Crevettes Tipazienne | Algerian prawns with rice

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

 I live in the wilaya (province) of Tipaza. Tipaza is famous for its sandy beach resorts and Roman ruins. This province has much historial riches of Algeria, with the Roman ampatheare ruins in Tipaza and the old Pheonican ruins along the coastline up until Cherchell. Tipaza is also famous for its fisheries and seafood resturants. You can visit such hubs as Bou Haroun to buy the freshest of caught from the Mediterranean. But also sample all the seafood based cuisine Tipaza has to offer.

My favourite resturant by far, is called Les Oursins (the sea urchins) in Aïn Tagourait just outside of Tipaza itself. Dinners in the summer in the beachfront terrace here are very romantic and reminsenct of all that is the Mediterranean ... the sea, the saltyness in the air, the fresh caught fish, the sun, the warm breeze in the evening ... Such dishes as Crevettes Chtitcha, Tadjine Rouget et Crevettes, Bourek aux crevettes, Chourba bel hout, Sépia Chtitha, Boulettes de Sardines, Boulettes de Hout, Beignets de Sardine and Osbane Calamar  have orginated from here.

 Today, I present a local favourite of mine: Crevettes Tipazienne.

Crevettes Tipazienne

 Saffron rice: 

• 1 1/2 cup long grain rice, washed 
• few thread of saffron 
• 3 cups fish or shrimp stock 
• 1 onion 2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine 
• handful of chopped cilantro 
• pinch of cumin salt/pepper 

 Crevettes en sauce Tipazienne: 

• 500g cleaned and devined shrimps 
• handful of cilantro 
• 2 cloves of garlic
•  1/8 tsp of ground coriander, cumin, sweet paprika, saffron powder, cinnamon, mace, garlic powder 
• handful of parsly and cilantro, rough chopped 
• juice of one lemon
•  2 tsp corn starch (maizena) 
• 1 onion, diced fine 
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme
•  1 bay leaf 
• 2 1/2 c fish or shrimp stock

 Crevettes mechoui (grill) spices: 

• 500g whole shrimps 
• 1/8 tsp of ground coriander, cumin, sweet paprika, saffron powder, cinnamon, mace, garlic powder 
• handful of cilantro and parsly 

1. Clean the shrimps for the sauce but leave 500g whole for the grilled shrimps. 
2. Saute off the onion, add in the spices and garlic. Be careful to not brown or burn the garlic.
3.  Add in the rice. 
4. Add in the water or stock. 20m or until the rice is tender. 
5.  Meanwhile in another pot, saute off the other onion with the garlic. 
6. Add 2 cups of stock then simmer on low heat for about 5m. 
7. Add in the corn starch in a slurry. 
8. Once the sauce is thickened, add in the shrimp to cook for about 2m. No more then that! 
9. Mix the whole shrimps with the spices, then carefully grill or pan fry them until cooked through; 2 minutes. 

To serve, the sauce is usually spooned onto the rice, then the grilled shrimps surround the rice. But in my house, I serve the rice with the sauce as a whole meal - not just a rice topping.

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