curried shrimp and grits

It's impressive what I can find when I start scrounging around. In this case shrimp so huge they scare people. Everyone who see them goes, "Are those shrimp?" And I go, "Yup." Naturally, I cut them up into manageable pieces and that rather defeats the whole purpose of getting them big, dunnit, unless you consider the chore of peeling their shells simplified by being large. They're actually too big even for sushi. So there's that.

I have no grits. Alas, for I am gritless. But I do have popcorn and I do have a coffee grinder. So there's that.

I used chicken broth for the liquid in both the grits and the sauce. Butter in the both the grits and the sauce.

Here's how to make the sauce. It's like a gravy. Tablespoon butter into a hot pan. Tablespoon of flour. Brown the flour to develop a brown roux. Don't rush it. What would be the point? You have the grits cooking in another pot. That will determine your timing. Add the flavoring powders, in this case, prepared curry and powdered chipotle. Honestly, it could be anything. Heat the seasonings in the roux. Add garlic chopped finely if you're not using garlic powder, and diced onion. Coat them with the roux. Before the garlic burns, drop in one cup or more of chicken broth. Stir. The roux comes off the garlic/onion and thickens the chicken sauce, no lumps or anything. Add shrimp. Do not cook the shrimp, just heat it and remove immediately. Bang, you're done.

Add grated or chipped cheese, Parmigiano here, to the grits off the heat. Do not cook the cheese (it's a processed food, it could separate). Add chopped parsley or whatever you wish that's fresh, cilantro, basil, pretty much anything.

I'm also near the end of all my prefabricated curries. Which means I can now go out and get MOAR! This is Vindaloo, and it's tremendous. I enhanced it with chipotle powder. The Indians themselves would be pleased with that. They are the worlds greatest consumers of chiles, after all, raw chiles, powders, pastes, sauces, and all things chile-related. They proudly proclaim to have the hottest, why, you'd think they invented them, but that's nonsense. All chiles, ALL CHILES, are New-World fruits, even the so-called Chinese Lantern habanero types, Thai chiles, and Hungarian paprikas, all originated in the Americas. And what was Eastern and Western and African cuisine before the Americas were opened there to find chiles among many other new things? Boring, that's what. The hottest chile are Central American pequins (pea-kins or pay-kenyos) . Pequino for small, they are the African bird's eye chile. The slightest trace of its capsaicinoid on your finger transfers easily to more sensitive bodily areas and can positively ruin your whole evening. I've seen this happen. Although the habaneros are reputed to be the hottest, my own personal experience points to the pequins.