Easy and Flavorful Coconut Shrimp Curry made in the Pressure Cooker in just 20 minutes. This simple Indian shrimp curry is made with ginger, garlic, onions, tomatoes, flavorful spices, and coconut milk. Pair this curry with rice for a perfect experience. It’s gluten-free, paleo, and low-carb!
This is one of the easiest Indian shrimp recipes to make when you want to impress someone and have less time to cook. The second reason is that it is a perfect dish for a weekday in just 20 minutes.
While the curry was cooking, I cooked white rice on the stovetop (can be done in a second instant pot or rice cooker), and dinner was served in no time.
You can make this curry with shrimp or prawns. You might have heard that shrimp and prawns are the same and are often used interchangeably. But that’s NOT true. They do taste and look similar, but are very different structurally. The word “prawn” is more frequently used on menus in the UK and India, whereas, in North America, people widely use the word ”shrimp.”
If you like Indian coconut-based curries, check out my Coconut Chicken Curry and Coconut Chickpea Curry recipes!
Are you ready for this delicious Shrimp Curry? Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Watch How to Make Coconut Shrimp Curry
Ingredients
Shrimp: Use tail-on, peeled, and deveined jumbo or extra-large shrimp. Make sure you use raw shrimp. I used frozen.
Aromatics: Onion, ginger, and garlic. You can use red or yellow onion. Use freshly minced ginger and garlic (this is definitely preferred) or a readymade ginger-garlic paste.
Herbs: Cilantro and green chili. These add immense aroma and flavor to this recipe.
Spices: This recipe calls for only a few spices: mustard seeds, turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, garam masala, and salt. You can use my recipe to make your own garam masala. Mustard seeds are used for tempering and provide an earthy flavor.
Tomatoes: Use fresh red plump tomatoes, but you can use canned ones too.
Oil: Use an oil with a high smoking point, like sunflower or avocado oil.
Coconut Milk: Use thick, full-fat coconut milk of your choice.
Lime/ Lemon Juice: A little drizzle of lime juice on the final dish will help to round out the flavors.
How to make Coconut Shrimp Curry in the Pressure Cooker?
The main thing to note in this recipe is that Shrimp cooks very quickly, so we will use the low-pressure setting in the electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot, in my case).
We will cook the shrimp for 3 minutes on low pressure and then quick release the pressure manually to get perfectly cooked shrimp.
I used tail-on deveined large raw frozen shrimp that I got from Costco. If you use smaller shrimp, decrease the cooking time.
The base of this curry is the same as many other Indian curries, with ginger, garlic, onions, and tomatoes. I also add basic spices, which you will have in your pantry if you have done Indian cooking before.
I have also provided links to Amazon for the spices if you are new to them. However, I highly recommend finding the nearest Indian grocery store for a much cheaper price.
I add coconut milk to the curry to give it a creamier texture. Use full-fat coconut milk for the best results. You can also use heavy cream instead of coconut milk if you don’t need to keep the curry dairy-free.
That said, even with the straightforward preparation, this curry is so flavorful with shrimp, similar to my shrimp masala and tandoori shrimp recipe. This is a must-try!
Garnish with some lime juice and cilantro, and enjoy over rice!
Stovetop Method
Follow the same steps as in the instant pot method to saute the aromatics in a pan on medium-high heat. Then, add the coconut milk and shrimp to the pot. Stir well and cook the curry for 5-7 minutes until the shrimp is just cooked. Garnish with cilantro and lime juice.
Doesn’t the curry look gorgeous? I am ready to eat this again; it is so easy to make!
Recipe Tips
Shrimp: When pressure cooking, use jumbo or extra-large shrimp. That helps prevent overcooking. Adjust the cooking time to 1 minute if using smaller shrimp.
Tip: Remove the steel insert from the instant pot so the curry does not cook more from residual heat.
Veggies: If you prefer, add veggies such as sliced bell peppers, green peas, or zucchini to this curry.
More Sauce: We add less liquid to this curry as the instant pot retains the liquid, and less is needed for cooking. If you like, add 1/4 cup coconut milk after the curry is cooked. The curry does get thicker as you refrigerate it.
Thai Variation: Skip the spices and add red curry paste to make this a Thai shrimp curry.
How to Store?
Leftover shrimp masala can be refrigerated for 2-3 days. Simply microwave or heat in a pan with a splash of water on the stovetop before eating.
How to Serve?
This shrimp curry goes well with rice, especially Basmati rice, jeera rice, or vegetable biryani, but steamed plain rice also tastes equally good.
You can also serve a simple kachumber salad and raita on the side to balance out the meal.
Looking for more seafood recipes? Check out this delicious Salmon Tikka Masala, Tandoori Prawns Tikka, and Shrimp Biryani.
Want to find easy Instant Pot Indian Recipes? Here are 23 Best Instant Pot Indian Recipes for you to try!
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Coconut Shrimp Curry (Instant Pot & Stovetop)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb Shrimp , jumbo, deveined tail-on, frozen (about 16-20)*
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds (Rai), optional
- 1 Green chili pepper , slit in 2 pieces, optional*
- 1 cup Onion, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon Ginger, minced
- 1/2 tablespoon Garlic, minced
- 1 cup Tomato , chopped
- 1/2 cup Coconut Milk , (4oz) full-fat
- 1 tablespoon Lime or Lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Cilantro , to garnish
Spices
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne or Red Chili powder, adjust to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Garam masala
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt, adjust to taste
Instructions
- Start the Instant Pot in Sauté mode and let it heat. Add oil, mustard seeds, and let them sizzle.
