Curry Fest

Saturday, I made enough curry, pakora and bread to choke a horse, if he were so inclined to eat Indian food.

The great thing about pakora which is basically any vegetable or meat dipped in a spicy batter and fried, is that it is almost as good reheated in the oven and it freezes beautifully. Any Glaswegian will tell you this; most of us have came back from the pub or club having picked up pakora as a scooby snack on the way home and fell asleep before being able to consume it. Being frugal, we'd then freeze it the next day for future imbibing. It's a right of passage.

Most of us have also participated in ordering enough Indian food...including pakora of course... to feed a small army when there are only two of you and end up reheating and living off the remains for weeks to come.

I shall be having a 40th birthday party soon no WAY I hear you all cry...no way are you 40! I know, I know, I'm some kind of baby faced freak...meh and whereas I'm still contemplating the venue, I know for a fact that the fayre will be Indian, the starter spicy and the drinks cold.

Pakora
I used the spice mix that Pauline gave me but have sourced all the ingredients (except the dry mango...I'm attempting to dry some) to make my own mixes. The spice mix should be easy enough to find in one form or another although they may vary a little. The 'pakora masala' I uses is MDH which stands for Mahashian Di Hatti Ltd and is made in India.

The sauce was made by adding tomato sauce, lemon juice, coriander (cilantro) salt and pepper to some plain yogurt.

I made two batters, one for the basic mix with red onions and spinach, the other a bit thinner to coat thinly sliced potatoes and halved mushrooms. This worked really well and tasted delicious. I think we now have enough pakora for the next three months, if we wanted to eat some every week!

Ingredients
2 chopped red onions
1 packet spinach, blanched and drained, water removed by pressing firmly whilst sitting in a sieve
200g gram flour
50g plain flour
25g spices*
5g salt
half teaspoon baking soda

Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add water to make a thick batter. Add onions and spinach and mix thoroughly. Add an inch or two of oil to a pan and place spoonfuls of pakora into hot oil. Turn once brown and cook other side.

*spices-MDH spice mix or similar or else add the following: teaspoon each of ground coriander, cumin, salt. Half a teaspoon dried chili or chili powder...or to taste. A good pinch of fenugreek leaves, bishop's weed and mace, if you can get it. Half a teaspoon each of ginger powder, ground cinnamon and a good grating of nutmeg. One clove and a few cardamom seeds, ground with a pestle and mortar along with a grinding of black pepper. Finally, some dry mango, although this may not be easy to find and you could easily do without it.

Helen's Indian Curry (Basically a slightly different version than Pete's from Jamie Oliver's Book but Pete got it from me (I think). Pete is Scottish, he no doubt came to one of my parties. Rip off merchant. :O) Only joking Pete, don't sue!

I usually make this with lamb; to replace with chicken, use 16 chicken thighs, most of the skins removed. Keep some on for flavour. I browned the chicken(8 pieces) and then added half the sauce from the oven-see below.

Use the sauce as a base for any curry, with meat or veg.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
285ml/1/2 pint chicken stock
1.5kg/3 1/2lb leg of lamb**if using, I prefer to roast it slowly with garlic and rosemary for 3-4 hours, let it cool and then chop meat into large chunks before adding to sauce to simmer for a further hour. Soooo tender.
1 handful of chopped mint and/or coriander
285ml/1/2 pint natural yoghurt
salt and freshly ground black pepper
lime juice from 1-2 limes

Hot and Fragrant Rub Mix – (taken from Jamie Oliver's book)

2 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1/2 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 clove
1/2 a cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Curry Paste Ingredients -

3 inches fresh ginger, peeled
2 large red onions, peeled
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 fresh chillies, with seeds
1 bunch of fresh coriander

Preheat your oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Lightly toast the fragrant rub mix; I place it all in a dry frying pan and shake every 30 seconds or so but you can place in the oven or under the grill. Grind with a pestle and mortar. Chop the curry paste ingredients roughly and, along with the ground rub mix, place into a food processor and puree.

In a large casserole pan (I use a pot and transfer this to an oven dish though), fry the curry paste mixture in the butter until it goes golden, stirring regularly. The smell is wonderful!

Add the tomatoes and the stock. Bring to the boil, cover with kitchen foil (if using a pot, remember and place it in an ovenproof container first) and place in the oven for one and a half hours to intensify the flavour. Remove the foil and continue to simmer on the stove until it thickens (put back into used pot, if that's the way you're doing it). This is your basic curry sauce.

