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!

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!

Lamb Pasanda

Having been given a shoulder of lamb over the Christmas holiday, I thought it was about time to cook it but wanted to try something new with it. While I was looking through my new Curry Bible that I was given for Christmas, I found the following delicious recipe. It was so simple to cook and for once I had all the ingredients, which was perfect as I didn’t fancy going anywhere during the recent winter storms.

This is what the book said about it…
“Here is a legacy from the glorious days of the Mogul courts, when Indian cooking reached a refined peak. The word Pasanda, from which this creamy dish gets its name, indicates small pieces of boneless meat, in this case tender lamb, flattened as thin as possible.”

Source: Curry Bible – Mridula Baljekar

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
1lb 5oz/600g Boneless Shoulder or Leg of Lamb
2 tbsp Garlic and Ginger paste
2oz/55g Ghee or 4 tbsp Groundnut Oil
3 large Onions, chopped
1 fresh Green Chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 Green Cardamom pods, bruised
1 Cinnamon stick
2 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Turmeric
9fl oz/250 ml Water
5fl oz/150 ml Double Cream
4 tbsp Ground Almonds
1.5 tsp Salt
1 tsp Garam Masala
Paprika and toasted Flaked Almonds to garnish

1 Cut the meat into thin slices and place the slices between clingfilm and pound with a rolling pin to make them even thinner.

2 Put the lamb in a bowl, add the garlic and ginger paste and rub the paste into the lamb.

3 Cover and set aside in a cool place to marinate for 2 hours.

4 Melt the ghee or oil in a large frying pan with a tight lid over a medium heat. Add the onions and chilli and cook, stirring frequently, for 5-8 minutes, until the onions are golden brown.

5 Stir in the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, corriander, cumin and turmeric and continue stiring for 2 minutes, or until the spices are aromatic.

6 Add the meat to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until it is brown on all sides and the fat begins to separate.

7 Stir in the water and bring to the boil, still stirring. Reduce the heat to its lowest setting, cover the pan and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the meat is tender.

8 When the lamb is tender, stir in the cream and ground almonds together in a bowl. Beat in 6 tbsp of the hot cooking liquid from the pan, then gradually beat this mixture back into the pan.

9 Stir in the salt and garam masala and continue to simmer for a futher 5 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Garnish with a sprinkling of paprika and toasted almonds and serve.

Enjoy!

Venison Curry with Sweet Potato

As it is National Curry Week (22-28 November 2009), I thought I would have a go at making a seasonal curry.

Having a Venison Steak in the fridge, I thought that it would be ideal as the basis to my curry. So I set about looking for a decent recipe and came across the following from the BBC Food Site which I adapted to my own tastes…

Vension Curry with Sweet Potato.

It was very easy to prepare and cook, and with the meat being so lean, it meant that it tasted very tender and full of flavour. If you want to try something other than beef or lamb in a curry, I highly recommend giving venison a go.

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Vegetable oil
150g/ 5½oz Venison diced
1 tbsp Garam Masala or medium curry powder
1 tsp Turmeric
½ tsp Cumin seeds
2 Bay leaves
Pinch Chilli flakes
50g/ 1¾oz Sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 Baby leeks, chopped
4 tbsp Red wine
1 Lime, juice only

1 For the curry, heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a high heat, add the venison and fry for two minutes.

2 Add the curry powder, turmeric, cumin seeds, bay leaves and chilli flakes and cook for a further three minutes. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

3 In the frying pan, heat a tablespoon of oil over a medium heat and add the sweet potato and leeks. Cover with a lid and cook for five minutes.

4 Add the venison back to the sweet potato and leeks and cook for three minutes.

5 Add the red wine and lime juice and cook for two minutes. Remove from the heat.

6 To finish, stir some coriander into the curry and for an extra twist, add a spoonful of Greek yoghurt on top and garnish with more coriander.

