Cyder with Eloise

July 30, 2010

Thali

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , — tamara @ 8:00 pm

Thali – A number of different dishes served typically for sharing, normally includes Indian breads, dal, curry, rice and pickles.

Or it could just be that I raided the freezer and this is what I found. An Indian Tapas meal – for the recipes follow the links.

Burmese Chicken Curry – One Lenny had made while I was away.
IMG_3295
Masoor dal with Pumpkin

Indonesian style Lamb Curry with Mushrooms

Cauliflower and Mushroom Curry

Lime Pickle

Mango Chutney – Ok I admit it I bought this one.

Mint Raita
200ml Yogurt
1 tbsp Dried mint (or fresh but ensure it is very finely chopped)
1/2 tsp Tamarind paste
1/4 tsp Garam Masala
1/4 tsp Turmeric
Blend all ingredients well and then leave to chill preferably for about 3 hours before serving. The chilling is not essential but i does encourage the flavours.

Poppadoms – Also purchased

July 28, 2010

Karunaikizhangu Masiyal

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , , , — tamara @ 7:00 am

What do you mean I didn’t bring you anything back from India! How about a recipe taken from “The Hindu” submitted by Rajeswari Shankar.

Karunaikizhangu Masiyal is a traditional Indian side dish. I have had to adapt the original for ingredients available in the UK. The recipe originally called for Colocasia, which is just one of the Indian terms for Taro root, this can be sourced in Europe but otherwise try Yams (Common in Tamil Nadu province), Potatoes or Jerusalem artichokes.

Asafoetida – do not be tempted to buy the product mixed with rice flour make sure you go for the pure (really stinky) stuff.

Ingredientsspiceshop
250g (of selected vegetable – see above)
75g toor dal
1 tbsp tamerind paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp groundnut oil
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tbsp Urid Dal
1/2 tsp asafoetida
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1/2 inch grated ginger
2 tbsp grated coconut
15 curry leaves
1 tbsp chopped coriander
1 lime

Method
In two separate pans bring some salted water to the boil and cook the (enter vegetable name here) and toor dal until it has just lost it’s bite.
In a heavy bottomed pan place the vegetables and toor dal, turmeric powder, tamarind and season with some salt.
Mash everything together and cook for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a serving bowl.
Heat the oil in a skillet or frying pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal and asafoetida. When it turns golden brown add the green chillies, ginger, curry leaves and coconut, stir for about 3 minutes and then add to the vegetable mash and garnish with coriander and a dash of lime.

July 25, 2010

Cauliflower and Mushroom curry

Filed under: Blog,Recipies — Tags: , , , — tamara @ 11:02 am

One of the things I was most looking forward to about India was hunting down some new spices, it turned out that there was little to add to my collection, so instead I decided to try some different spice blends which is a bonus because these I can recreate at home with the original spices.

Sambar Powder
2 tsp Coriander seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Brown mustard seeds
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1/4 Asoefetida
1 tsp Red chili powder
1/2 tsp Black pepper
10 Curry leaves, dried
Using a skillet or heavy based frying pan roast the seeds and then transfer into a pestle and mortar with the curry leaves and grind to a fine powder, mix in all the other spices.

Cauliflower and Mushroom curry
1 Large white onion, chopped
4 Garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp Sambar powder
200ml Tomato passata
1 Cauliflower, broken up into florets
15 Button mushrooms

Method
Heat a little oil in a heavy based pan and add the onion and garlic to soften, add the Sambar powder and stir well. Add the tomato passata and bring to a simmer then the cauliflower and mushrooms, and cover for 15 minuets, stirring occasionally with a little water if you think it is too dry.

May 12, 2010

Rick Stein – Wet Fish Curry

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , , , , , — tamara @ 6:43 pm

Following on from the success of his Far Eastern Odyssey, Rick Stein is to appear at Taste of London as official ambassador for Malaysia Kitchen campaign 2010, celebrating Malaysian food in the UK, where he will complete live cookery demonstrations within the Malaysia Kitchen enclosure.

This recipe is from the book Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey. The recipe requires ‘panch phoran’ which is a five-spice blend used in Bengali and Bangladeshi cooking, I did not make up a full mixture but just used 1/4 tsp of each and that worked fine for the quantity of fish stated below.
For my fish I used a whole bream which I first filleted, although very tasty was a little too fiddly for this recipe, so next time I will stick to Rick’s suggestions and use a meatier fish such as haddock.

