Seafood Curry

Is it really 2014 already?

I started writing this post on the 14th July 2012 – not sure it was meant to take this long to write. Doesn’t time fly! What a roller-coaster 18 months…

Needless to say, with some gentle persuasion, getting back to this, was getting back to something I love and enjoy doing, and sharing with others. Life was so down and up, that I have missed all my old blogger friends on twitter etc. I wonder what the likes of Karen, Choclette, Dominic, Jack and Fiona and many others have all been up to? A lot of reading and catching up to come, me thinks…

So anyway, am I back? Is this just a passing phase? I hope not 🙂 I have already got another post to follow shortly 😉 I just hope the world of food blogging hasn’t changed too much and that I am not stuck in the old world of ‘2012 style’ posts!

I think this recipe originally came from a BBC email I received way back when, while I was going through a spicy fish phase in my life, having previously done the Spicy Seafood Stew.

So seeing this half-finished post sat in my draft pile, I decided to re-try the recipe. I was surprised that this had not been cooked again in the last 18 months, it was that good! With the availability of social media and sharing images real-time, it meant I was now able to send photos to family members as I was making it, with replies such as ‘yumm’ and ‘can you save me some pls?”

The best part of this recipe is the curry sauce – this is something that took very little time creating and can be cooked up long in advance and potentially used with any accompaniment of your choosing. And of course, if you like it hotter, just add more chillies 🙂

Ingredients:
75g ghee (you can substitute with margarine)
300g skinless white fish like pollack, cut into large chunks
200g skinless salmon , cut into large chunks
200g raw peeled prawns
100g mussels (optional), cleaned and de-bearded


For The Curry Sauce:
1 onion , roughly chopped
100g ginger , chopped
50ml vegetable oil
2 tsp garam masala
½ tsp asafoetida (if you have it)
1 tsp turmeric
1 red chilli , deseeded and finely chopped (leave the seeds in if you like it really hot)
400g can chopped tomatoes
good handful coriander leaves


1. For the curry sauce, whizz the onion and ginger together to a purée. Heat the oil in a large pan until smoking. Add the garam marsala and sizzle for 30 secs, then add the onion and ginger purée, reduce the heat and slowly cook for 5 mins. Add the remaining spices, fry for 1 min, stir in the chilli and fry for another min, then add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt and grind of pepper, and stir well. You can do this way in advance, then just throw the curry together on the night – the sauce will freeze or keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

2. To make the curry, melt a third of the ghee in a large pan. Cook the white fish for 2-3 mins until lightly browned, then set aside on a plate. Repeat this process with the salmon and prawns, adding another third of ghee each time. For the mussels, heat a medium-sized saucepan on a high heat. Add the mussels with 2 tbsp of water, cover tightly with a lid, and steam for 3-4 mins, shaking the pan every so often. Drain and set aside with the other seafood.

3. Bring the sauce to the boil, stir the fish and mussels in gently, bring to the boil again, then remove from the heat and leave for 3-4 mins – the fish will finish cooking in the heat from the sauce. If you like, add some coriander leaves and serve with rice!

Enjoy!

Monkfish Moilee

I thought it was about time I tried a new curry recipe on here, after having had several requests from family and friends, for something they could try too!

Gordon Ramsay’s big yellow ‘Great Escape’ Curry book was staring at me from the bookshelf as soon as I thought about doing a new blog post, so decided to use it, to look for a fish curry recipe, as a change from all the meat I normally use.

As soon as saw this recipe, I knew it was perfect, as I had never cooked with Monkfish but it was something I had always wanted to try, especially after seeing countless chefs on TV show how easy it was to remove the large bone and then cook with it.

According to Gordon, a fish moilee is simple coconut fish curry from Kerala on the west coast of India. Some consider it an Anglo-Indian dish as it was commonly found in other Southeast Asian cuisines connected through the British Empire.

It is perfect for this time of year, especially with the warm weather we have been having, as it is not too heavy, even with the meaty Monkfish tail. Definitely one recipe to pin on the side of the fridge!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
500g skinless and boneless Monkfish tails
¼ tsp Ground Turmeric
½ tsp Sea Salt
Juice of 1 Lime
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Large Onion, peeled and finely chopped
3cm Ginger, peeled and finely grated
3 Garlic Cloves, peeled and finely crushed
3 Green Chillies, deseeded and sliced in half lengthways
4 Curry Leaves
400ml tin Coconut Milk
6 Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
Coriander leaves to garnish

1. Cut the monkfish tails into bite sized chunks and place in a bowl.

2. Mix together the turmeric, salt and lime juice to create a wet paste, then mix this with the monkfish chunks and leave to marinate for about 20 minutes.

3. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium to high heat.

4. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, chillies, curry leaves and salt. Stir frequently for 5-6 minutes until the onion is translucent and soft.

5. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally.

6. Add the marinated fish and cherry tomatoes and gently simmer for another 4-5 minutes until the fish is cooked through.

To serve, ladle the curry into a warm bowl and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with plain rice.

Enjoy!

Indian Tiffin Competition

A couple of days ago I entered a competition on a fellow food bloggers site by The Curry Guy, which was being sponsored by Indian Tiffin to win a couple of 3 Tier Tiffins. All I had to do was simply tell them what I would use the tiffins for, if I was to win them, by adding a comment on their sites and by retweeting my idea on Twitter. The most appealing comment would be the winner, which was me 🙂

I’m looking forward to receiving them in the post and using them in future blog posts on here.

Thanks guys for choosing my entry!

Satay Chicken

Having purchased a lot of different Asian sauces and spices at the weekend, I decided it was about time to try something new and found this amazing recipe for Satay Chicken.

Satay or sate, is a dish of marinated, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. It usually consists of diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, other meats, or tofu; the more authentic version uses skewers made from coconut palm fronds.

Satay originated in Java, Indonesia where it has now become a national dish. It is also popular in many other Southeast Asian countries, such as: Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand as well as in the Netherlands, as Indonesia is a former Dutch colony.

‘Satay sauce’, often referred to as peanut sauce, is widely used in Indonesian cuisine, Thai cuisine, Malaysian cuisine, and Chinese cuisine (under different names). It is also used in some European cuisine. Initially the sauce was meant as a sauce for Satay when being grilled, as well as for dipping.

This recipe from ‘Yeo’s’ is easily adaptable to being done on skewers or in the pan, as I tried.

Ingredients:
400g Chicken, Beef or other meat or tofu
3 tbsp Satay Sauce
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp Pure Seasame Oil
2 tsp Malaysian Curry Powder
3 tbsp White Sugar
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Small Onion and Garlic Clove, chopped

1. Mix the ingredients above in a bowl and marinate the meat or tofu for around 1 hour.

2. If you are cooking in the marinade, then cook it through in the pan, on a medium heat, so that the sauce does not burn, until it is thoroughly cooked.

3. If you are cooking on skewers, grill them until cooked.

Serve with rice and/or stir fried vegetables and warmed Satay sauce for dipping.

Enjoy!

Red Curry Pork with Peppers

Another post that I have had queued up for a couple of months to finish off and publish, is this delicious curry, from the Curry Bible that I got last Christmas… Red Curry Pork with Peppers.

As the author writes, it is a delightful combination of succulent pork, mushrooms and sweet red peppers. The mushrooms act as sponges, soaking up all the coconut sauce beautifully.

Source: Curry Bible – Mridula Baljekar

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Vegetable or Groundnut Oil
1 Onion, roughly chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
450 g/1 lb Pork Fillet, thickly sliced
1 Red Pepper, deseeded and cut into squares
175 g/6 oz Mushrooms, quartered
2 tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste
115 g/4 oz Creamed Coconut, chopped
300 ml/10 fl oz Pork or Vegetable stock
2 tbsp Thai Soy Sauce
4 Tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped
Handful of Fresh Coriander

1 Heat the oil in a large fry pan and cook the onion and garlic for 1-2 minutes until they are soft but nor brown.

2 Add the pork slices and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until brown all over. Add the red pepper, mushrooms and curry paste.

3 Dissolve the creamed coconut in the stock and add to the pan with the soy sauce. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes, until the liquid has reduced and thickened.

4 Add the tomatoes and coriander and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Garnish with extra chopped coriander and serve with cooked rice or rice noodles.

Enjoy!

Fish Korma

It seems ages since I wrote a blog post, what with the house move to a whole new county, taking over our lives for the last 4 weeks!

Broadband has now finally been installed and there are fewer boxes in each room, allowing us to start cooking again properly and getting back in touch with the foodie community again. There are lots of people I will be catching up with over the next few weeks, plus learning about our new corner of the world and seeing what foodie goodies are available nearby.

