Creamy coconut shrimp curry over steamed rice is the perfect recipe for weeknights. Ready in 30 minutes from start to finish in the instant pot, this is one tasty one-pot meal that doesn’t take a ton of effort to make. Healthy and gluten-free!
I honestly can’t imagine why I waited this long to post this easy-peasy instant pot shrimp and rice meal. It is made for those busy evenings when all I can think of is putting dinner on the table as quickly as possible and bundling the kids off to bed. Of course, I don’t want to feed my family junk either, so I’m always looking for recipes that are easy and healthy. This one-pot dinner is just that perfect recipe...it fits in so easily with your meal planning for the week!
If you dig one-pot recipes, you will love my instant pot shrimp pulao and chicken pulao as well. Do check them out!
Ingredients in coconut shrimp curry
- Large frozen shrimp - 14 oz or 400 gms (35-40 shrimp)
- Coconut oil - 3 tbsp
- White onion - medium-sized
- Ginger - 1" piece, yields 1 teaspoon minced ginger.
- Garlic - 5 cloves, yield 1 teaspoon minced garlic.
- Tomato puree or sauce - ½ cup
- Ground spices - paprika (1 tsp), coriander (1 tsp), turmeric ½ tsp), black pepper (¼ tsp)
- Full-fat coconut milk - ⅓ cup
- Salt, to taste
- White Basmati Rice - 1 cup
- Plain water - 1 ¼ cup to soak the rice
- Cilantro leaves - 2 sprigs
How to make Instant Pot Shrimp Curry and Rice
We will use the pot in pot method (PIP) to cook both the shrimp and rice at the same time in the instant pot.
What is pot-in-pot cooking (PIP)?
PIP is an instant pot cooking method where two dishes are cooked at the same time in the instant pot: one in the instant pot steel insert that came with the cooker and the other in a stackable steel container that is placed over a trivet in the steel insert.
PIP is an efficient way to cook since it saves both time and energy. One thing worth remembering with PIP is that both the dishes should take about the same time to cook. For example yellow lentils and white rice can be paired as both of them take around 4 minutes to cook. Kidney beans and chickpeas are better suited to cooking with brown rice as all three have longer cooking times.
In this recipe, we are going to pressure cook both the shrimp and rice for 3 minutes only and they will be perfectly done. Shrimp gets cooked in just one or two minutes under pressure, but because we have large-sized frozen shrimp, we are adding that extra minute which happens to be perfect for rice!
Preparation (10 minutes)
1. Wash and soak 1 cup rice in 1 ¼ cup water in a steel container that fits inside the inner pot.
2. Dice the onion.
3. Mince the ginger and garlic.
Cooking (20 minutes)
1. Press saute on your instant pot and when the display turns to HOT, add the coconut oil to the steel insert. Add the onion and fry for 2 minutes until translucent.
2. Add the minced ginger and garlic, ground spices and ¼ cup water. Saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add the tomato puree and ¼ cup water. Cook this sauce for 5 minutes. Cancel the saute mode.
4. Add the frozen shrimp and mix it into the sauce.
5. Place a trivet in the steel insert.
6. Keep the rice container on top of the trivet. Press the pressure cooking button, make sure the vent is sealed, secure the lid and set the timer to 3 minutes.
7. When the timer beeps, release the pressure after 5 minutes and remove the lid. Both the rice and shrimp will be cooked. Carefully remove the trivet with the rice container and keep it aside.
8. Add the coconut milk to the shrimp curry and give it a good stir.
Garnish the curry with chopped cilantro leaves and serve over steamed rice.
Why this recipe works
1. It is a one-pot, easy and complete meal. You don't have to run around getting a hundred other things ready.
2. It is ready in 30 minutes.
3. It is tasty and healthy.
4. It is made using a few basic ingredients and spices only.
Two ways to make this shrimp curry even easier
1. Buy peeled and deveined frozen shrimp. You’ll save yourself a chunk of time!
2. Keep a small jar of minced ginger and garlic handy if you use these ingredients often - you can buy premade bottles of ginger and garlic from any supermarket like Walmart or Superstore in Canada, or you can make it at home. Making this paste is dead simple. Just put equal quantities of peeled and chopped ginger and garlic in a blender with a few tablespoons of water and blend to get a thick paste. Use the quantity required by the recipe and store the rest in a sealed glass bottle in the fridge for later use. This paste lasts for a couple of weeks in the fridge, so no worries there!
Other Easy Under 30 minutes Recipes in the Instant Pot
📖 Recipe
Coconut Shrimp Curry with Rice
Ingredients
- 14 oz large frozen shrimp 35-40 shrimp
- 3 tablespoon virgin coconut oil
- 1 white onion medium-sized
- 1" piece ginger
- 5 cloves garlic
- ½ cup tomato puree
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder or paprika
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ⅓ cup coconut milk full fat
- tsp sea salt to taste
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 1 ¼ cup plain water for soaking the rice
Instructions
Preparation (10 minutes)
- Wash and soak 1 cup rice in 1 ¼ cup water in a steel container that fits inside the inner pot.
- Dice the onion.
- Mince the ginger and garlic.
Cooking (20 minutes)
- Press saute on your instant pot and when the display turns to HOT, add the coconut oil to the steel insert. Add the onion and fry for 2 minutes until translucent.
- Add the minced ginger and garlic, ground spices and ¼ cup water. Saute for 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato puree and ¼ cup water. Cook this sauce for 5 minutes. Cancel the saute mode.
- Add the frozen shrimp and mix it into the sauce.
- Place a trivet in the steel insert.
- Keep the rice container on top of the trivet. Press the pressure cooking button, make sure the vent is sealed, secure the lid and set the timer to 3 minutes.
- When the timer beeps, release the pressure after 5 minutes and remove the lid. Both the rice and shrimp will be cooked. Carefully remove the trivet with the rice container and keep it aside.
- Add the coconut milk to the shrimp curry and give it a good stir.
- Garnish the curry with chopped cilantro leaves and serve over steamed rice.
Notes
- Buy a frozen packet of peeled and deveined shrimp to save time.
- You can also use 2 tablespoon coconut cream instead of coconut milk in this recipe.
- You can make ginger and garlic paste by putting equal quantities of peeled ginger and garlic in a blender along with a few tablespoons of water and blending it. Store the leftover paste in a sealed glass jar in the fridge. These pastes are also available in most supermarkets these days. If using pre-made pastes, 1 teaspoon of each will do.
Nutrition
Did you make this Indian shrimp curry? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
Sana says
I made this and it came out delicious! The shrimp cooked PERFECTLY and the curry was very tasty! Will be trying it again very soon!
Saima says
Thank you so much Sana:)
Pattiann Kelley says
Haven't made this yet but for the rice, is a cake pan OK to put it in to cook over the shrimp? I can't wait to try it.
Saima says
Hi Pattiann, I think a cake pan should work as long as it fits.