingredients

2 4-5oz lobster tails. Meat removed from shell, deveined rinsed well and cut into 4 large pieces.
4 jumbo shrimp peel, deveined and rinsed well
8 oz squid, cut into squares, scored and rinsed well
4 jumbo sea scallops, muscle removed and rinsed well

Marinade

1/2 large onion sliced
1 tbsp garlic minced
3 sprigs thyme fresh
1 large roma tomatoes chopped
2 tbsp spring onion chopped. Reserve green tops for garnish
1 tsp pimento; Jamaican allspice
3-4 tbsp curry powder madras
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp cumin powder roasted
1 tsp mushroom seasoning optional
1 tsp cooking oil
1 tsp black pepper
1/2-1 tsp salt or to taste

Cooking

3-4 tbsp avocado cooking oil + 2-3 tsp extra
8 oz coconut milk full fat reserve 1 tbsp for garnish
1/2 cup boiling water if necessary

Garnish

1 tbsp cilantro rough chopped
2 tbsp green onion tops
1 tbsp coconut milk

Instructions

Mise En Place

Get everything together you need to prepare this recipe. Mise en place!

Marinating The Seafood

Place all the prepared seafood into a large bowl.
Add all the ingredients listed for the marinade into the large bowl containing the seafood. Combine well, making sure everything is thoroughly coated.
Cover the bowl with saran wrap or with a tight fitting lid and marinade in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.

Currying The Seafood

Over medium heat, put 1/2 of the cooking oil into a large sauté pan or a wok.
While the cooking oil is heating, remove all the excess marinade stuck onto the seafood, placing it back into the bowl for later use. Put the seafood on a plate grouping them by type. Eg. Put all the shrimp together, all the lobster together and so on.

Seafood that cooks the quickest

Begin searing with the seafood that cooks the quickest.
Lightly sear the shrimp and scallops in hot oil for 30 seconds on each side. Remove to a clean plate and set aside. Note: you're not trying to cook the shrimp and scallops. You're giving it a little color.
Next sear the lobster for 60 seconds on each side. Set aside with the shrimp and scallops.
Lastly sear the squid for 2-3 minutes on all sides. Remove the squid from the wok, and place on the plate with the shrimp, scallops and lobster and set aside.

Masala Time

In your wok or sauté pan, over medium high heat, add the remaining cooking oil. When the oil is shimmering, add all the marinade left in the bowl. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes. If the pan is too dry, add 1 - 2 teaspoons of oil.
After 3-4 minutes, turn the heat down to medium low and cover the wok with the lid. Cook the masala for a total of 15 minutes or until the oil starts to release from the masala. You'll be able to see a slight pooling around the edge of the masala or pan. Make sure to stir the masala well every 3 minutes to prevent it from burning.
Add the full fat coconut milk. Stir well so the masala is well incorporated into the coconut milk.
Add the seared/browned squid to the wok. Bring it to a rolling boil. Stir well. Add a little more coconut milk or boiling water if the curry looks to thick. Bring back to a boil and cover with a tight fitting lid. Turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 38 minutes.

Adding The Rest of The Seafood

Increase the heat to medium low, Note: The rest of the seafood must be added into the wok incrementally. This will prevent overcooking, and making the texture of the shrimp, lobster and scallops rubbery.
Add the lobster first. Stir well and cover with the lid and continue to cook on a medium low heat for another 3-4 minutes. If the gravy is to thick and starts to stick to the bottom of the wok, add 1-2 tbsp of HOT WATER.
Add shrimp and scallops, along with any accumulated juices, stir well, cover and continue to cook for 3 minutes or until the shrimp and scallops are opaque. Or until the shrimp have reached an internal temperature of 120°F and scallops 130°F

Serve and Garnish

To serve, drizzle with a thin stream of coconut milk and sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and reserved green onion tops. Serve with steam rice or roti.

Notes

Essential To Cooking This Recipe

Note: All the seafood needs to be raw for this recipe.

The key to cooking this recipe is knowing the cook times for the seafoods that you are using. This is important! The seafood is seared/brown for different lengths of time and simmered in the curry sauce for different lengths of time too.

Staggering The Seafood Sauté And Braising Times

Squid needs 45 minutes cooking time in this recipe. Cooking it under 45 minutes produces squid that is a little rubbery and not as tender as it can be.
Shrimp, depending on the size requires 2-3 minutes cooking time, or to reach an internal temperature of 120-125°F.
Scallops (sea), depending on size and thickness needs 3-5 minutes cooking time or to reach an internal temperature of 130°F.
Lobster, once again, depending on thickness requires 4-6 minutes cooking time or to reach an internal temperature of 140°F.

The internal temperatures let you know that if you put the shrimp, scallops and lobster into the curry sauce to braise at the same time as the squid, the shrimp and scallops and lobster will be VERY, VERY overcooked. Latex!!!!

Cooking Squid

Until recently, I didn't realize that squid could be braised for a long period of time. I was always under the impression that it would turn into latex. Squid needs to be cooked at a high temperature very quickly, a couple of minutes, or it needs to be slow cooked for 30 minutes or more.

Types of Seafood

This is your experience. So, choose whatever seafood you like. The key to success is making sure that you know the cooking times. Fish always cooks best on the bone, however you can use filets too.
You don't have to use a seafood medley. If you want all shrimp or shrimp and lobster go for it. Note: All the seafood needs to be raw for this recipe.

Marinade Variations

There are a couple of variations you can make to the marinade by adding any or all of the following:

minced scotch bonnet pepper
1 tsp of pickle pepper
1/4 chopped bell pepper
fresh minced ginger

Coconut Milk Substitute

If you don't like coconut milk you can use seafood or vegetable stock.

Nutrition