Serve with some pilau rice.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Balti

While cooking my Chicken Korma recipe, I thought I would make my life a little more fun (or should that be difficult) by making a second curry dish for the first time too, on our curry night. This is one of my girlfriends’ favourite currys, so had a search online and came across this Vegetable Balti Curry recipe on the BBC Good Food site. I knew she would be happy when telling her it would be high in fibre and vitamins, while low in fat and hopefully very tasty!

This recipe sounded perfect, though I wish I could have made the paste for this as well as the Korma! Instead, I had to get a jar of Patak’s Balti curry paste which I had never used before, but fingers crossed was hoping would do the job ok.

After getting all the ingredients for the Korma ready and having made the Korma paste, I set about peeling, chopping and cutting all the veg needed for this dish. I didn’t use all the same veg as mentioned on the Good Food site but used what I had in my vegetable racks, which was close enough! My only major change was using parsnips instead of turnips and only using half the amount of butternut squash and making up the rest, using some sweet potatoes that needed to be used up.

I found this such a simple recipe to make and was really glad I could leave this to cook and simmer while working on the more complex Korma at the same time.

The best part about this curry, was the fact my girlfriend and I both thought it tasted as good as the Vegetable Balti from our local restaurant. We ate half of it on our curry night and froze the rest in the hope of having it again one night soon! This I think, will become a regular home favourite with us.

Serves 4

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion , thickly sliced
1 large garlic clove , crushed
1 eating apple , peeled, cored and chopped into chunks
3 tbsp balti curry paste (we used Patak's)
1 medium butternut squash , peeled and cut into chunks
2 large carrots , thickly sliced
200g turnips , cut into chunks
1 medium cauliflower , weighing about 500g/1lb 2oz, broken into florets
400g can chopped tomatoes
425ml hot vegetable stock
4 tbsp chopped coriander , plus extra to serve
150g pot low-fat natural yogurt

1 Heat the oil in a large pan, then add the onion, garlic and apple and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 5-8 minutes. Stir in the curry paste.

2 Tip the fresh vegetables into the pan and add the tomatoes and stock. Stir in 3 tbsp of the coriander. Bring to the boil, turn the heat to low, put the lid on and cook for half an hour.

3 Remove the lid and cook for another 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the liquid has reduced a little. There should be some liquid remaining, but not too much. Season with salt and pepper.

4 Mix 1 tbsp of coriander into the yogurt to make a raita. Ladle the curry into bowls, drizzle over some raita and sprinkle with extra coriander. Serve with the remaining raita and warm mini naan breads.

Try different vegetables – shallots, broccoli, swede, sweet potatoes, peppers and mushrooms would go well together.

Chicken Korma

I thought it was about time to try a recipe from a fellow food blogger after a month of writing my own, so after coming across Back to the Chopping Board by James Brewer (after he came up with the Farewell Floyd Food Blogging Event), I noticed he was a man after my own heart and enjoyed a curry or two!

Having wanted to make a curry from the ground up for a very long time, I thought his Chicken Korma would be ideal to try as you get to make the paste as well. I believe the recipe is an adaption of a Jamie Oliver one from his Ministry of Food book. The pictures of the curry being made on James’ site made me want to have a go as part of a curry night I wanted to do.

After going through my spice cupboard, I realised I only needed to get a few extra bits, so popped to the shops to get a green chilli, some ground almonds and desiccated coconut, some fresh corriander, a tin of coconut milk and a pot of creme fraiche. This was going to be a cheap meal as well as fun to make! The only thing I didnt use from the original recipe was the chickpeas as I am not a great fan of them.

I got everything washed, chopped, cut, crushed and prepared, took my laptop into the kitchen (my printer had run out of ink, so I had no way of printing it off) and got to work cooking this recipe. At the same time as creating this dish, I also cooked a Vegetable Balti from the BBC Good Food site, as I wanted to make my life a little more difficult! I’ll write about that dish in another post.

This recipe was great fun to make and I would recommend it to anyone to try. Making the paste at the start was the best bit, rather than having to use a bought one. I was really pleased how it came out!

