By, Humaira

Happy International Woman's month, it happens that I am celebratin my 16th year wedding anniversary with the love of my life tomorrow, March 8th, which is the official women's day celebration. We didn't realize the auspiciousness of the date when we picked it as our wedding day but it has set a very balanced harmony in our life together.

As for today's recipe, I want to start out by saying that Afghanistan is a land locked country naturally seafood is not a big part of Afghan cuisine. Yesterday, as I pondered what to make for dinner I remembered a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer. Instead of making a Humaira style Chinese shrimp dish which is what I normally do with shrimp, I decided to make an Afghan inspired shrimp stew which I am calling Afghan Shrimp Qorma.

To avoid insulting Muslims, apparently something I do regular on this blog, I researched if Islam allows consumption of Shrimp. It seems there is a divide among the Shafi and Hanafi sects of Muslims on whether shrimp is halal or haram. For this post I will stick with Shafi sect and share this recipe with you hoping you will give it a try.

My daughter Sofia had three servings piled on Afghan rice challaw and declared it “Very yummy with a tangy twist”, after I asked her for adjectives to describe the qorma.

Scrumptious Shrimp Stew

Afghan Shrimp Qorma

Ingredients

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion diced

½ tbsp. chopped garlic

15 oz. can tomato sauce

15 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 tbsp. finely chopped ginger

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. curry powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. turmeric

½ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. salt

2 cups halved green beans (you may use

frozen)

1 lb. uncooked, peeled and deveined

shrimp (defrosted if frozen)

Heat olive oil on high heat in a deep

frying pan with a lid. Add diced onions,

sauté until brown, around 8 minutes. Add

chopped garlic; stir well and sauté for another two minutes.

To make the sauce, add diced tomatoes,

tomato sauce, ginger, paprika, curry powder, turmeric, pepper and salt, bring to

a boil. Immediately reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 40 minutes until

the sauce thickens. Stir the sauce once

in a while and make sure that it doesn’t burn.

Add green beans and shrimp, stir well,

cover and cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve over challaw, Afghan rice or with Afghan nan. A fresh tangy salad

with lemon dressing is an excellent balance to the flavors of the qorma. Sofia lapped up her qorma with a side of plain yogurt.

My simple salad, what I found in my kitchen; lettuce, one tomato, carrots, cilantro, red onion and avocados. The dressing; one large freshly squeezed lemon, lemon pepper, and Himalayan pink salt.

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