on Apr 26, 2019, Updated Oct 19, 2020 We are taking a little detour from MFS’s regular recipe style which is fast and easy, to share with you a slightly complicated, time consuming recipe. But but but don’t close the window yet because trust me when I say – you WILL want to try this New Orleans sausage shrimp gumbo! It is one of those recipes that should be a weekend project like my chicken biryani or dal makhani and are 100% worth the time and effort you put into them. Plus they last for days so you can enjoy them till you’ve really had your fill. On our last trip to the U.S. we had the famous gumbo and I was hooked. The deep, complex flavors of this soul satisfying stew have stayed with me. And I’ve tried my best to recreate from what I remember. I don’t claim that this is the most authentic gumbo but its a recipe that everyone I’ve made it for so far loves. I’ll break this down into steps so that the recipe is easier to follow and attempt.
Equipment
You only need one piece of equipment to successfully make gumbo and that’s a dutch oven or any other heavy bottomed pot. And the reason is that these avoid the roux and the gumbo from sticking to the bottom and burning.
Making the Roux for Gumbo
Making the roux for gumbo is probably the most complicated and the most essential step of the recipe if you want to make your gumbo from scratch. I recommend leaving everything else, and concentrating on this one task till it’s over. A roux is a base thats usually created with oil/butter and flour. A roux for bechamel sauce (white sauce) is usually light in color where the flour is cooked in butter for a minute or two. But for a gumbo, equal parts of fat and flour are cooked for anywhere between 20-30 minutes. I prefer the 20 minute roux. Start by heating oil or butter (I used a combination) and adding flour. Keep stirring the flour fairly regularly so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom or start burning – its important to keep moving it around, till it changes color from light to a deep golden brown (like the color of peanut butter). For me, this happened at the 20 minute mark. You can take it farther and cook it for 30 minutes to get a deep milk chocolate color but the gumbo tends to be thinner in that case. Here’s how the color will change (these are just screenshots from the video I made to demonstrate this recipe and I recommend you watch the video for detailed instructions).
Mise En Place
Once your roux is ready, quickly gather the rest of your ingredients. I recommend getting mise en place ready in advance. This means dicing the onions, celery, capsicum, chopping the sausages, cleaning the shrimp etc. So that everything is at arm’s length when you start the recipe.
The Stock for Gumbo
I think this is as essential as the roux. The stock you choose will help determine some of the flavors in this gumbo. Since this is a shrimp sausage gumbo, I recommend using shrimp stock which is really easy to prepare at home – just boil the head, tail or any part of the shell in water for 40-60 minutes and drain. Your shrimp stock is ready. But if that’s effort you don’t want to take, use chicken stock for this recipe.
Okra in Gumbo
This is a highly debatable ingredient. Most authentic gumbo recipes will use okra in their recipe because it is native to the region where gumbo originates, and is a natural thickener. Since we are cooking our roux so much (the deeper the color of the roux, the lesser its thickening abilities), the gumbo needs an additional thickener which comes from okra or lady finger (as we refer to it here in India). Some people dislike it because of its slimy texture but okra is only slimy if its not cooked properly. Here’s how to cook okra so it is not slimy As it cooks, it completely loses the slime and just becomes vegetable that’s soft and almost creamy.
Serving Gumbo
Gumbo is essentially served with rice, but I’m one of those who loves dipping a slice of crusty bread in it. But you are the boss of your gumbo so take your pick – rice, potatoes or bread.
Other Gumbo Variations
There are different variations you can do while making gumbo. Just use the same base, spices and vegetables and experiment with other ingredients you have on hand.
Chicken Sausage GumboAll Seafood GumboSausage Seafood GumboCrawfish GumboTurkey Gumbo
This is really one of those recipes that seems complicated the first time. But the second time you try it, you’ll be cooking like a boss! And for those leftovers, you will attempt it again and again.
Watch how to make Shrimp Sausage Gumbo Video Recipe
More Recipes for Meat Lovers
One-Pot Mexican Rice and SausagesCreamy Pumpkin Sausage Mac and CheeseOne Pot Curried Sausages and PotatoesCreamy Chicken Meatballs in Mushroom SauceSlow Cooker Teriyaki Meatballs with Pineapple
