Fish curry

An interesting fish curry, as most of the vegetables were very definitely English ... but a small tin of bamboo shoots added a tiny oriental edge ... A malaysian curry powder and coconut milk - mildly spicy, and a really nice texture.

Onion
Garlic
Groundnut oil
Malaysian curry powder
Carrots
Mushrooms
Coconut milk
White fish (pollock)
Bamboo shoots
Frozen peas

Basmati rice

1.  Finely chop onions, and crush garlic, fry in groundnut oil.  Put the rice on.
2.  Add curry powder and stir in well.
3.  Add chopped carrots and mushrooms, then add coconut milk and simmer until the veg are a bit cooked.
4.  Put the fish on the top, cover and allow to steam/poach for a few minutes.
5.  When the fish is nearly done add a tin of bamboo shoots and a handful of frozen peas.
6.  Stir in - ready in 2 minutes.
7.  Serve, scoff - easy and very tasty.

Fish curry

Fish on Friday, as usual, but a bit of a change this week.  Lovely haddock from Paul, and a trawl through the veg in the fridge, and we had this delicious, but not very authentic, version of Malaysian fish head curry.  There were no fish heads involved, or any Malaysians for that matter.

Jasmin rice
Peanut oil
Spring onion
Garlic
Curry paste (Malaysian fish head for us, but could have been red thai, or something similar)
Courgette
Mushrooms
Tomato puree
Coconut milk
Haddock (or other white fish)

1.  Cook the rice - I used a rice ball - those things really work - put rice in ball, put into pan of cold water - bring to the boil, boil for about 15 minutes - done!
2.  In a wok, heat peanut oil, then add chopped spring onions, curry paste and crushed garlic.  Stir fry briefly.
3.  Add chopped veg to the wok, and stir fry, then add water/stock and a squirt of tomato puree, simmer until veg a nearly done, stirring occasionally.
4.  Add coconut milk, and taste for seasoning.
5.  Add fish pieces and simmer gently for about 5-6 minutes.
6.  Serve, sprinkling more chopped spring onion on top, scoff.

Cauliflower, mushroom and green bean curry

A vegan curry was called for - so a vegan curry was invented.  And very tasty it was too.  One of the people around the table had thirds.

Basmati rice - cooked as you normally would

Curry

1 onion, chopped
Garlic, crushed
Olive oil
urad dhal - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
fennel seeds 1/2 tsp
turmeric 1/2 tsp
1 cauliflower, in florets
Mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces
Green beans, topped, tailed and halved
1 tin coconut milk
Garam masala - 1 tsp (to taste)

1.  Sautee onions until soft, add seeds and garlic and continue to fry until it has a little colour.
2.  Add cauliflower, mushrooms and beans, and water and put a lid on so the veg soften a little.
3.  After 5 minutes add coconut milk and stir through.  Simmer gently for 15 minutes (ish)
4.  Add garam masala, taste and season, simmer for 5 more minutes - the veg should be soft, but not mush.

Serve, scoff.

Thai butternut squash, sweet potato and chickpea curry

Another late-ish night.  The new veg box was delivered - which is great BUT I have to resist the temptation to use all the new yummy stuff and let the old stuff go off.

So, I challenged myself to use the butternut squash and sweet potato which had been knocking about - so thai red curry.



Peanut oil
Onion
garlic
Thai curry paste (yellow in this case)
yellow pepper
butternut squash
parsnip
sweet potato
tin of chickpeas
tin of coconut milk

rice
water

1.  Sautee onion in oil.
2.  Cook rice by your favourite method.
3.  Stir in other prepared veg (peeled and diced), garlic and curry paste.
4.  Add a little water to allow it to simmer.
5.  Add drained chick peas and coconut milk, simmer ... for about 30 minutes

Taste - if too hot, add a teaspoon of sugar and cook out.  If it is going dry before it's cooked - add a cup of water.

Serve, scoff.  It all looks very yellow but very tasty.

Thai chickpea curry

We have been away for a few days, and there was no veg box last week, so the veg has been running really low.  I picked up a couple of red peppers cheap, so they supplemented the absolute end stages.  So - thai red chickpea curry with red peppers it was... and very scrummy too.

Vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 potatoes, diced
1 tsp red thai curry paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 tin chickpeas, drained
1 tin coconut milk

Brown rice
waterr

So....

1.  Cook rice - I put rice in a cast iron pot - cover with water to an inch or so above the surface - bring to the boil, cover and stick in a warm oven while everything else cooks.
2.  Sautee onion in oil, add pepper and carrot, soften.
3.  Add potatoes, stir in, add curry paste and garlic, stir in.
4.  Tip in chickpeas, coconut milk and some water - simmer.
5.  After about 20 minutes (stir now and again) taste... adjust - you might need more water.

When done - scoff.  Gluten free, vegan and cheap - what's not to like!  If it was too hot when tasted add sugar (half a teaspoon at a time).

New Year's Day Curry 2014

Homemade chicken korma, malaysian spiced fish, vegetable curry, tarka dhal, rice and naan ... blimey we were full.  But everybody enjoyed it.   The chicken was lovely, really moist but falling off the bone.

Chicken Korma

Oil
8 chicken thighs
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 thumb sized piece of ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tin coconut milk
1/4 cup ground almonds
1 tsp garam masala
Splash of double cream (optional)

1.  Brown chicken thighs all over in hot oil.  When browned transfer to oven dish.
2.  Sweat onion in the chicken pan until soft. Add cumin and coriander seeds, crushed garlic and crushed ginger.  Cook through for a couple of minutes.
3.  Add tin of coconut milk and ground almonds and simmer until the gravy thickens slightly.
4.  Add garam masala, and whisk through - taste and adjust seasoning.  Add cream for extra luxury if there is some in the fridge.
5.  Pour over chicken and keep in medium oven for half an hour, or until required.


Rice 

Basmati rice
Water
Salt

1.  Put the basmati rice into cast iron pot with water an inch over the surface.
2.  Bring to the boil, transfer to medium oven.  Will be ready in 30 minutes - or when you are.

Tarka Dhal

Lentils (red split in this case)
Oil
Assorted spice seeds and leaves (cumin, coriander, fennel, chili flakes)

1.  Boil lentils until soft, adding more water if it looks like it's going dry.
2.  At the last minutes, fry the spices gently until they start releasing their fragrance, then chuck onto the dhal - sizzle - and serve.

Spicy fish

White fish (pollock, in this case)
Natural yogurt
Spice mix - (Malaysian fish head curry mix, in this case)
Gram flour

1.  Whisk together yogurt and spices, add enough gram flour to give an almost batter like texture.
2.  Coat fish fillets with the spice mixture - sit for 30 minutes (ish) in the fridge.
3.  Fry the fish to serve - takes about 6-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

Curried vegetables

Whatever is available - in this case onion, parsnip, carrots, potato, aubergine and mushrooms, fresh tomatoes.  Spice mix/ dry spices, chili, crushed garlic and crushed ginger.

In a large frying pan, in a little oil, start the veg off frying.  Add a little water as they cook to keep them gently simmering.  You can start with the harder veg, and then add softer closer to serving time.

Also served with re-heated naan - but they were the huge ones, from an Asian supermarket.

Price per portion?  I'm not sure - but this is something I will focus on more in 2014.  Basically £2.50 for the chicken (special offer), £1.50 for the fish (frozen from Lidl), £1 for coconut milk, probably £4 worth of veg and £2 for assorted extras (if you have them in already - much more to source them at the time), naan was £2.  Comfortably served 6.  So, I think about £2.15 per portion, for big portions.

Thai chicken curry

A few days ago we had a trip to Rusholme to stock up on spices, and found a BIG bag of Thai curry paste.  So we had to try it.  Lovely.

So, tonight, I was going to make a veggie Thai curry,  but victim suggested prawn.  I didn't fancy prawns, so we ended up with chicken and assorted vegetables.  It was delicious.  Victim declared it too hot for me, and had some creme fraiche.  Wuss!  I could feel the heat, but scoffed the lot.