Ingredientsrickstein
For the panch phoran
1 tbsp brown or black mustard seeds
1 tbsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp fenugreek seeds

For the fish curry
500g/17½oz thick white fish fillet, such as hake, haddock or snapper, skin on
salt, to season, plus 1 tsp
2 tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp vegetable oil
200g/7oz small waxy potatoes, such as Charlotte, peeled and cut into 1cm/½in-thick slices
100g/3½oz moong dal (mung beans; you can get these pre cooked in tins if you don’t have time to soak them)
1 tsp panch phoran (see recipe above)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp freshly ground cumin seeds
1 tsp freshly ground coriander seeds
900ml/1½ pints water
150g/5oz aubergine, cut into 1cm/½in-thick pieces
4-6 green cayenne chillies, halved lengthways
4 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander

Method
For the panch phoran, place all of the panch phoran ingredients into a small screwtop jar and mix well. (The spice mix will keep for up to a year in this jar if placed in a cool, dry and dark area.)
For the fish curry, cut the fish fillet into pieces 2.5cm/1in thick, then season the fish pieces on both sides with some salt and dust with half the turmeric powder.
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium-sized pan over a medium-high heat. Add the pieces of fish a few at a time and fry for one minute on each side until lightly browned all over. Lift out onto a plate and set aside.
Add the potato slices to the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes on both sides, or until golden-brown. Lift out and set aside on a plate.
Add the moong dal to the oil left in the pan and leave to sizzle for a few seconds. Add the panch phoran, the remaining turmeric powder, the ground ginger, chilli powder, ground cumin seeds and ground coriander seeds and cook for a few seconds, or until aromatic.
Add the water, the fried potatoes, aubergine, green cayenne chillies and the remaining teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for ten minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
To serve, add the pieces of fried fish and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. Stir in the fresh coriander and serve.

March 29, 2010

Devil’s Curry

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , , — tamara @ 11:09 am

I have not made many posts recently as I have been revisiting old recipes and last week Lenny took over with recipes from Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey

We had Steamed mussels with yellow kroeung coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves, the paste we made for this dish was too much for just the one portion of mussels but would taste fantastic if you marinated some chicken on skewers and then grilled or barbecued them and served with a rice salad.

and

Devil’s Curry – which we modified slightly from Rick’s recipe with the inclusion of palm sugar and fish sauce but the basic ingredients are the same.

Serves 4

Curry Paste
15 dried red kashmiri chillies, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
2 tsp paprika
20g ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
100g shallots, roughly chopped
20g garlic, roughly chopped
30g peanuts
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 tbsp vegetable oil
pinch of salt
Blend all ingredients in a food processor to make a smooth paste.

Ingredients
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp palm sugar
4 chicken breasts, approximately 3cm cubes
2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds, ground
3 tbsp vegetable oil
150g shallots, finely sliced
20g garlic, finely sliced
1 tsp Devil’s curry spice paste (above)
6 new potatoes
300g tomatoes, quartered
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 bird’s eye red chilli, finely sliced

Method
Mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, palm sugar and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken and cover to marinate then set aside for 30 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large heavy based pan over a medium high heat, add the shallots and garlic and fry until lightly browned. Add the spice paste and fry for 5 minutes until the aromas are released. Stir in the chicken and it’s marinade, the ground mustard seeds, potatoes, tomatoes, fish sauce and 450ml of water then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes until the chicken and potatoes are cooked and the sauce has reduced slightly and thickened.
Stir in the sliced birds eye chilli, simmer for 1 minutes then serve with jasmine white rice.

February 21, 2010

Indonesian style Lamb Curry with Mushrooms

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , , — tamara @ 11:04 am

This is a really scrummy recipe. Even if you don’t normally like to cook curry’s from scratch please try to give this a go as it is very simple. As with most curry’s it benefits from being cooked early in the day and then left in the pan for 4 hours while you hit the pub. Just heat it up when you get home and serve with plain rice. We also served it with the pumpkin dal I made the other week.

In this recipe use a thick and creamy coconut milk, it is not worth trying to save calories over flavour, and if you want to save a few pennies in my local store anyway the thick and creamy version is 50p cheaper then the light version. Do not shake the can as you want to separate the cream from the top.

