Kerala Shrimp Moilee

Name: Kerala Shrimp Moilee
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 33 min
Yield: 3 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Kerala)
Ingredients: Shrimp/prawns, medium: 400 g, cleaned; Thick coconut milk: 180 ml; Onion: 120 g, thinly sliced; Ginger: 15 g, julienned; Garlic: 4 cloves, sliced; Green chillies: 5, slit; Turmeric: ½ tsp; Coconut oil: 2 tbsp; Curry leaves: 2 sprigs; Salt: 1 tsp; Lime juice: 1 tsp; Moilee is all about restraint — use medium chillies (not fierce ones) and don't rush the sauté.; The sauce should stay pale gold; browning the onions even slightly changes the character.; Coconut milk must be fresh or high-quality canned; watery substitutes ruin the sauce.; Perfect with Kerala bread (appam or vellayappam).

🍗 Non-veg📊 Easy

Delicate shrimp barely cooked in a pale golden coconut milk and green chilli sauce — a lighter, more refined version of Kerala curry that showcases the natural sweetness of fresh shrimp.

⏱️15 minPrep

🔥18 minCook

🕒33 minTotal

🍽️3Serves

🧺 Ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to make Kerala Shrimp Moilee

Heat oil.
Add onion, ginger, garlic; cook gently until soft and translucent (not coloured), about 4 min.
Add green chillies and curry leaves; stir 1 min.
Add turmeric; stir 30 sec.
Add shrimp and salt; stir-fry 3 min until shrimp are just turning pink.
Pour in coconut milk.
Stir gently.
Simmer on the lowest heat for 3–4 min until sauce is warmed through and shrimp are fully cooked.
Do not boil.
Squeeze lime juice.
Taste for salt.
The sauce should be ivory-gold, fragrant, and barely thickened.

📖 Cultural notes

|---|---|---|---|---| | 270 kcal | 24 g | 7 g | 16 g | 1 g | Moilee (from Portuguese "molho") belongs to the same Syrian Christian culinary lineage as Meen Molee. Shrimp moilee is a lighter, faster weeknight version beloved by Kerala Christian families who eat seafood on Fridays and during Lent, when the mild, non-fasting character of the dish makes it appropriate for devotional meals. ---

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