Fry the lamb (or chicken etc) in a little olive oil until golden, then add to the curry sauce and simmer for around 1 hour or until tender. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and/or mint and stir in the yoghurt (if you want, to taste or serve raita instead). Season to taste and add a very good squeeze of lime juice and a handful of chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy!

This is a good curry, very easy and tasty. If you like your curry a little sweeter, add a teaspoon of sugar before putting into oven.

I split the sauce into two. One half was used for 8 pieces of browned thigh meat (with bones) and the other half had a good dollop or two of cream and a little sugar added. I covered the other 8 chicken thighs, skinned in a marinade of yoghurt, salt, pepper, curry powder, lime juice and coriander. I left them for at least an hour but if you were better prepared, then overnight. I baked them in the oven for approx. 15-20 minutes, until cooked through; I had to put them back after 15 so it depends on your oven. I then added these to the creamy curry sauce.

Instead of paratha, I made a basic chapati style bread but used gram flour with a little plain flour, salt and a spoonful of oil and butter. I made a batter with water and kneaded until soft, split into 8 and rolled out using a misshapen roller; I don't recommend this but couldn't find my proper rolling pin. How can you lose a rolling pin?? I placed the bread into a hot pan until bubbles starting to form, turned and cooked the other side. I then brushed a little oil on and turned, repeating this process another 3 times.

Rice was boiled and served alongside the rest of the meal. Raita is simply yogurt with a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper and a handful of chopped coriander leaves or chopped cucumber...both if you feel like it.

Friday Night's All Right for Dancing

The horse bolted before the stable door was open. That's wrong, isn't it? The bolted horse...no, that isn't right either. Oh forget it. I forgot to mention the disco before the last post and that night's dinner so a quick recap; the kids had their hair straightened/coloured/curled for the school disco after having this weeks Pasta Fest. It was a simple fest but a fest nonetheless.

Once we had dropped the twins off at the infant disco, we dropped Kelly at James's house and then floated on a sunbeam to the Burnbrae where we had a small sherry (gigglesnort) with Ann and Gordon. An antipasti was bought and I recommend this to everyone if anyone ever ventures towards that shady establishment which we love. Succulent artichokes, parma ham, salami, Parmesan cheese, olives, tomatoes, bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Truly the food of the Gods. Giving us spicy olives was an affront to decent society though. Not with antipasti, Burnbrae people, don't mess with such things. Keep your olives mild!

Pasta Fest!

Pasta Fest, as the kids like to call it, is a night of various different kinds of...well, pasta....! I made the kedgeree (recipe to follow soon) last night for Brian and I as the kids really wanted Macaroni and Cheese with garlic pizza. Brian ended up eating the macaroni too so I sat on my own some with my wee bowl of kedgeree, glowering at them all and froze the rest. So tonight, there will be no macaroni...there will be tantrums (and that's just from Brian) but I'm not making it two nights in row. Pasta Fest always involves one pasta dish never before tried and is usually made up of leftover kitchen ingredients. So tonight, the menu is.....
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Spaghetti Frittata
Rigatoni al Forno
Puffy Bread

We usually have someone turn up on Pasta night, quite by chance (hmm) so I always make plenty. All pasta dishes keep really well and can be heated up either in a pan, in the oven or by microwave. I prefer to place leftover pasta in foil, sprinkle over mozzarella, regardless of the dish and seal, bake in oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Ensure pasta has come to room temperature and that oven has had a chance to heat before placing anything in the oven !

Spaghetti alla Carbonara (Helen's 2nd version)
Cook the spaghetti as per instructions.
Fry 2 finely chopped slices of bacon or pancetta in olive oil until crispy. Turn the heat down and add a a little extra olive oil and small amount of butter, a finely chopped shallot or half small onion and cook until soft. Stir and ensure the onion does not go brown (adding a few drops of water will help this but don't leave it, keep checking and stirring). Add a finely sliced clove of garlic if you wish but it must not burn so stir constantly. Do not add garlic at the same time as the onion(with any dish) as it cooks far quicker and can easily turn bitter. If adding garlic, cook on allow heat for 1 minute and then add a splash of white wine. Let it come to a quick boil and bubble away for a few minutes then turn it off.

In a separate bowl, beat together 2 eggs (if making for a family of four or five-halve the ingredients if less), double cream to taste- I use approx. 4 tablespoons but feel free to use more or less and two large handfuls of Parmesan.

When spaghetti is cooked, add it to wine/bacon mix and stir. Immediately afterwards, add the cream/egg mix and toss well. Add a good grinding of black pepper and a fine grating of nutmeg. Serve with extra Parmesan.