One big bonus is that our new home has a big blackberry bush at the bottom of the garden, so thats me sorted for my wines, vinegars, coulis’ and compotes again this year.

This recipe below was one of the last dishes I cooked before we left our old house and was chosen as a blog post, as we needed to use up what we had left in our fridge and freezer. With all the fish we had left, this recipe seemed perfect to go with the Very lazy Ginger we had been sent!

Contrary to general belief, Korma is not a dish but one of techniques used in Indian cooking. This Fish Korma is easy to cook and has an irresistable aroma and taste.

Source: Curry Bible – Mridula Baljekar

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
700g/1lb 9oz Fish fillets cut into large pieces (we used Salmon and Monkfish)
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tsp Salt
55g/2oz Raw unsalted Cashews
3 tbsp Olive Oil
5cm/2in Cinnamon Stick
4 Green Cardamom Pods, bruised
2 Cloves
1 Large Onion, finely chopped
1-2 Fresh Green Chillies, chopped
2 tsp Ginger Purée
2 tsp Garlic Purée
150ml/5fl oz Single Cream
55g/2oz Whole Milk Natural Yoghurt
¼ tsp Ground Turmeric
½ tsp Sugar

1 Place the fish on a large plate and rub in the lemon juice and ½ tsp of the salt. Set aside for 20 minutes.

2 Soak the cashews in boilng water for 15 minutes.

3 Heat the oil in a large pan over a low heat and add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Let it all sizzle for 30-40 seconds.

4 Add the onion, chillies, ginger and garlic purées. Increase the heat slightly and cook, stirring frequently for 9-10 minutes, until the onion is soft.

5 Drain the cashews and purée them with the cream and yoghurt.

6 Stir the turmeric into the onion mixture and add the puréed ingredients, the remaining salt and sugar.

7 Mix thoroughly and arrange the fish in the sauce in a single layer. Bring to a slow simmer, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and shake the pan gently from side to side.

8 Spoon some of the sauce over the pieces of fish, re-cover and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

Serve with Indian Bread or Basmati Rice.

Enjoy!

Peshawar-style Lamb Curry

The Lamb Pasanda Curry I blogged about at the start of the year, has become a firm family favourite and we have had it a few times since then, loving it every time.

Having been given another shoulder of lamb, I decided I would try a new lamb curry from my curry bible. I chose the Peshawar-style Lamb Curry as I had all the rest of the ingredients in the cupboard and fridge.

Peshawar in the North West Frontier Province, was created during the British Raj to safeguard India from foreign invaders. The cuisine of this area is famous for its robust flavours and colours. This Lamb Curry is in a class of its own.

The recipe that I have listed below is the recipe and instructions from the book – however I made a small change to the recipe and roasted the lamb in the oven first of all for 3 hours at 160C, so that the meat would be so tender and fall off the bones. This meant that I could reduce the cooking/simmering time from 45-50 minutes to 10-15 minutes. The meat tasted amazing and so succulent. I will give the book version a go on another occasion but have to say this tasted great doing it this way!

Source: Curry Bible – Mridula Baljekar

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1lb 5oz/600g Boneless Shoulder or Leg of Lamb, cut into 1 inch cubes
4 tbsp Sunflower Oil
1 Cinnamon stick
5 Green Cardamom pods, bruised
5 Cloves
2 Bay Leaves
1 Large Onion, finely chopped
2 tsp Ginger Purée
2 tsp Garlic Purée
1 tbsp Tomato Purée
1 tsp Ground Turmeric
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Ground Cumin
125g/4oz Thick Set Natural Yogurt
2 tsp Corn Flour
1 tsp Chilli Powder
150ml/5fl oz Warm Water
1 tbsp Chopped Fresh Mint Leaves
2 tbsp Chopped Fresh Coriander Leaves

1 In a saucepan, heat the oil over a low heat and add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves. Let them sizzle for 25-30 seconds.

2 Add the meat, increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the meat begins to brown.

3 Add the onion, ginger and garlic purées, cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring regularly, then add the tomato purée, turmeric, ground coriander and cumin. Continue to cook for 3-4 minutes.

4 Mix together the yogurt, flour and chilli powder and add to the meat.

5 Reduce to a low heat, add the warm water, cover and simmer, stirring to ensure the sauce does not stick to the base of the pan for 45-50 minutes, or until the meat is tender. Simmer uncovered, if necessary, to thicken the sauce to a desired consistency.

