This vibrant and mouth-watering shrimp curry is lightly spiced with aromatic whole spices and has tropical flavors from coconut milk. Easy to make this curry is ready in just 15 minutes using the Instant Pot.
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A perfect recipe for anyone looking to explore Indian spices and curries. This flavor-packed dish is light and fresh with perfectly cooked succulent shrimp in the Instant Pot.
Love Shrimp? Try my air fryer bang bang shrimp, Malabar shrimp curry, and shrimp biryani recipes.
Ingredients
- Shrimp - Use tail-on, peeled and deveined jumbo or extra-large frozen raw shrimp
- Aromatics - onion, ginger and garlic
- Tomatoes - store-bought or homemade tomato puree
- Whole Spices - cinnamon, cloves and cardamom
- Ground Spices - red chili powder, turmeric, and salt
- Coconut Milk - unsweetened full-fat coconut milk
How to Make Instant Pot Shrimp Curry
I like to cook Shrimp Curry in the Instant Pot as it consistently cooks in less than 15 minutes. Here is my Step-by-step recipe:
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and heat oil. Add onion, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon stick and sauté for 2 minutes. Add salt, turmeric, red chili powder, ginger, and garlic. Stir in ¼ cup of the watery portion of the coconut water, tomato puree, and shrimp.
- Close the Instant Pot with steam release handle to sealing. Pressure Cook/Manual (Low) for 2 minutes followed by quick release. Stir in coconut cream and garnish with cilantro.
- Transfer the shrimp to a serving bowl or take the stainless steel pot out of the Instant Pot housing and place it on a hot plate to avoid overcooking.
Serving
Serve shrimp curry with steamed rice, roti or parathas. We also love to serve it over saffron risotto.
Tips
- Use tail-on, peeled and deveined jumbo or extra-large frozen shrimp
- If using small to medium shrimp reduce the cooking time to zero or 1 minute
More Instant Pot Curries
Recipe
Instant Pot Quick and Easy Shrimp Curry
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 medium yellow onion finely diced
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 6 cloves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons ginger
- 2 teaspoons garlic
- ½ cup tomato puree
- 1 ½ pounds jumbo or extra large shrimp tail-on peeled and deveined
garnish:
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Put the can of coconut milk in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours or in the freezer for 5 minutes to separate the cream from water, then open the can and scoop off the cream from the top. Reserve both cream and water.
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and heat oil. Add onion, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add salt, red chili powder, turmeric, ginger, garlic. Press the Cancel button to turn off the Instant Pot. Mix well.
- Stir in ¼ cup of the reserved coconut water, tomato puree, and shrimp.
- Close the Instant Pot with steam release handle to sealing. Pressure Cook/Manual(Low) for 2 minutes followed by quick release.
- Stir in reserved coconut cream and garnish with cilantro. Transfer the shrimp to a serving bowl or take the stainless steel pot out of the Instant Pot housing and place it on a hot plate to avoid overcooking. Enjoy hot.
Notes
- Use tail-on, peeled and deveined jumbo or extra-large frozen shrimp
- If using small to medium shrimp reduce the cook time to zero or 1 minute
- Pick out and discard the whole spices when eating
Nutrition
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Louise Samson says
Another great dish, dear Archana! Appealing, fragrant and simply delicious (although it took me more like 1 hour and 20 minutes rather than 20 minutes. But then, I must be very slow.)
Thank you. And thank you also for your book. Love all you do!
Louise
Archana says
Hi Louise. Thank you for your lovely feedback. Was it the prep time that took longer?
Louise Samson says
Yes, prep time, with me, is always at least twice as long (if not longer)!
Balaji Shenoy says
The taste was amazing... one of the best shrimp curries i've had. The taste resembled a thai curry paste I thought.
Archana says
Thank you!
Simone says
Love your instant pot recipes ! You have made me love cooking again !
Quick question on this recipe .. I have hunts tomato sauce can .Is this the same thing as what you have asked for in this recipe ? Thanks
Archana says
Check to see if it has any additional ingredients. Usually the one I use is just pureed tomatoes.
Docmom says
So quick and tasty!
sne3103 says
Would lite coconut milk work, to save some calories?
