My Kitchen, My World - Iran

This week for My Kitchen, My World we traveled to Iran courtesy of Elra of Elra's Cooking.

We have been eating seafood all week (Agnes LOVES seafood) so I made a Persian bistro shrimp dish. It was heavenly. Sean asked if we could have this every couple of weeks.

I served it over saffron rice. Delish!




Ginger-Apricot Shrimp

12 dried apricot halves
12 pitted dried plums (prunes)
2/3 cup (or more) low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mango chutney, large pieces chopped
2 teaspoons tamarind concentrate*
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/4 teaspoons curry powder
1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
1/2 cup matchstick-size strips peeled carrot
16 uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 green onion, chopped

Preparation

Place apricots and plums in small heatproof bowl. Add enough boiling water to cover. Let stand 15 minutes to soften. Drain and quarter all fruit.

Meanwhile, mix 2/3 cup broth with soy sauce, mango chutney, tamarind concentrate, and sugar in small bowl. Whisk cumin, curry powder, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper in another small bowl. DO AHEAD: Fruit, broth mixture, and spice blend can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand separately at room temperature.

Heat vegetable oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saut until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and saut 30 seconds. Add apricots, plums, and carrot; saut until onion begins to brown, about 1 minute. Add shrimp and spice blend, stirring to coat. Cook until shrimp are pink on both sides but still uncooked in center, about 2 minutes. Add broth mixture; cover and cook until shrimp are just opaque in center, about 1 minute, adding more broth by tablespoonfuls if sauce is too thick. Transfer to serving bowl. Sprinkle with green onion and serve