With juicy shrimp and melt-in-your mouth potatoes, I love how the spicy savory sauce of this curry explodes with flavor. While traditionally eaten with steaming rice as a comfort food, I love eating this curry over leafy greens - especially at times when I am tired of cold salads. With this dish, I still get my greens, and the potatoes make me feel like I am eating comfort food. And the best part? Dinner is ready in 30 minutes!

Shrimp and Potato Curry
This curry is worth every bite because the intense flavors of slow simmered curried spices and tomato result in a delicious, finger licking sauce that make you just want to eat more. The potatoes absorb all that lovely flavor and really deepen the intensity of the dish.

What you need for this dish
The ingredients in this recipe are easily available in supermarkets and local grocery stores in the U.S. The unique taste of this dish is not due to any special ingredient but due to the technique of essentially marinating the ingredients in the most concentrated sauce possible to maximize flavor.



Shrimp - I use peeled, headless, tail on, uncooked, frozen, deveined shrimp from my local grocery store. Many stores also carry an unpeeled, cooked version of frozen shrimp. Using the unpeeled version does make an even better sauce - I just don't use it because no one at home wants to peel and eat shrimp. I don't use the cooked frozen version, primarily because I feel that cooking the shrimp in the sauce adds to the flavor.
Tomato - The tomato is essential to this recipe as it not only adds flavor but also helps bulk up and adds texture to the sauce. Without tomato, the sauce tastes oily. A good substitute would be half a small onion blended with a cup of water together with a teaspoon of ketchup.
Spices - The cumin, coriander, turmeric and chili powder are the main components of the spice flavors. If you don't have chili powder, you can use Sriracha or chili paste. You could also substitute with ketchup (adds sweetness), chili flakes (heat) and paprika (adds color and a smoky flavor). You can also substitute the cumin, coriander, turmeric with one tablespoon curry powder.
Potatoes - I like using Idaho potatoes because they retain their shape golden potatoes can melt away in the simmering stage.
Jalapeno or chilis- The dish is best made with green chilis. I substituted jalapeno because I did not have any on hand. You can also substitute the jalapeno or green chili with half a teaspoon of black pepper.
Oil - I typically use vegetable oil for this dish - but you can also use olive oil and coconut oil.
How to make Shrimp and Potato Curry
This curry is extremely easy to make and very forgiving. Having said that, the greatest danger is overcooking the shrimp.
This recipe guards against over cooking the shrimp by preparing the sauce and potatoes first. The shrimp is added right at the end so that the stove can be turned off as soon as the shrimp is done.


- Sauté onions in oil and butter - Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, onions and jalapenos, and fry until translucent.
- Prepare the sauce - Add the garlic and ginger paste, diced tomatoes, cumin, coriander, chili, turmeric and salt and continue to fry for about 2-5 minutes over medium-high heat. Add a little broth if the spices look too dry otherwise, they will burn. Fry the spices until the oil clearly separates.
- Cook the potatoes till melt-in-your-mouth tender - Add the potatoes and mix with the spice mixture. Cook the potatoes over medium heat adding a little broth as needed so that the potatoes cook in the most concentrated sauce possible. Cover the skillet as needed. Stir occasionally to ensure even distribution of heat and to make sure that the potatoes don't burn. Continue simmering the potatoes until all the broth has been added and a fork easily cuts through the potatoes - about 10-12 minutes.
- Add the shrimp - Add the shrimp and stir. The shrimp are done when they are clearly opaque and look plump and juicy - about 3-5 minutes. Taste and add more salt, if needed.
- Add the peas - No need to cook them, just stir in for even distribution.
- Garnish - Sprinkle with the sliced coriander leaves.
This sauce is essentially a lighter version of an Indian curry. In my curry shrimp version, we add butter to the vegetable oil for added richness and simmer the potatoes slowly to get the most concentrated, delectable sauce possible.

