Sindhi Curry (okra curry)

Not many recipes are able to transform someone’s palate, but boy, did this one try! One of the main veggies, a staple in india, is okra, a usually, stringy and slimy veggie, when overcooked. Using fresh tamarind really gave a  pungent flavour and gave a fresh element to the dish. This dish also used yams, adding sweetness, to the powerful other ingredients, such as the green chilli. Don’t forget to fry the onions until golden and do not cook the curry too long as it the vegetables will lose their crunch and grease will form.

A very quick and easy recipe!

Here are the ingredients:

1 1/2 tsp tamaring paste

6 cocum pieces (optional)

2/3 medium potatoes

1 small carrot

10/12 okra

6 green chillies

4 baby aubergines

150g yams

65ml of oil

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped (but you can get away with 3 tsp of dried ginger spice)

12 curry leaves

1/4 tsp os asafoetida (optional- a rather acquired spice)

1/3 cup of wholewheat flour

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp tumeric powder

12-15 cluster beans or french thin beans

1 heaped tsp caster sugar

10 mint leaves

2 tbsp of coriander leaves, chopped

 

 

 

 

Rogan Josh-my style

Today we tried something new! Rogan Josh! you can almost taste those aromatic fenugreek seeds and fresh chilli powder. On our way to Kashmir we witnessed the grinding of the chillies, great pistons chugging up and down, blowing the chillies to smithereens!

as a brief overlay of the recipe, just fry off some fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and 2 crushed green cardamom pods. then add some diced onions.

add some chilli powder, black onion seed and a pinch of paprika then some chicken stock! cook some mutton in a pot of boiling water then simply add to the pan, before 2 cups of water.

voila! dinner is served. Next time i am gutting a fish!!!!

okra curry

today we made a simple okra curry that tasted complexly delicious! we added 20 okra plants to a cup of water, a pinch of salt, tumeric, cardammom, ground corriander and some curry leaves and mustard seeds. After ten  minutes we added a further cup of water, 5 halved and peeled potatoes. leave for until potatoes are cooked and add a quater of a cup of water to finish. leave for 5 minutes and stir. garnish with some chopped coriander.

THIS SERVES 4. MINIMISE WATER TO SERVE 2.

Daag and fresh tamarind. The basics to Indian cooking

Today my mother on a whim bought a bag of fresh tamarind. So we peeled and boiled the tamarind and then mash in a sieve before disposing of the seeds.It tasted delicious, tamarind  is added to dishes or chutnies and dips. It adds a sweet sensational taste to food. You can of course buy it in the jar , but not Camillia – not good for her cuisine.

We also made the basis of all Indian curries, Daag (fried spiced onions). In order to get Indian food right , Daag must be right.

Basically you fry 1/2 kg of chopped onions until they have a light golden shade then add a small amount of ginger, chilli and few cloves of garlic. Add a turmeric, garam masala and cumin powder and puréed tomatoes and you are all ready.

Quick, store it in the fridge before you binge most of it with toast. I’ve put a bit too much chilli and I think I might just die!!!
Tastes delicious and can be stored for up to  3 days if we ever have a short notice on guest coming. Pre-prepared daag is the main reason behind abundance of cooked food in Asian households at any time.

Truly delicious !

mutton curry (madras style) tamil nadu

 Tamil Nadu is in South East of India and the population is called “Tamils”. An interesting fact about Tamils is the original way of serving food – traditionaly they serve food on banana leaf. Coconut is a very popular ingredient in Tamil cooking and is usually in most meals, in this recipe we are meant to grind fresh coconut but we relied on Sainsbury’s basics instead (sorry Camilla!!!)

So we made a paste with coconut, chillies, ginger and garlic with a little water. Then we made daag (fried onions) and then added 1kg chopped mutton to the onions and 2 tomatoes followed by the paste, some 1 1/2 pints of water and coconut milk and left to cook until meat was done.

tip: dont add hungarian paprika as it gives a smoky taste which does not go well with curry!

lamb with turnips ( shalgam gosht) from kashmir: 49 recipies-179 days to go

Shalgam gosht:history

In the winter in Kashmir turnips (shalgam) are one of the few vegetables available in the winter. In Kashmir beef is forbidden for religious reasons so they use mutton as a substitute.

The Kashmiri red chilli gives the dish a wonderful red colour, which can also be achieved by using a blend of red chilli powder and good paprika, as a substitute. The salt rubbed on the turnips before frying removes their bitterish taste.

Today we made a curry that consisted of fried onions seasoned with chilli, turmeric, fennel, cardamom and paprika; then cooked with small chunks of lamb before leaving to cook for 10 minutes. wash, peal and chop some small turnips before rubbing them in salt and fry until coloured;add to lamb after 5 minutes in the lamb cooking time. You can serve with either rice (basmati or colam rice), which has a boiling time of 10 minutes, or roti (indian flat bread). After 30 mins we had a scrumptious meal on the table ready to be served

if it goes well your curry should look something like this</dd.<