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!
More Curry Recipes You’ll Love
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.
This was phenomenal, can’t say enough good about it. Paired it with yellow rice and Garlic Naan. The hit of the weekend. Thanks so much.
Hi – So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing it 🙂
Hi – for this recipe and your egg curry, is there any change in cook times if I double the recipe? Can the instapot handle that?
Hi Urvashi – yes, you can double the recipe in a 6qt instant pot for both. The pressure cooking time will remain the same.
By how much would you reduce the pressure cooking time for already thawed shrimp? Half?
Also any adjustments if using whole shrimp?
Hi Ted – I suggest to pressure cook on low pressure for 2 minutes for thawed shrimp. Hope you enjoy the curry!
This was another great recipe. I changed it up a little though. I used whole can of coconut and added little bit of water and after manually releasing the pressure I put back on sauté mode as you suggested which thickened up the gravy much more. Overall, it was a fantastic dish!
Hi Priya – That makes me happy. Thank you for sharing back 🙂
Instead of an InstaPot, I chose to use a sauté pan. Sauce turned out nice, not too watery after a brief period on a low simmer. I also used thawed shrimp which decreased the cooking time.
Hi Mark – Glad you enjoyed the curry. Thanks for sharing!
Good flavor, but needed 5-10x the quantity of seasoning
Hi Oliver – Thanks for sharing your experience!
is the nutrition for one serving?
Hi Mary – yes, the nutritional information is per serving.
Delicious but the sauce came out far too watery. I followed the recipe and added the coconut milk before putting the lid. How can the sauce be thickened?
Hi Izzy – Sorry to hear the curry was not as thick. I use full-fat coconut milk in the recipe, just in case they would make a difference. You can also just put it on sauté for a minute, and the milk coconut milk thickens quickly. I know we want to make sure to not overcook the shrimp, so just a minute or two would be good. Hope that helps!
Can I use tail off frozen shrimp?
Hi Kal – I have not tried, but I think the recipe will work fine with tail off shrimp too. Hope you enjoy the curry!
Hello, thank you for the recipe. I tried it tonight and while the shrimp cooked perfectly, I found that the curry looked slightly curdled and non-homogenous. Any thoughts on how to improve this? Otherwise, the taste was good.
Hi Rebecca – Glad you enjoyed the taste. If the coconut milk is curdling under pressure. You can skip adding the coconut milk before pressure cooking, and add 1/4 cup water. Then add the coconut milk after pressure cooking.
Great recipe. I put in full fat unsweetened coconut milk after pressure cook was done and it didn’t curdle. I did add a little water before starting pressure cook to prevent burn. I wonder how coconut cream would do and what is difference between coconut cream and milk,
Hi Mary – Glad to hear you enjoyed the curry. Coconut cream is much thicker compared to coconut milk. Here are some more details – https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-coconut-m-75446