Shrimp and Avocado in Tamarind Sauce

This is a quick, easy, and flavourful meal if you already have the tamarind and shrimp ready to go. The other prep and cooking of the shrimp should be ready in the time it takes you to cook the rice. I passed on the fried shallots and substituted a jalapeno for the serrano because I had extra on hand. I liked the spice level, but if you're more sensitive to heat, you probably want to leave out the seeds or reduce the amount of pepper.

Shrimp and Avocado in Tamarind Sauce (slightly adapted from epicurious.com)

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup tamarind pulp (from a pliable block)
1/2 cup boiling-hot water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 firm-ripe California avocados
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
2 (1 1/2- to 2-inch-long) fresh Thai chiles or 1 serrano/jalapeno, stemmed and minced (including seeds, but see note with regards to the heat level)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 lb large shrimp in shell (21 to 25 per lb), peeled, leaving tail and first segment of shell intact, and deveined
1/3 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped
cooked rice for serving

1. Soak tamarind pulp in boiling-hot water in a small bowl until softened, about 5 minutes. Force pulp through a sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.
2. To tamarind, add sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice and stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. Halve, pit, and peel avocados. Cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks and toss with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice in a bowl.
4. Coat a 12-inch heavy skillet with oil and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté ginger, garlic, chiles, and salt, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
5. Add shrimp and sauté, turning over once, 2 minutes total.
6. Stir in tamarind mixture and simmer until shrimp are just cooked through, about 2 minutes more.
7. Spoon shrimp and avocado over rice, then sprinkle with peanuts.