What to serve on the side
The classic way to serve this dish is as a comfort food with fresh green chili. I love how the delicious sauce tastes with steaming hot rice and a squeeze of lime juice. However, my favorite way to eat this is over leafy greens with a drizzle of lemon juice. Other ideas include:
- Inside a sandwich - I am not kidding it's delicious!
- By itself, with chopped scallion
- With a flatbread like roti or naan
- Over cauliflower rice
Leftovers: Shrimp and Potato Curry is awesome the next day. Once cooled, store in an airtight container for optimal freshness. For optimal flavor, heat up the curry, on low to medium heat on the stovetop. If eating with rice, reheat only the rice in the microwave.
Variations
Coconut Shrimp Curry - Add about a cup of full-fat coconut milk to this shrimp curry sauce and simmer for an additional 4-5 minutes to convert this dish into a shrimp coconut curry.
Shrimp and Potato Curry Without Coconut Milk
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon butter, unsalted or oil
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large onion sliced
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 2 teaspoon chili powder or less, to taste
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt to taste
- 2 Idaho potatoes cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 jalapeno pepper sliced into thin 1 inch strips, optional
- 3 green chilies optional
- ½ cup peas
- 1 pound shrimp peeled, headless, larger is better
- ½ cup fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil. Add the onions and jalapeños and/or green chilis until the onions are translucent and fragrant- about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger paste and sauté for about 1 minute.Add the tomato, cumin, coriander, chili, turmeric and salt and fry for about 2 minutes. You are done when the spices and oil clearly separate. Add a little broth if needed so that the spices don't burn.Add the potatoes and cook on medium heat. Add a little broth at a time. as they cook and cover as needed. The objective is to cook the potatoes in a concentrated spice mix to deepen the flavor. This step is complete when a fork easily cuts through the potatoes.Add the shrimp and mix. Cook for about 3-5 minutes or until the shrimp is just pink. Add the peas. Taste and adjust salt as needed.Garnish with coriander.
Video
Notes
- Shrimp type - I use headless peeled shrimp with the tail on. However this dish can definitely be cooked with the shell and shrimp head on - in fact it gives the dish an even more intensive flavor. The size of the shrimp does not really matter - I like larger shrimp because it looks nice and is easier to cook.
- Decrease cooking time - to sharply reduce cooking time, microwave the diced potatoes prior to cooking.
- Managing the heat - To add more heat increase the chili powder or add a teaspoon of sriracha. To reduce the heat, use paprika, ketchup or tomato paste.
- Variations - you can use the same recipe for fish and chicken - in the case of chicken thought the chicken should be added with the potatoes as chicken takes longer to cook. Adding a little heavy cream or coconut milk at the end adds a new tasty dimension to this dish.
- Storage and leftovers - Shrimp and Potato Curry stores well and will last in the fridge for about 3 days. The dish is just as tasty at room temperature. Care should be taken when reheating shrimp based dishes because overcooking can make the shrimp taste rubbery. The best way to re-heat is to do so over a stove top. If using a microwave, remove the shrimp from the sauce and then pour the sauce over the shrimp to warm it.
Dannii
What a delicious and hearty curry. I am definitely going to be trying it at the weekend.
Lima
Awesome! Delighted that you like it!
veenaazmanov
Easy , delicious and a comforting meal option. This curry has all the flavors and ingredients yum.
Lima
Thank you!
cyndy
Delicious recipe and I love the idea of precooking the potatoes to speed things up. Will definitely be making this again. Super flavorful!
Lima
Precooking the potatoes is a life saver! Thank you!
Beth
This looks so delicious and yummy! I can’t wait to give this a try!
Lima
Awesome!
Biana
This looks delicious! I like the idea of precooking the potatoes, will definitely try that.
Lima
It does help shorten the cooking time! Thank you for visiting my site!
Serena Ekram Khan
Had this last night! It was terrific!
Lima
Glad that you liked it! Thank you!