Curry Night (1)
Always a treat, if not quick to prepare, we aim to have a curry every week. As the chill of autum draws in, the chilli heat drives the cold away and earthy spices warm the body. During the drizzly Scottish summer, the flavours help to evoke memories of sultry tropical holidays — really, there is no excuse not to indulge. Once the ingredients are assembled, curries are easy to prepare and it is a wonderful way of cooking cheaper meat and veg.
We usually have a dhal; almost always this is a red lentil dhal for which I found a recipe in Sainsbury’s magazine in the late nineties. It is in fact the best recipe I have seen in print anywhere. With that we’ll have one vegetable- and one meat curry, plain rice and a fresh relish of finely chopped tomato, cucumber and onion mixed with lime juice and plenty of fresh coriander.
Steve’s Red Lentil Dhal
(Based on a recipe from Sainsbury’s magazine)
1 onion, finely chopped; 1 carrot, grated; 1 red chilli, shredded; 1 tsp brown mustard seeds; oil; 1 tsp tumeric; 250g red lentils; 1 tin coconut milk (½ if it is very thick); 1 tomato, skinned and chopped; 3cm ginger, cut into ½ cm slices; salt; juice 1 lime; good handful fresh coriander; good knob butter; 3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Soften the onion in the oil then stir in the mustard seeds and chilli. Fry another 2 min, stir in the carrot and lentils and add the coconut milk and enough water to cover plus the ginger and tomatoes. Simmer gently until the lentils are soft (ca. 40 min.) topping up with water as necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning then take off the heat and stir in the juice and chopped coriander. Heat the butter in a small pan until foaming, then add the garlic and fry gently until discoloured, turning once. Tip into the dhal; it should splutter slightly.
Curry Powder
The composition depends on the recipe, but I find this a useful stand-by. This is in fact Sri Lankan, but I do not burn the spices, resulting in a milder flavour. Use whole seeds:
½ cup coriander; ¼ cup cumin; 1tsp fennel; ½ tsp fenugreek; 2.5 cm cinnamon; ½ tsp cloves; ½ tsp green cardamon; 1 tb freeze-dried curry leaves (keep jar in freezer to preserve flavour) or 3-4 fresh.
Dry-roast the seeds separately until they just turn colour/ begin to give off aroma and grind up everything in a pestle and mortar. Keep in an air-tight jar.
Panj Puran (five seed mixture)
Mix equal parts of fenugreek, black onion seeds, brown mustard seeds, cumin and fennel. — Can be bought ready-mixed in many Asian groceries.
Mixed Vegetable Curry
Heaped tb ghee or oil; 1 onion, chopped; 25g ginger, peeled and sliced; 5 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised; salt; 1-2 fresh green chillies; 1 tb panj puran; 5-6 curry leaves; 1 heaped tsp curry powder; ½ tumeric; 450g mixed vegetables (cauliflower florets, green beans, potato, swede etc. — par-boil chopped root vegetables until just tender); 2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped.
Mash the ginger and garlic in a pestle and mortar with the salt (to draw out the juices). Fry the onion until soft then add the garlic and ginger and, once they have begun to smell aromatic, the chilli, seeds and curry leaves. Fry a few minutes more then stir in the vegetables, tumeric, curry powder and tomatoes. Add a little water and simmer over a gentle heat, tightly covered, until the vegetables are just tender and the water has almost evaporated.
Tomato Chicken Curry
Based on one of my favourite cook books (‘Indian Cooking’ by Lalitha Ahmed: St. Michael Cookery Library 1981, ISBN 0 906320 65 8) this curry is quick and easy to prepare and — you guessed it — I just split up a tin of tomatoes between the dishes, leaving the lion share for this dish.
40g ghee or 3tb oil; 1 onion, roughly chopped; 2.5 cm cinnamon; 4 green cardamons, split; 2 green chillies; 50g ginger, peeled; 6-7 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised; salt; 1 kg chicken thighs; 2tsp cumin; small handful coriander; 1 can tomatoes (or just under)
Fry the chicken separtely in batches in a heavy pan until it begins to colour. Set aside (treat as raw meat! It’ll still be potentially full of salmonella).
Dry-roast the cumin in a small pan until it darkens, cool and grind in a pestle and mortar.
Treat the garlic and ginger as above, add to the onion softened in a large pot and when it begins to smell aromatic add the chilli and whole spices. Add the chicken and coat with the spices. Stir in the cumin and coriander leaves. Fry for a further 2 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes. Cover and simmer gently 45 minutes, adding more water if necessary.
Denni