Archana says
Yes, just that the curry will be a bit watery
Anjali says
Hi, What should be the cook time for small frozen shrimps please?
Archana says
Same cook time. As you need that much minimum time for rice to cook.
Minnie John says
I made this yesterday. It was one of the easiest recipes and the finished product was just scrumptious!! I can’t believe that I made it in less than 30 minutes and it was so good.
Archana says
Thank you for your lovely feedback
radhika neel says
if i want to replace shrimp with Paneer, what would be the quantity of paneer and how long would i cook it for.
Archana says
You can add 1 pound of cubes paneer and cook for the same time
Eileen Arnoff says
Can you please help me out recipe details? I tried it and it was very nice but guessed on a few things:
Coconut milk....how many ounces?
Cardamom pods.....cook whole?
Garlic and ginger....minced, diced, grated? Thank you!
Archana says
Hi Eileen, Coconut milk - 15 ounces (1 can) , Cardamom pods cook whole and then pick out while eating. Garlic and ginger both grated
Tina A. says
Hi Archana,
Thanks for all the delicious recipes!
Regarding this shrimp curry recipe, is this something you can make ahead and freeze for a month later?
Keep up the great work and keep it coming. Regards from Toronto, Canada.
Archana says
I am not sure! I have not tried freezing cooked shrimp.
Melinda T. says
I haven’t made this one yet, but I definitely will! It looks amazing. I do have sort of a weird question, though.
Why tail-on shrimp? Isn’t it easier to eat if you don’t have to pick up the shrimp with your fingers? I don’t mean to sound grumpy, I’m genuinely curious. You’re not the only blogger/foodie who uses the tail-on kind, so there must be a reason...?
It won’t mess things up if I take the tails off my shrimp, will it?
Again, I’m really not trying to be difficult, honest! Just trying to figure things out.
Archana says
Hi Melinda, You can def take the tails off before cooking this dish. Leaving the tail on does 3 minor things - Makes the dish look attractive, can prevent overcooking and you can use the tails as handles to pick up. For this dish, it's simply a preference so go ahead and make it without tails and I promise you will LOVE it.
Tamara says
Excellent recipe. I will definitely be making this again.
Archana says
Thank you!
Christina says
Thank you, Archana, I'm dying to try this. I'm new to the whole Instapot thing and have my mom's old stovetop pressure cooker which I've been delighted with. It's no frills and cannot be adjusted for pressure. Any tips for converting?
Seems reasonably straightforward - saute as with any other pot then for ...
- "Pressure Cook/Manual(Low) for 2 minutes followed by quick release."
instead, lock on lid and cook over med for 2 mins then quick release?
I hope to serve with your saffron risotto so for ...
- "Close the Instant Pot lid with Pressure Release to sealing. Set the Instant Pot tp Manual /Pressure Cook(High) for 6 minutes. Follow with 10 minutes Natural Pressure release."
instead lock on lid and cook over high for 6 mins with 10 mins natural release?
Thank you!
Archana says
So 1 whistle on the stove top pressure cooker is equivalent of 3 minutes of pressure cooking time in Instant Pot. So for teh shrimp curry as soon as it fully pressures I would stop and allow it to slowly release pressure after 5 mins. For Risotto 2 whistles followed by NPR.
Cathy Nunez says
Good morning Archana, I made this dish yesterday evening - it was fantastic! Thank you . I will definitely make this again and I look forward to trying trying many of your other recipes.
Eva says
Best shrimp curry, hands down! Thanks so much for this amazing, easy to make recipe!
Susan says
I really enjoy this recipe, and have made it several times. I have Kashmiri red pepper but can’t seem to get the right amount. 1 tspn - only I could eat (which was great for me!); 1/2 tspn I had to add yogurt for family; 1/4 tspn for company last time and they were all dramatically demanding water, milk, beer. With NO red pepper won’t it be boring? What is a good alternative?
Archana says
It will be just as good without red pepper. Just the color will be different
Kathleen Pisupati says
This recipe is excellent
Stephanie Gambe says
Hi Archana,
This is a very delicious shrimp dish recipe! It made me like a professional cook! The recipe is easy to follow and the end product is yummy!
Thank you very much.
Regards,
Stephanie G.
Toronto, Canada