Ingredients
3 Shallots, peeled and quartered
5 Garlic cloves, peeled
2 inch Fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 Red pepper
4 tsp Coriander seeds
3 tsp Cumin seeds, roasted
3 Cardamom pods, seeds only
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
400ml Creamy coconut milk, separate the cream from the milk with a spoon and set the cream aside
3 tsp Groundnut oil
500g Lamb, cut into 1inch cubes
2 tbsp Tamarind paste
1 tbsp Fish sauce
300g Chestnut mushrooms

Method
Make a paste by blending the shallots, garlic, ginger and red pepper.
Grind the coriander, cumin and cardamom seeds in a pestle and mortar, then add to the paste along with the remaining spices.
Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and when hot pour in the paste and fry on a medium heat for 10 minutes until the paste starts to thicken and darken.
Next add the lamb, stir to coat the meat with the paste and put the lid on the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the coconut milk, tamarind, fish sauce and 100ml of water to the pan, bring to a simmer and cover simmering for 30 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick you can turn the heat down or add more water but be careful not to make it too thin as the mushrooms will add a lot of their own water later.
Add the mushrooms, cover again and simmer for 30 minutes. If the sauce is too thin then leave the lid off to help it reduce. About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve stir in the coconut cream, adding extra fish sauce or chopped chilli’s to taste.

February 7, 2010

Masoor dal with Pumpkin

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , — tamara @ 7:57 pm

If cooking in a slow cooker it is worth preparing the ingredients as described below rather then just throwing everything together in the pot, it really will enhance the flavours.

Ingredients
600g Pumpkin, approximate weight once you have peeled and de-seeded, sliced into large chunks
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Brown mustard seeds
2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tbsp Groundnut oil
1 Onion, peeled and chopped
4 Garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
250g Red lentils, soaked for 30 minutes and refreshed in cold water
3 tsp Curry powder, I use hot but you can use a medium one if you wish
1 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp Turmeric
2 tsp Brown sugar
50ml concentrated vegetable stock
1/2 inch Ginger, peeled and chopped
150ml Water (if cooking on the stove)

Method – Slow cooker
Heat the oven to gas mark 5 (190c/375f). Lay the pumpkin out on a baking tray and sprinkle over the salt and olive oil. Roast for 25 minutes to start to develop the flavour. Remove from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle, then chop roughly into 2cm cubes.
While the pumpkin is roasting you can start to prepare the other ingredients.
Dry fry the mustard and cumin seeds in a frying pan over the stove, set aside, then add the groundnut oil to the pan and soften the onions and garlic, pour into the slow cooker.
Add all the other ingredients to the slow cooker including the toasted seeds and chopped pumpkin.
Cook for 8 hours on medium, or until the lentils have gone quite soft.
Try not to lift the lid too often to stir, but do check that it has not gone too dry, if it has then add extra water.

Method – Stove top
Prepare the pumpkin as above.
Dry fry the mustard and cumin seeds in a frying pan over the stove, set aside.
Heat the groundnut oil in a heavy based pan and soften the onions and garlic. Add all the other ingredients to the pan including the toasted seeds, chopped pumpkin and water then bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer a cook for 30 minutes or until the lentils have gone quite soft. Stirring regularly to ensure it is does not dry out, adding more water if necessary.

I’d like to try this recipe with butternut squash instead of pumpkin, if you do then please note you may not need to add as much sugar.

January 31, 2010

Chicken Biryani

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , — tamara @ 7:38 pm

This method produces really light fluffy rice and I love the sweetness of the onions.

I always remind people to count out the cloves and cardamom pods as we come across them, so no nasty soapy surprises. I could pick them out when serving, but where is the fun in that.

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 Chicken breasts and the meat from 2 chicken legs or thighs – chopped into 2cm cubes or thereabouts.
2 Onions – peeled and sliced into whole rings
2 tbsp groundnut oil
Pinch of Saffron
10 Cloves
2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Coriander seeds
1 inch Ginger, peeled and grated
3 Garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
1 tsp Cayenne
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Paprika
2 Cinnamon sticks
6 Cardamom pods
2 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Lemon juice
200ml Yoghurt
150g Basmati rice, unrinsed

