Shrimp Stir Fry With Scallions and Fenugreek Leaves

Though not many,one big disadvantage of living in Las Vegas is that your home becomes a motel on weekends I do like pleasant surprises but somehow nothing is more annoying for me than surprise guests especially those people whom I dont like much. Yes, I know I m sounding really really nasty.Last week I welcomed one of my cousin at lunch time whom I really can’t stand.I dont want to be judgemental but she is the most unkempt person with minimal etiquettes I have ever seen in my life.The last time we visited her,she served us stale food out of sheer laziness to cook daily,didnt pick a broom once in 4 days, showcased a wooden face most of the time we were there as if we were a burden, showed lot of stinginess throughout our outings and talked to us in most raw language.And trust me this behaviour was after me asking her repeatedly beforehand if its okay for us to come over and even offering to book a hotel so that they dont feel uncomfortable.I have to vent this out.We felt so atrocious that I cant decribe.I cannot write everything here coz few of my family members read this blog.So my fingers are already crossed, you know! Now don’t jump on a conclusion that all my relatives are like that, but you know every family has few “specimen” to balance out the scene.

I must confess that I am a very extreme person by nature.I tend to analyze behaviour of people way too much and once I get irked due to some reason,that person has to really do something out of the league to get back my attachment with him or her.Am I sounding one arrogant & immature female already? I have suffered a lot due to such a personality but that’s the way God has made me.I do not take uncalled non sense from anyone.Anyhow, coming back to this cousin, she “dropped” in to say a “hello” at lunch time on last day of her trip to Vegas just about when we were going for a movie. And I was so pissed off after seeing her when I was all reminded of her behaviour,I just wanted her to leave asap.When you were ill-treated as guests at some one’s house, will you be able to behave normal and keep calm when the same person comes to your house? Even if some of you might say “yes”,I just can’t..I have to give it back.

Wondering how I am?..Well I am a very straightforward person.I cant sing praise lyrics for someone I dislike.Whatever I have inside my heart is on my face..good or bad.Its really difficult for me to hide my emotions and I have cried my heart out of frustation when I was unable to give it back to such people either because they were elderly or I reached a point when silence was the best resort.It is difficult to operate in the real world without such pretty covers but I wont be able to survive unless I level the scores.Exceptions apart,I feel honestly I should recount some good words for people whom I love at this point..my parents, in-laws and lot and lot of other cousins and few of the people I came to know through blogging.These are sweet people around me whom I care about and vice versa.So you see the picture is not really that grim!!

After P, who luckily is opposite of  my nature, calmed me down ,I had to whip up something really fast and easy for lunch.That is when I made this ultra simple stir fry along with steamed rice and store-bought soup for lunch.It is an adapted recipe from one of this cookbooks my mom gave me before coming to US.Its a really nice book if you are really interested in Indian curries.If you think that Indian cuisine is intricate, wait untill you try this dish.Keeping aside the shrimp cleaning and marination part, this stir fry with a wholesome essence of indian flavor is ready in flat 15 minutes from cutting the greens to tossing them.I make this quick stir fry whenever I wanna cook flavorful seafood in  jiffy.Scallops also work great in this recipe.

Cooking with fenugreek leaves-dried or fresh is very popular in India.Infact the typical taste of butter chicken or tandoori chicken is incomplete without dried fenugreek leaves[kasuri methi].Fenugreek seeds are used for tempering lot of dry and wet curries for a typical flavor.Fresh fenugreek leaves are clover shaped and taste slightly bitter [if fully mature].They add a great typical piquant, bitter flavor to curries. You will easily find frozen or fresh fenugreek [methi] leaves in any of the indian store.If looking for a substitute, chopped fresh watercress or celery leaves come close because they also have a biting taste.

Ingredients: [Serves 3-4]

14 oz uncooked large shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilli powder [adjust to taste]
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped
2 ” fresh ginger shoot, finely chopped
3 tbsp oil [sesame/olive or any flavored oil]
2 green chillies [finely chopped]
1 cup chopped scallions,white and green scallion parts,separated
1/4 cup fresh fenugreek leaves,finely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped [or parsely]
salt to taste

Method:

Marinate the cleaned, uncooked shrimp in 1/2 tsp turmeric,1 tbsp fresh lime juice,1 tsp red chilli powder and 1/4 tsp salt for about 15 minutes, refrigerated.
Meanwhile,take a wide-mouthed cooking pan/wok/kadhai and put it on low heat.Add the oil along with garlic to the wok and let the oil heat up slowly.The idea is to flavor the oil with garlic.About 3 minutes.
Once garlic is crisp,turn up the heat to high and add the white chopped scallions.Saute for about 1 minute and add the chopped ginger and green chillies.
Next, add the chopped fenugreek leaves , green scallions along with rest of the turmeric and chilli powder.Saute on high heat for about 2 minutes till leaves start to wilt.
Just when about to serve: Add the marinated shrimps [along with the marinade],and cilantro leaves, toss on high heat for about 4 minutes, until the shrimp is cooked.Take care not to over cook the shrimp.Check the salt in the dish at this point and adjust.
Squirt some fresh lime juice and serve warm with steamed white rice.

Notes/Tips:

Adjust the quantity of fenugreek leaves depending on how bitter they are.
To reduce the bitterness of fenugreek leaves, rub whole leaves with little salt and let salt for half n hour, wash the salt away, bitterness will reduce.
Another tip which my mom told me was that fenugreek leaves if cooked and left uncovered for 1-2 hours.
The cooking time will vary depending upon the size of shrimps that you use.I used large shrimps.

Enjoy!