curry

Murgh Jalfrezi Pilau

/ Ren

A simple, inexpensive, healing curried chicken with rice..

Murgh Jalfrezi Pilau

Murgh Jalfrezi Pilau

Pastured chicken thighs, peppers, onions, tomatoes, ginger, cardamom, coriander, lemon juice, cilantro, cumin, chili pepper, turmeric, sea salt, black pepper and saffron.

Toast whole spices in a dry skillet over medium-low until fragrant, perhaps 5 minutes.

Add ghee, pastured butter or coconut oil to the pan and sauté chicken until brown on both sides.  Add vegetables and a little filtered water or chicken stock and remaining spices, cover and simmer until fork-tender (about 30 minutes).  Brighten with fresh cilantro and a little lemon juice just before serving.

Meanwhile, cook basmati rice in filtered water and/or coconut water and/or chicken stock with curry leaves (optional) until most of the liquid is absorbed, add saffron threads (optional) and seedless raisins, cover two minutes until raisins are plump.

Serve garnished with a dollop of yoghurt or Crème fraîche for a cooling contrast to the spicy curry.

This post is part of the Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet

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Punjabi Gobi with Onion and Garlic Naan

/ Ren

Gobi is a dry curry of cauliflower, tomatoes, ginger, onions and toasted spices.  Naan is an  oven-baked flatbread commonly served in South Asia..

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Punjabi Gobi with Onion and Garlic Naan

For the naan (adapted from Anjum Anand)

3 oz organic all-purpose flour
1 oz organic whole wheat flour
1 tsp non-refined sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
2 oz organic plain yoghurt
2 oz filtered water
3 cloves garlic
2 green onions

Sift the dry ingredients together in a glass bowl.  Combine with yoghurt and water and let stand in a cool place for 2 hours to break down some of the phytic acid.

Roll dough into a ball, set in an oiled bowl, cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled, about 1-2 hours.

Knead the dough by hand for 10 minutes, adding very small quantities of flour or water as may be needed to achieve a soft, flexible dough.

Roll the dough out into 1/4 inch thick ovals and cook on a pizza stone in a 450 degree oven until brown, about 2-3 minutes per side.

For the Gobi

Core, trim and wash cauliflower (1/2 head per 2 servings) and split into individual florets.  Steam until partially cooked, then plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process.

Chop 1 plum tomato, 1 small yellow tomato, 1/2 yellow onion, 1 tablespoon ginger, 1 or 2 green chilies and a handful of fresh cilantro.

Gather 1 tablespoon each turmeric and chopped curry leaves, 1 teaspoon each of cumin seed, methi and paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon each of black pepper, nigella, ajwain and sea salt.  These spices are commonly available in Indian food markets or by mail order.  Don’t worry about it if you don’t have this exact combination.

Toast the whole spices in a dry skillet until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, onions and peppers and cook until just softened, about 2 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients (except cilantro) and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often until cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.

Add cilantro and 1 tablespoon ghee.  Toss to combine and serve with hot naan.


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Pindi Chana

/ Ren

Spicy chickpea curry simmered in a tomato base with whole spices, potatoes and onions..

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Canned garbanzo beans work well here- try to use an organic brand that comes in a glass jar or a non-BPA lined can.

Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch dice and sauté in ghee over medium-low heat until softened, about 10 minutes.  Increase heat to medium and add diced onion, whole cardamom, cloves, slit red chilies, bay leaf, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, curry leaves and cinnamon.  Sauté until spices are fragrant and onions are golden brown, about 7 minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes, garbanzos, turmeric, paprika and ginger and 1/2 cup of filtered water. Cover and simmer over low heat until beans are tender, about 30-45 minutes.

Serve topped with minced onion and accompanied with grilled flat bread.



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Middle Eastern Lamb Chops with Curried Kuskus

/ Ren

Lamb chops in spicy Tunisian harissa and Mediterranean curried kuskus with peas and carrots.

Curry blend with dried vegetables, harissa, cumin, cinnamon, mint, savory, chicken stock, tomato puree, kuskus, kosher salt, lemon juice, lamb chops, tomato, carrot, celery, green onion, garlic and peas.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle kosher salt on lamb chops and set aside at room temperature.

Peel, seed and crush 2 tomatoes, setting 1 aside.  Cook the other tomato over medium-low heat with garlic, tomato puree, cumin, cinnamon, mint, savory and harissa to taste until thickened, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to lowest setting.

Arrange the lamb chops in an iron skillet with enough port wine to just cover the bottom of the pan.  Spoon spicy tomato sauce over each chop, coating well.  Place in oven and cook 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, flip the chops, cover with more sauce and add more port if the pan is dry. Cook another 10-15 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 125 degree for medium-rare.  Remove pan from oven and allow chops to rest 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the coussous.  Saute the carrots, celery and green onions in a little oil until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the curry mix and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the kuskus and peas, reduce heat to low cover, and cook until done, about 8 minutes.  Fluff with a fork.

Add reserved chopped tomato to the sauce and heat through.

Serve the chops with additional sauce over the top.

Rating  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Curried Egg Salad Sandwiches

/ Ren

Red onion, lemon juice, mayonnaise, mustard, pepper, curry powder, eggs, celery and cilantro.

Place eggs into pan and cover with cold water.  Turn heat on high.  As soon as the water begins to boil, cover the pan and remove from the heat.  Allow to sit precisely 10 minutes (f you want to see a perfect soft-boiled egg, pull one out at 6 minutes. Top it and season with S & P).

Pour off the hot water and transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water. Allow to sit until thoroughly cooled, at least 10 minutes.  Tap egg on counter and roll back-and-forth.  Beginning from the large end, peel the shell away in a near-continuous strip.  Yeah, right.

Dice eggs and add the rest of the ingredients and toss with a fork until just combined.  Adjust seasoning with S & P if needed.

Serve with field greens on toasted pumpernickel.  The egg salad isn’t actually green, by the way- that’s just a photo/lighting anomaly.

Because I’m weird, though, I eat my egg salad sandwiches with lots of Mexican hot sauce.