Levantine cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Gambari bi Bandoura

Shrimp briefly cooked in a spiced tomato sauce with onions, cumin and fresh cilantro.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 600 g shrimp (peeled, deveined)
• 5 tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 onions
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp cumin (ground)
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 lemon
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Rinse the shrimp, pat very dry, season with salt, pepper and the juice of half a lemon and refrigerate; peel and dice the tomatoes.
2. Finely dice the onions, cut the garlic into thin slices and roughly chop the cilantro.
3. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a wide pan and sauté the onions over medium heat for 5 min. until translucent, then fry the garlic, cumin and chili flakes for 1 min.
4. Stir in the tomato paste, fry briefly, add the tomatoes and cook the sauce down uncovered for 8–10 min. until thick and the oil separates at the edge.
5. Add the shrimp to the hot sauce and cook for 3–4 min., turning once, until uniformly orange and slightly curled – any longer and they turn rubbery.
6. Remove from the heat, season with the remaining olive oil, the juice of the second lemon half and the cilantro, and serve immediately with flatbread.