This is one of my favorite shrimp recipe. It is tangy, spicy, and full of different flavors.
This recipe is originally from Mangalore, known as Mangaluru now, a city in the Indian state of Karnataka, the southern part of India.
Mangalorean shrimp sukka literally means shrimp without gravy from Mangalore. In this recipe, shrimp is stir fried in a pan and sautéed in onions, turmeric, mustard seeds, red chili powder, and curry leaves for a few minutes. Shrimp cooks really fast and preserves its texture, moisture, and flavor. Then the ground spices such as like coriander, cumin, fenugreek seeds, and whole red chili peppers are crushed and added, along with coconut. In the original recipe, some people marinate the shrimp in tamarind, while others add tamarind to the shrimp when it is sautéed.
Some people also dry roast the whole spices before crushing them. I haven’t done that. I have simplified the recipe to make it quick and easy.
I have made this recipe in the Instant Pot. Like I said in my previous posts, my purpose is to simplify recipes as much as I can. Cook them quick and fast. #fastcurries
That is exactly what I have done here. I tweaked the recipe and made it a one pot quick dish. And believe me it turned out darn good! You have to try it for yourself!
So what did I do to make it different and easy?
I sautéed onions, curry leaves, mustard seeds, ginger garlic paste, salt, and red chili powder in the pot.
I then added the shrimp to the pot and gave it a quick pressure for 1 minute. Shrimp cooks really fast!
I then added the crushed spices, topped it with dried unsweetened coconut and tamarind paste and sautéed it for a few more minutes. That’s it! Its so easy that it can literally be a mid-week meal. It is the perfect comfort food especially after you have had a long day!
Shrimp: I used frozen shrimps, peeled and deveined. I used the 70-90 count per pound shrimp, that is the small sized shrimp.
Tamarind concentrate: After trying tamarind paste, tamarind concentrate, and tamarind pulp, I firmed up on tamarind concentrate. Tamarind concentrate is easy to use and is convenient. It is a thick dark paste sold in small plastic tubs in most Indian stores. I normally use this for the convenience aspect. Additionally, I like the way it tastes. I also use it in other dishes that require tamarind.

Instant Pot Mangalorean Shrimp / Instant Pot Shrimp Sukka / Instant Pot Spicy Shrimp
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp oil of choice
- 1 and 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
(rai)
- 15 curry leaves (kadi patta)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (red or white)
- 1.5 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 2 cups shrimp (frozen deveined shrimp) (70 – 90 count per pound)
- 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
(haldi)
- 1/2 tsp ground red chili powder
(ground cayenne pepper)
- 1 tsp water
- 3/4 tsp salt
Crushed spices
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
(jeera)
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
(dhaniya seeds)
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
(methi seeds)
- 3 whole dried red chili peppers
Final touch
- 1/4 cup dried desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp tamarind concentrate
Instructions
Prep
- Crush / grind all the ingredients listed under crushed spices to a very fine powder. I used an electric coffee grinder. You can use a mortar and pestle in case you don’t have a coffee grinder.
- Finely chop the onion.
Cook
- Select sauté on the instant pot and adjust to normal.
- Add oil to the pot.
- When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds and curry leaves.
- When the mustard seeds splutter add the onions.
- When the onions turn golden in roughly 2 to 4 minutes add the ginger garlic paste. Sauté for a few seconds.
- Then add the shrimp, turmeric, red chili powder, water, and salt. Make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot and scrape the bottom of the pot well.
- Press cancel.
- Secure the lid on the pot with the pressure-valve sealed.
- Select manual and cook at high pressure for 1 minute.
- Use quick pressure release to depressurize.
- Open the lid.
- Select sauté again. Add the crushed spices, and the ingredients under final touch (desiccated coconut and tamarind concentrate).
- All the gravy needs to be evaporated. It should take about 2 minutes. Keep stirring and sautéing.
- Press cancel when the gravy has dried up.
- Transfer in a serving bowl immediately.
Serve
- Serve with steamed rice, bread, naan (Indian flatbread) or roti.
Notes
- This recipe has been tried on a 6-quart instant pot. The proportions may vary depending on the size of the instant pot you choose to use.
- All the ingredients can be easily found in an Indian grocery store.
- The shrimp can be purchased in the frozen aisle of most leading grocery stores.
- Ground cayenne pepper and red chili powder can be used interchangeably as both of them make the dish spicy. So if you don’t have red chili powder you can use cayenne pepper instead.
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