All I will say is, this is the best korma I have made, and even though there are some great sauces and pastes out there, nothing can beat making it yourself from the ground up. This is definately one I will be making again. It tasted delicious!

Korma Paste

2 cloves Garlic
Ginger, thumb-sized piece
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
2 tbsp Groundnut Oil
1 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 fresh Green Chilli
3 tbsp Desiccated Coconut
2 tbsp Ground Almonds
Coriander, small bunch
2 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Coriander Seeds

1 Toast the cumin and coriander seeds together in a dry pan for a few minutes until they are golden. Remove from the heat and when cooled, grind them up in a pestle and mortar.

2 Peel the garlic and ginger and roughly chop.

3 Place all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz until you have a smooth paste.

Chicken Korma

2 Large Chicken Breasts
2 Medium Onions
Ginger, thumb sized piece
Coriander, small bunch
Groundnut Oil
Butter, knob of
Korma Paste (see above)
1 x 400 ml tin Coconut Milk
2 heaped tbsp Desiccated Coconut
1 heaped tbsp Ground Almonds
Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
4 tbsp Creme Fraiche

1 Firstly cut the chicken into cubes.

2 Peel and finely slice your onions, peel and finely chop the ginger, pick the coriander leaves and finally chop the stalks.

3 Put a large pan on a high heat, and add a few lugs of oil. Put the chicken into the pan and brown lightly on all sides for around 5 minutes, then remove from the pan.

4 Add the butter, onions, ginger and coriander stalks. Keep stirring it frequently to ensure none of it catches and burns, but turns golden evenly for around 10 mins.

5 Add the chicken back into the pan, and cook for another 2-3 mins.

6 Put in your Korma paste, stir well and cook for around 2-3 mins to help cook the rawness out.

7 Pour in your coconut milk, ground almond and desiccated coconut. Fill the empty coconut milk tin half with water and pour into the pan and give a good stir. Bring back to the boil, then turndown the heat and simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on. Check the curry regularly to make sure it is not drying out – if it does add a little water.

8 When the chicken is tender, season with salt and pepper and stir through Creme Fraiche.

Serve with Pilau Rice and sprinkle over the coriander leaves.

Enjoy!

King Prawn Jalfrezi

Having had a few days of rich heavy food, my girlfriend wanted me to cook something lighter for supper and promptly presented me with her latest edition of Top Sante magazine, asking me to cook the King Prawn Jalfrezi recipe, knowing full well we had all the ingredients in the fridge and cupboard.

So after reading the article and the blurb about turmeric being famed for its antioxidants and beneficial to your liver (which is probably why she wanted it), I raided the fridge and cupboard and got everything I needed ready to make it.

I had never made a Jalfrezi before so had no idea whether it was going to be a hot or mild curry. Suprisingly, it was very simple to create, and looked very similar to the wonderful glossy photo used in the magazine aside from the excellent lighting used!

This is one recipe I never thought I would create, especially as I love creating Balti’s and Korai’s and Massala’s and as a ‘supposed’ heathly variation, it was full of flavour and very filling and a simple recipe I would recommend to anyone.

2 tbs Sunflower Oil
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 Large Onion (sliced)
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
Salt to taste
1 Large Green Pepper (sliced)
300g raw shelled King Prawns
2 ripe Tomatoes (sliced)
Handful fresh coriander leaves washed and chopped

1 Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan and fry the cumin seeds until they start to darken.

2 Add the onion and fry for about 5 mins.

3 Add the ginger-garlic paste and stir in for a few seconds until well blended.

4 Add the rest of the spice powders and salt and cook for 3 minutes over a low heat.

5 Add the sliced peppers and cook it for another 8 mins.

6 Add the prawns and keep stirring for around 3 mins until they turn opaque.

7 Pour in 100ml of water and bring to the boil, then gently simmer for 3-4 mins.

8 Add the tomatoes and cook until soft but not mushy.

Serve with the fresh coriander garnish and rice.