Curried Granola-Crusted Shrimp with Grilled Pineapple

1 pineapple
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and cleaned *
1 1/2 cups Original Granola, crushed fine
3 egg whites, beaten
1/2 cup rice flour **
2 tablespoons curry powder ***
1/4 tablespoon each Salt and Pepper
Oil for frying
Skewers or Picks
Optional: Chutney, or Plain Yogurt with Curry Powder for dipping ****

* I would have preferred to use fresh shrimp, but none of my local markets had raw, large shrimp, so I went with a bag of frozen, pre-cleaned, easy peel – thawed, peeled, and blotted dry.

** While rice flour tends to produce the best “crisp,” you can use AP flour, or even cornstarch.

*** If you “like it hot,” but your curry blend is on the mild side, pump it up with a pinch of cayenne.

**** A nice Mango Chutney would be great with these as well, but I opted to use some of my homemade plain yogurt mixed with additional curry powder.

Directions:

Peel your pineapple by slicing off the top and bottom, then carefully making lengthwise slices all the way around the outside, going back with the knife to shave any remaining rind.
With your naked pineapple standing on end, make one slice down its length, right along the edge of the core, set that slice aside and lay the pineapple cut-side down to repeat slicing along the core on each side so that you end up with four strips and the core – discard the core, then slice the widest strips in half lengthwise, so you are left with approximately 1″ wide pineapple “sticks.”
Heat a well-oiled grill pan or grill, and grill the pineapple sticks until nicely caramelized on each side; set aside until cooled, then slice into chunks. It’s much easier to grill the pineapple in slices than to flip all those chunks, but if you’re feeling ambitious and don’t want any edges without grill marks…
Set up your dredging station by setting out one bowl containing your flour (again, feel free to add a pinch of cayenne if your curry blend is mild) curry, S&P whisked together, a second bowl containing your beaten egg white, and a third containing your ground granola.
Heat your oil – I prefer to work in smaller batches/smaller pot and about 1″ of oil.
Blot your cleaned/peeled shrimp dry and, holding each by the tail, dip first into the flour mixture (shaking off any excess), then the egg white, then the granola (shaking off any excess) – repeat and set aside.
When all of your shrimp have been double-dipped, fry them a few at a time for about 3″ until golden.
Skewer a pineapple chunk, followed by a shrimp, then another pineapple chunk, and serve with your preferred dipper.