6 Stir in the fresh mint and coriander and remove from the heat.

Serve with Indian bread.

Enjoy!

Curried Sweet Potato Wedges

Having bought the sweet potatoes today, to go with some steak from our local farm shop, I decided to do something new with them. A normal family favourite is to cook them in the oven and sprinkle some paprika over them for the last five minutes. This particular recipe is based on Mary Moh’s Curried Sweet Potato Chips. As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to give them a go. I have to agree with Mary, the aroma was really good and the taste was fabulous!

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
2-3 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Garam Masala or Curry Powder
1 tsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Coconut Powder
1 tsp Oil

1 Mix the seasoning in a bowl and add the sweet potato wedges, coating them all over.

2 Spread them on a baking tray and bake at 200C for about 30 minutes, or until cooked.

Enjoy!

Coconut Beef Curry

It’s been a couple of weeks since I cooked up a curry for the blog, and with the inevitable house move on the horizon for my new job, we have started to use up the food in the freezer for our suppers. I found some beef fillet and some venison that was perfect to use with this recipe, once I found it in my Curry Bible. I’m already looking forward to discover what other treasures I have hidden away in the freezer for meals over the next few weeks.

This rich and aromatic curry uses Mussaman curry paste, which is a Thai curry paste with Islamic origins. It is unusual because it contains a number of spices that are more common in Indian cuisine than in Thai, such as coriander and cumin.

This was so easy to cook up after a long day packing and was served up in under 40 minutes after I started preparing and cooking it!

As normal, I was making it for the two of us, so I halved all the ingredients.

Source: Curry Bible – Mridula Baljekar

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Ground Coriander
1 tbsp Ground Cumin
3 tbsp Mussaman Curry Paste
150 ml/5 fl oz Water
75 g/2¾ oz Creamed Coconut
450 g/1 lb Beef Fillet, cut into strips
400 ml/14 fl oz Coconut Milk
50 g/1¾ oz Unsalted Peanuts, finely chopped
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp Palm Sugar
4 Kaffir Lime Leaves
Fresh Coriander to garnish

1 Combine the coriander, cumin and curry paste in a bowl.

2 Pour the water into a saucepan, add the creamed coconut and heat until it has disolved.

3 Add the curry paste mixture and simmer for 1 minute.

4 Add the beef and simmer for 6-8 minutes.

5 Then add the coconut milk, peanuts, fish sauce and sugar. Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes, until the meat is tender.

6 Add the lime leaves and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Garnish with coriander.

Serve with cooked rice.

Enjoy!

Goan Fish Curry

Having had a busy week at work, my girlfriend decided she would try something new from my new curry book as a treat for me. We had some Salmon fillets in the fridge so she chose this goan fish curry for us. I had had a monkfish korai in recent weeks so I wanted to see how this compared as I don’t get to have many fish curries. I was seriously surprised at how well salmon goes with all the indian spices and coconut milk. I found it so much lighter than the monkfish and it didn’t leave us feeling over-full afterwards. I have to say this is definitely my favourite fish curry to date. There was nothing left in the pan afterwards. I’m already looking forward to having this again!

This is what the book said about it…
“Goa is well known for its fish and shellfish dishes, which are usually cooked in coconut milk. For this dish salmon has been chosen because its firm flesh lends itself well to curry dishes and takes on the flavours of all the spices.”

Source: Curry Bible – Mridula Baljekar

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
2-4 Skinless Salmon fillets
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Lemon juice
3 tbsp Sunflower oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 tsp Garlic purée
2 tsp Ginger purée
½ tsp Ground Turmeric
1 tsp Ground Coriander
½ tsp Ground Cumin
½-1 tsp Chilli Powder
9 floz/250 ml Coconut Milk
2-3 fresh Green Chillies, sliced
2 tbsp Cider Vinegar

1 Cut each salmon fillet in half, place on a plate and sprinkle with half the salt and all of the lemon juice and rub in. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

2 Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the onion and cook for 8-9 minutes until a pale golden colour.

3 Add the garlic and ginger purées and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add the turmeric, ground coriander, cumin, chilli powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

4 Add the coconut milk, chillies and vinegar, then the remaining salt , stir well and simmer, uncovered, for 6-8 minutes.

5 Add the fish and cook gently for 5-6 minutes. Stir in the fresh coriander and remove from the heat.

Serve immediately with cooked basmati rice.

Enjoy!