Just tell your guests you’ve been at this for hours. They’ll believe you because that’s how good it tastes! Nobody has to know that this is an incredibly simple, fast dish to make. Don’t just save it for company, either. It’s so quick and easy that it makes a great weeknight meal, too. If you can chop, smash, and dump, you can make this. I like to buy the shrimp already peeled and deveined because I think that’s the part that takes the longest. And, if I’m being honest, because that’s a kitchen task that isn’t one of my favorites. You can save a bit of money by doing it yourself. From the moment your shrimp is ready (including thawed and drained if you bought it frozen), you’ll be eating in about half an hour. If you’d like to save even more time, you can buy your garlic and ginger already minced. The biggest time saver compared to most stovetop shrimp dishes, though, is that the shrimp don’t need to be sautéed.

While this is not a spicy dish, it does have a little nip. The flavors all blend and mellow with cooking, but if you’re a little wary at first, try cutting back the pepper to 1½ teaspoons. It’s best cooked into the dish, but you can always add more later if you cut back too far. I don’t ordinarily mix snow peas in. But there I was, no other veggies handy, and not feeling like dirtying another pot. It worked quite well and tasted great, but it’s just as good without. 

You’ll find a printer-friendly version of the recipe, which I’ve adapted with very little change from one at Cooking Light, at the bottom of this page. Click here for the Instant Pot version.

Ingredients:

2 tsp black peppercorns

1 small onion

1½-inch knob of fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves

1½ Tbsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground turmeric

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp brown mustard seeds

½ cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth

2 Tbsp tomato paste

½ of a lemon

¾ tsp salt

1 pound shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 cup snow peas (optional)

small bunch of fresh cilantro

Preparation:

1.) Get all your ingredients ready before beginning to cook, because the cooking goes quite quickly. Set each aside within easy reach. Start by crushing the black peppercorns. I like to put them in a zip-top freezer bag to keep them from flying all over the kitchen, then pound with a  meat mallet. You can also use a rolling pin or a can.

2.) Dice the onion for 1 cup. Peel the ginger and mince or grate 1½ Tbsp; mince the garlic. Squeeze 1 tablespoon of juice from the lemon. Measure the coriander and turmeric into a small prep bowl, and measure out the tomato paste and broth. Chop the cilantro for ¼ cup.

3.) Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Have the lid handy, you’ll need it quickly. Add the mustard seeds to the pan and cover immediately. Let the seeds cook until they stop popping, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove the lid and use a spatula to scrape the popped seeds back into the pan.

4.) Stir in the pepper, onion, ginger, garlic, coriander, turmeric. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion begins to soften and become translucent, 3 – 5 minutes.

5.) Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in the broth, tomato paste, juice, and salt. Cook for just a minute or so, until the sauce thickens.

6.) Stir in the shrimp, and cook another 4 minutes or until shrimp are done.

7.) Stir in the snow peas (if using), remove from heat, and let sit 1 – 2 minutes for the residual heat to warm the peas. Sprinkle with cilantro to serve.