Gumbo with shrimp

Its fall here. The trees are dressed up with their gorgeous leaves in beautiful shades of red, yellow, orange and green. I made gumbo yesterday hearing threads of slow rain from our kitchen window. While typing this post, I can see a squirrel playing with a sparrow and our backyard is often visited by rabbits too. Other shrimp recipe here is shrimp roast. Some vegetarian gravy in this space includes broccoli mornay and palak paneer. Gumbo can be paired with breads like white loaf, ciabatta, rice and with Indian dishes like chapattis, rotis and idiyappam . 

IFBC 2015 in Seattle was a really great experience for me. Still can’t forget the wine tasting session. Each wine tastes different with the change in climate and the way the grapes are grown. I will share more about it in my next post.

Gumbo is basically stew or soup originated in US (source :wiki). Thanks to our friend Chrissy who gave the recipe. 

Servings :20

Ingredients:

½ cup (113 g) of butter

½ cup of all purpose flour

4 cups of milk

2 cups of water

Puree from 5 medium tomatoes 

A bay leaf

2 cups of cooked shrimp (salted while cooking) (See Notes)

1 onion (diced)

1 pot of garlic (Sliced)

2 spring onions (chopped) (optional)

1 teaspoon of red chilli (cayenne)  powder (can be varied with your spicy level)

A pinch of turmeric powder

A pinch of black pepper powder (add according to your spice requirement)

2 teaspoon of oil

Vegetables:  (See Notes)

2 potatoes (diced)

2 large carrots (diced)

Salt to taste.

Method:

In a pan add oil and when it is heated, add garlic. Saute it till it reaches golden brown color. Add diced onion and sauté it till its raw smell disappears (comes to golden brown). 

Add diced potatoes and carrots (any other vegetables). Add salt, turmeric powder and red chilli (cayenne) powder and sauté them well for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Roux:

In a large sauce pan or soup pot, add butter and let it melt completely on low heat. Now add flour and mix it well till the entire flour is dissolved in melted butter. Whisk it continuously till it reaches a brown color. Add bay leaf

Add milk and water. Let it boil on medium heat. Then mix tomato puree and let it cook for 5 minutes (lid open).

To that add prepared vegetables and shrimp. Check for salt. Add more if needed. Cook it for 30 to 40 minutes till the vegetables are tender and the gravy thickens. Add spring onions and pepper.

Notes:

# Can add meat like rotisserie chicken, sausages or any form of cooked meat.

#Can add any vegetables  (I made with the vegetables in my kitchen counter. So you can modify with 'n' number of vegetables available but everything diced).

# Can add ¼ cup of chopped cilantro leaves if you love its flavor while adding the vegetables to the large soup pot.
# Make it vegetarian by excluding shrimp.

By Gods grace this came out well. I’m curious to know whether you served this gumbo lovingly on your table. Have a great day!