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Shrimp Chatney

A spicy shrimp paste sauce made by mincing shrimp, oil, chilies, onions, salt, and acid.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and shallot work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 565 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Shrimp Chatney

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mince the shelled shrimps quickly with a sharp knife.

  2. Transfer the minced shrimps to a mortar and pound them into a smooth paste.

  3. Gradually mix in the salad oil, chopped chilies, minced onions, and salt.

  4. Add vinegar or lemon juice until the sauce is pleasantly acidic.

  5. If desired, mix in powdered ginger and/or minced shallots.

  6. Ensure the chutney is thick, similar to mashed turnips or stiff bread sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ginger + shallottop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together565 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Onion + shallottop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Shrimp
Forms the body of the chutney and gives it a smooth, paste-like texture when pounded.
Salad oil
Adds fat and richness, helping the paste turn smooth and glossy.
Green chilies
Provide heat and a fresh, sharp pungency.
Vinegar or lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the richness of the shrimp and oil.

The step that matters

Pounding the shrimp into a smooth paste. Shrimp must be fully broken down so the texture becomes uniform; coarse pieces stay chewy and separate from the oil. Pounding releases proteins that bind the mixture into a cohesive paste.

Swap the ginger

The recipe marks ginger as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shrimp, pepper, onion, vinegar, shallot):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shrimp, pepper, onion, vinegar, shallot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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