Monday, May 23, 2011

It's curry time!

Some recipes for you because I know I've been neglecting this part of my blogging for a while now. My dear sister got quite irrate with me the other week because I'd been promising her my scallop/prawn curry recipe and okra recipe for ages and she quite literally phoned me from her stove top, pan in hand to demand the information NOW!

So, just for her, here are a few recipes (curry like) to keep you going this week:

Firstly:

STORE CUPBOARD CUZZA!
You'll need:
A few potatoes, peeled and diced
An onion - finely chopped
Garlic - as above
chick peas (or lentils or beans) - I always have these as a store cupboard staple
Tin of tomatoes
fenugreek, cumin, caraway, tumeric and seasoning
Coconut oil or cream (not so much of a staple, but I do tend to have the oil in as I love to cook my curry bases with this - it's delicate and not overpowering and so, so good for you!
fresh coriander (growing in the yard, so also free!)

This whole recipe, if you keep most of it in store will cost you about 1.50 to make and I feed six!

Fry your onion and garlic lightly in olive oil and a little coconut oil if you're using it
Add your diced potatoes and gently brown to allow the potato to seal. This will help reduce the chance of it collapsing and creating a mush in your pan.
Add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of each of the spices and season to taste. Oh, less of the tumeric, you only want to add a faint hue.
Add the chick peas and the tin of toms along with about a cup of water.
Let it all simmer along for around half an hour but stir regularly as you don't want it to stick.

When you're ready to serve you can add your tbsp of coconut cream if you didn't use oil and a handful of fresh coriander.
You can serve with rice, chapati or on its own.

Scallop and ginger curry
Okay, so this is a bit of an indulgence, but if you're going to do a curry that kicks arse, then this is the one to do to seriously impress!

You'll need:
Onion
2 cloves of garlic
enough scallops (smallish ones without the roe) for your hungry guests
fresh ginger about a finger sized piece sliced small or grated
fresh tomatoes chopped
cumin seeds, cardamon pods, coriander seeds
fresh pepper (you'll grind all this together in a mortar and pestle)
one lime
fresh coriander

Fry your onion and garlic in a little coconut or olive oil. If using olive oil I like to add a knob of butter too - kind of helps things to not stick and adds a nice base to everything
grind all your spices and add them to your browning onion and lightly fry them.
Add your ginger and chopped tomatoes and allow the mixture to simmer gently.
Add the scallops and allow them to lightly cook. You don't want to leave them too long or you'll end up with rubber bung curry and that is not nice!
Add your lime juice and seasoning.
Just before serving add a generous handful of coriander.

Okra and mango  - side dish!
Dead easy using veggies that many people don't know how to cook.

So you'll need a load of Okra, I find that Waitrose tends to be pretty reliable for it, Sainsbury's a bit hit and miss, Tesco even more so and Morrisons will probably stare at you. Yeah - Okra is obviously food for snobs LOL!
Onion
Dried mango pieces
Chilli
Cumin

Okay, so preparing Okra is easier than you think. You need a bowl of water on standby because the insides are sticky and full of seeds.
I like to top and tail as you would runner beans. Then I slice them lengthways but keep them thin. Put them into the water and this is the important bit, you need to dry them as much as you can. I tend to prepare them a few hours before I'll need them an put them into a colander with kitchen towel soaking the water. If they're too soggy they'll not brown well.

Gently fry your onion in butter - decadent, but far nicer end result than oil.
Add your chilli and 1/4 tsp cumin (don't go crazy here - this is a light flavoured dish. you want the mango and fried okra to win through)
When this is nicely browning, add your Okra.
You will now need to fry this for quite a while and vigilantly turn it in order to brown all over.
Once you've gotten an even brown colour you can add your dried mango. I cut it into thin strips.
Don't use fresh mango, it doesn't have the same effect!

Allow the mango to gently infuse with the okra for around 15 mins.
and serve!

Right, now you have mama's best curry recipe I can't put that in a bottle and sell it now!

Enjoy!

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