Spaghetti Frittata (New dish!)
This is taken and slightly adapted from Nigella's Feast cookbook but with added chorizo.
Ingredients:
Knob of butter
Few drops of garlic infused oil (shove a bashed garlic clove in some olive oil, cover and leave for an hour if none already made up)
200g cooked spaghetti
4-5 eggs
Sausage shaped chorizo, cut a few thick slices and chop roughly.

Beat the eggs and add some salt, the cooked spaghetti and chorizo. Add to hot pan (with oil) and swirl around until pan covered. Nigella tells you to put it under a grill at this point but I will be sliding it on to a plate, placing the pan on top of the plate and using oven gloves to hold the pan and plate together tightly. Then, I'll be turning it over so that the uncooked side of the frittata is in the pan...did that make sense?? I don't like uncooked egg and coming across a runny bit would not be good for my appetite so I'm cooking this like I would do any other frittata. Oven gloves are a must, the pan and frittata will be hot. Be careful.

Cook in pan for a few minutes, checking underneath to ensure it doesn't burn. Sprinkle with whatever fresh herbs you have (thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley) and a little sea salt and black pepper. Slice like a pizza.

Rigatoni al Forno
There is no need for exacting measurements with this dish. Make enough pasta for the amount of people and how hungry they are and add as much or as little sauce as you like. Remember, the meat sauce freezes really well and tonight I'll be using some already prepared weeks ago. This means you only have the bechamel to do. This dish freezes just as well as lasagna. Place in foil packages, enough for two and sprinkle over some fresh Parmesan before freezing. It can be re-heated from frozen over a low heat but I prefer to take it out of the freezer the night before and then out of the fridge 20 minutes before re-heating, if I have the time. It cuts down on heating time and ensures evenly distributed warmth of the dish!

The meat sauce and bechamel is exactly the same as for the lasagna (see below). Put the oven on to 200 degrees Celsius and then cook the pasta in boiling water as per instructions. Remember to salt the water. Drain and add back to the pan, adding the bechamel sauce, mixing well. Then add the meat sauce, mix again and add to buttered, oven proof dish. Cover with grated Parmesan and bake for 30 minutes or less. The top should be golden and a bit crispy in places.

Puffy Bread
This is utterly delicious which I can't quite understand considering the very basic ingredients. It's probably the deep frying part although because they cook so quickly and then drain on kitchen towel, they do not hold a lot of fat. I use these to accompany curries (I originally got the recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Recipes, and is also known as poori bread) but it is a great change to the usual garlic bread with pasta. The kids love it.
100g sieved (discard the remnants in the sieve) wholewheat flour
100g plain flour
Half teaspoon salt
120ml milk (or water)
Vegetable oil-2 tbs for cooking, more for frying.

Put flour and salt in a bowl. Dribble the oil over the top and rub in until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Slowly add the milk or water until a stiff ball of dough is formed. Empty the ball onto a clean, lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Form a ball again and rub a little oil over the ball and either place inside a plastic bag or wrap in clingfilm. A sandwich bag is easier. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Knead the doughball once again and then divide into 12 equal balls. Don't worry if you get more or less! Have something handy to cover 11 of the balls with-I use clingfilm or a clean tea towel which I've ran under water and squeezed all the excess water out of-and with the 12th ball, flatten it and roll out into into a pancake or circle shape. If you have the space, do all the balls and cover with the tea towel or cling film on a single layer....they'll stick otherwise. I have found myself without the space and running back and forth rolling out each ball as I cook it!

Heat around 1 inch of oil in a deep pan, wok or frying pan. It has to be deep as the oil and bread bubbles upwards. Let it get really hot. Have a platter nearby lined with kitchen towel. Lift up the first 'poori' and lay it careful on the surface of the oil. Its ok if the first few sink as they should quickly rise back up again and begin to sizzle. Using the back of a slotted spoon, push the bread back into the oil with tiny, swift strokes. As you push down on one side, the other side puffs up so you keep moving about. Within seconds, the bread is ready and puffed up. Turn it over and cook for about 10 seconds then put onto platter. If the oil is not hot enough or for other unknown reasons, sometimes the bread doesn't puff up all that much; don't worry, it's still delicious and won't happen with them all. Put down more kitchen towel if the platter is full and keep adding the pooris.

Once you've made this bread once, you'll realise it isn't as much hassle as it sounds. Its really pretty straightforward but like everything in life, a wee bit of practice makes perfect. And a lot of practice with this bread is worth it.