Method
In a small pot put the saffron with approx 10 tsp boiling water and leave to infuse.
Heat the groundnut oil in a frying pan and fry the onion slices until golden brown. Remove from pan and drain well on kitchen paper. Set aside.
Grind 4 cloves in a pestle and mortar and then roughly grind 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp coriander seeds, put in a mixing bowl, with ginger, garlic, cayenne, turmeric, paprika, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamom pods, 1 tsp salt, lemon juice, 1/2 the saffron mixture and the yoghurt. Mix well and then coat the chicken in the marinade, leave to marinate for 30 minutes to 4 hours.
Use some of the oil from the fried onions to grease a casserole dish (preferably one that can be used on the stove top as well as in the oven with a tight fitting lid – ideally a Le Creuset style pot). Spread the meat evenly out over the bottom of the dish, reserve any extra marinade. Sprinkle over the meat 3/4 of the onions.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 3 (160c).
Bring to the boil 2 1/2 pints of water, add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamom pods and 6 cloves and infuse on a low heat for 5 minutes before adding the rice. Simmer for 10 minutes and then drain, the rice should still have a soft bite to it.
Take a large scoop (approximately 1/4) of the rice and mix it in with any remaining sauce from the marinade. Spread evenly over the meat mixture, and then follow with the remaining rice, pour over the remaining saffron mixture and sprinkle on the onions. Cover the dish with tin foil and the lid. Place on the stove at a medium heat for 5 minutes, then transfer to the oven. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Serve using a large spoon so you do not mix up the meat and rice. You can leave the dish covered for up to 30 minutes before serving without having to heat it up.

January 16, 2010

Nonya Chicken Curry Kapitan

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , , — tamara @ 6:00 pm

Nonya is a description for the coming together of two cuisines, Chinese and Malay (nyonya). Coconut, chilli and ginger or galangal are the key ingredients, as are the sweet & sour flavours you get with lime and palm sugar or tamarind paste.

I have made a nonya chicken curry before from a recipe by Madha Jaffery, although it was quite different with tomatoes, potatoes and tamarind.

This recipe is adapted from Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey.

Ingredients
4 Dried red chillies, soaked till soft in hot water then chopped
200g Shallots, roughly chopped
2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
2 tsp Turmeric powder
25g Garlic, roughly chopped
1 inch Ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 Lemongrass stalks, chopped
1/2 tsp Shrimp paste
2 tbsp Vegetable oil
3 Chicken breasts, sliced
3 tbsp Desiccated coconut
300ml Coconut milk
1 Cinnamon stick
1 tsp Palm sugar
1 tsp Salt
Juice 1/2 Lime
Coriander, chopped to garnish

Method
Put the ingredients for the curry paste into a blender – Chillies, shallots, spices, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, shrimp paste and 1 tbsp of oil.
Heat a dry frying pan and add the desiccated coconut and stir until lightly golden. Transfer to a pestle and mortar and crush to a fine powder.
Heat the remaining oil in a large heavy based saucepan and add the spice paste and fry while stirring for 3-5 minutes. Add the chicken and continue stirring for 3 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, cinnamon stick, sugar and salt, simmer for 30 minutes to reduce the coconut milk. You can spoon off any excess oil that appears on the top.
Add the lime juice and ground coconut and simmer for a further minute. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with plain basmati rice.

January 6, 2010

Salmon Curry

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , , — tamara @ 8:53 pm

Every now and then I discover a flavour combination that really hits the spot and I inevitably spend the next few weeks experimenting with it and seeing just how far I can push it before it breaks. I’m not sure it’s a conscious decision but when I look back to my cooking/eating trends I remember the weeks on end at lunchtime at work where I have had to eat my way though my experiments.

This curry paste is just once such recipe, expect to see this used in various dals and possibly a lamb dish or even sea bass over the coming months.

Recipe modified from Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimate Curry Bible

Ingredients for Salmon Curry
750g Salmon fillet, skinned and chopped into 1 inch cubes
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Turmeric

Ingredients – Curry Paste
2 1/2 tsp Brown mustard seeds
1 tbsp Ground coriander
1 tsp Ground cumin
1 tsp Curry powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Tomato purée
2 tbsp Olive oil
15 Curry leaves

Method
Coat the salmon in the salt, cayenne and turmeric, and refrigerate covered for 1 to 6 hours.
Grind 2 tsp of the mustard seeds and put in a bowl with coriander, cumin, turmeric, curry powder, cayenne pepper, salt and tomato purée, add 100ml of water and mix to a paste, set aside. This can be done well in advance, and will keep a few days.
Heat the oil in a pan with a large base if possible. Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds until they start to pop then add the curry leaves, curry paste and 100ml of water. Bring to a simmer and cover simmering for 10 minutes.
Lay the salmon in a single layer if possible across the bottom of the pan and simmer on a very low heat for 5 minutes.
Turn the salmon over carefully so as not to break the fish up too much and cook for a further 5 minutes or until just cooked through.
Serve with plain basmati rice.

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