I have decided to try to be a tiny bit more official with recipes, separating out the ingredients and methods, let me know if you prefer this - or hate it!


Serves 4:  Approx 30 minutes prep time:  Approx: 395 calories per portion:  Approx:  £1.35 per portion


Ingredients:

1/2 tbsp peanut oil
2 skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp curry paste
1 crushed garlic clove
Vegetables eg. spring onions, orange pepper, small asian aubergine/courgette things, green beans, string beans, mushrooms, beansprouts
Tin coconut milk

Method:

1. Fry bite sized pieces of chicken breast in peanut oil for a few seconds.  Use a wok or decent sized shallow pan so that you can get everything in.
2. Add curry paste and garlic.
3. Add chopped vegetables, except beansprouts, turn over a few times and then add a cup of water.
4. Simmer for a bit, add coconut milk, simmer some more until vegetables are a bit soft and chicken is cooked through.
5. Stir in big handfuls of beansprouts and turn over in sauce for a minute 'til they are heated through.
6. Serve over thai jasmine rice.

fish and aubergine curry

Getting the victim to eat fish is no mean feat, so I tried again with a kind of Malayan fish curry (curry mix provided by globe trotting mate, so it is the genuine article).  I have made something similar before - but this time I used more authentic ingredients.  So - rice in usual way - and chopped and sauteed in peanut oil onion and garlic - added grated ginger and good shake of curry mix.  Then added celery and sauteed until until soft.  Then added chopped aubergine, courgette and red pepper and a can of coconut milk.  Simmer gently for 20 minutes or so, until vegetables are nearly done.  Then added bite sized chunks of haddock, and some good old frozen peas.  Lid on, simmer again for about 10-12 minutes.  When fish is cooked dinner is done.  Check for seasoning, squirt on lime juice and jobs a good 'un.  Victim ate it, but didn't say much. I liked it (and I don't like aubergine that much).  It was half fat coconut milk, so hopefully not too calorific, and fish is good for a person - however resistant!

Red Thai Chicken Curry

It may be pretty standard - but we like it!  Chop onion, celery, red pepper, green beans, mushrooms, some garlicky beans found in a Chinese supermarket - and saute in peanut oil with crushed chili and big spoonful of red thai curry paste (yes I have made my own often, but this is quicker), add diced chicken breast - turn a few times and tin of coconut milk and about the same of chicken stock.  Check seasoning - add fish sauce if you need salt, chili if you want heat.  Simmer for 15 minutes (ish) - meanwhile cook jasmine rice.  3 minutes before serving threw in handful of frozen peas.  Serve, scoff - would be nice to add fresh coriander (if you like it) and a squirt of lime juice.  Tasty said me and victim - quick, easy, gluten and lactose free to boot.

Thai red chicken curry

Trying to work on my presentation - but obviously some way to go!  However, was fresh and delish - addition of lime juice in last few seconds essential to add that extra zing.  Also, pic looks like curry is sat in a puddle of pond water.  The pond water is the curry sauce and is the bit which holds the flavour, but like a gravy spreads all over the plate.  Victim gave it 8/10 ... but that's sour grapes cos she prefers green curry (too hot for me often).  Recipe - soften chopped onions in peanut oil (don't use olive oil the flavours clash), stir in 1-2 tbsps thai curry paste (this time I used bought, some brands are good, some less good - home made is fresher, but time consuming - I did add some more crushed garlic and finely chopped red chilli).  Add chicken, just starting cooking process - no real need to brown, just stop it from sticking -  if it starts sticking add half a cup of water over a high heat and use a fish slice to
lift stickings from the bottom of the pan.  Add veg - red pepper, courgette, mushrooms and green beans tonight - could have included carrots, peas, sweetcorn, aubergine, butternut squash, kholrabi etc etc.  Stir in 1 tin coconut milk & rinse tin with about half a s much water - add that too  - add splash of fish sauce.  Simmer, covered, or put in hottish oven for 20+ mins.  Squeeze of fresh lime - jobs a good'un.  Served here with Thai jasmine rice.  Could've added thai basil and/or coriander - but none to hand tonight.