- Add green chili, onions, ginger, and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the onions turn golden brown.
- Add tomato and spices. Stir and let it sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Add coconut milk and shrimp to the pot. Stir and press cancel. Close the lid with the vent in sealing position.
- Start the Instant Pot in pressure cook mode at low pressure for 3 minutes.
- When the Instant Pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually.
- Stir in the lime juice and garnish with cilantro. Coconut Shrimp Curry is ready to be served. Enjoy with rice.
- Tip: Take the steel insert out of the instant pot, so the curry is not cooking more from residual heat.
Stovetop Method
- Heat a pan or Dutch oven on medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the mustard seeds and let them sizzle.
- Then add the green chili, onions, ginger, and garlic. Sauté for about 5-7 minutes until the onions turn golden brown.
- Add tomato and spices. Stir and let it sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Add coconut milk and shrimp to the pan. Stir well and cook the curry for 5-7 minutes until the shrimp is just cooked. Stir in the lime juice and garnish with cilantro.
If you only have cooked/thawed shrimp does your cooking time change?
Hey KS – Is it just thawed raw shrimp or pre-cooked? For pre-cooked shrimp, I would suggest to not pressure cook. You can make the gravy as in the recipe and add the shrimp after pressure cooking. Then give a quick boil, so that the shrimp does not overcook. Hope you enjoy the curry!
Um, there’s no curry in this curry?
Hey Lisa – I cannot understand your question. Do you mean there is no sauce or no curry powder or something else?
No curry powder. But I tried it and it’s lovely.
Yeah, most authentic Indian recipes do not use curry powder. We use the basic spices such as turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder, etc. Glad you enjoyed the shrimp curry 🙂
Hi – I’m new to Instant Pot but excited to make this tonight – my IP only has a high pressure setting for manual – should I adjust the time given that your recipe calls for low pressure? Thanks!
Hello Kelly – Yes, please do 0 minutes on high pressure for shrimp curry. I hope you enjoy the recipe and your new instant pot!
Hi! Tried this tonight. It was tasty and spicy , but came out a little thinner than I expected. Any way to thicken up the curry a bit? I used large frozen shrimp and followed the recipe.
Thanks!
Rick
Hey Rick – Good to know that you found the curry tasty. To thicken it an option is to add cashew paste after pressure cooking. I usually soak the cashews in water for 10-15 mins, then grind to a smooth paste. I do this for my chicken korma recipe. Hope you enjoy it again!
Hi! Planning to make this for dinner tonight. Can I substitute tomato sauce for the tomato? How many ounces?
Thanks!
Hey Naomi – One 14oz can of tomatoes is about 4-5 tomatoes. I used about 2 tomatoes in this recipe. If you are using canned, then adjust accordingly. Hope you enjoy it!
Thank you. Ended up using 4oz and it was amazing! So delicious!! Already made it 3 times in the past few weeks. A total hit with the hubby and the kids. 5 stars!!!!
Hey Naomi – So glad to hear you enjoyed the shrimp curry and have made it multiple times already. Thank you so much for sharing back your review!
Hi. If I double the recipe, would I double the pressure cooking time?
Hey Renata – The pressure cooking time will remain the same even if you double the recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
Wow, we made this for dinner tonight, the flavors are outstanding!
If I want to use this recipe with chicken instead of shrimp, how long would you recommend I pressure cook it for? I would brown the chicken first before starting the recipe as written.
Hey Eva – Glad to hear you enjoyed the flavors of the Coconut Shrimp Curry. If you will be cutting the chicken to pieces and browning them a bit, then I think just 3 minutes of pressure cooking would be enough. You can also use the Mom’s Chicken Curry as a reference. I cook for 5 mins for that curry and sauté for couple of minutes before pressure cooking.
Thank you for sharing your review!
Is it line or lemon juice? Ingredients say lime. Instructions say lemon
Lime*
Hey Nadia – Sorry for the confusion. I used lime juice in this recipe. I have updated the instructions. Hope you enjoy the shrimp curry!
Any idea how much I should increase the cooking time if using (frozen) jumbo instead of large shrimp?
Hey Samantha – I would suggest the same cooking time, as the one I used were pretty big in size as well. I would love to hear how it turns out 🙂
Made this last night with stop and shop frozen jumbo shrimp. Followed the recipe as written except I reduced the chili powder to 1/4 tsp. Really easy to make and cooked quick; it’s a good weeknight meal. I served it with rice that I cooked on the stove while prepping the ingredients and garlic naan.
Hey Samantha – So happy to hear you enjoyed the Shrimp curry. I love it for a quick meal 🙂 Thank you for sharing back your review!
I’m so glad you posted this instant pot shrimp curry! Can’t wait to try it out 🙂
Hey Kiara – Looking forward to hear how it turns out 🙂
I love Indian food but I don’t know how to make it or what spices to use. Shrimp Curry is on the menu for tonight’s dinner. THANK YOU,
Hey Diana – I try to use the very basic spices in my cooking. After a few recipes, I am sure you will know what spices you want to use in any curries or lentils you try. I hope you enjoyed the shrimp curry.