Curry, beer and karaoke

Why does Jamie Oliver act like he's a genius every time he does something that everybody else has been doing instinctively for ages anyway? He made a Caesar salad and put the bread underneath the chicken while it cooked, so that all the juicy goodness was absorbed by the bread which became the croutons. Good idea, I'll admit, but why does he act like he's the only person in the world to be smart enough to think of this? You wouldn't hear Nigel Slater blowing his own trumpet about such an idea, he'd share it modestly. A small rant, but something I needed to get off my chest, obviously.

In the latest edition of cooking without a fridge or freezer, it occurred to me that in one of my previous posts I posted a picture of my fridge contents, here. Imagine how much of this I had to throw away. As I mentioned earlier, it was quite liberating to finally get rid of those rainbow chili jellies and 6 year old Charmoula pastes that had been lurking at the back. Reducing the contents by two thirds has had it's challenges, however, and yesterday, we went to a friend's house to make lamb curry, the lamb having being relocated to his freezer.

As a pictorial digression; Vancouver is famous for it's cherry blossom trees and this street is glowing with them right now.

I dry roasted and ground the curry powder spices at home before taking them over to Marcus's place. Here we have 2 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds and 1 small cinnamon stick.

To accompany the curry, in lieu of rice, (for myself),  I roasted some cauliflower with turmeric, salt, pepper, cayenne and garlic. I think roasting this vegetable brings out an earthiness and sweetness which can be lost when boiling. The edges crisp and caramelize and provide a good contrast to the soft interior. A little yogurt mixed with saffron or chili pepper or even some tahini paste would make a good sauce to drizzle over. Recipe at bottom of page

The curry itself was based on a classic tomato and yogurt sauce, similar to a Rogan Josh or a Tikka Masala. We left it cook for 2 hours while we watched the Ricky Gervais show and drank Marcus's home made beer. That's the great thing about cooking around friend's places, you can relax more and not worry too much about the cleaning up. 

After we had eaten, we found a free Karaoke channel on the TV and sang along like three half cut Japanese salary men for a good hour. My kind of night.

Recipe : Lamb curry

Initial saute ingredients

3 tbsp oil or ghee

2 large onions, peeled and sliced into rings

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and diced

1 inch piece ginger, peeled and diced

2 dried chilies

6 green cardamoms

6 cloves

2 bay leaves

1 inch piece cinnamon stick

Heat the oil in a heavy pan and saute the above ingredients together, covered over low - medium heat for about 20 minutes until golden brown and soft.

Curry powder ingredients

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1/2 cinnamon stick

Dry roast these in a small pan until fragrant, let cool and then either pound in a mortar and pestle or grind in a spice grinder. Add 1 tsp chili powder and 1 tsp turmeric powder;

OR

Just use 2 tbsp curry powder or curry paste

Add this paste to the onion mixture in the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring well. If it starts to stick, add a little water.

Remaining ingredients

1.5 lbs cubed lamb leg with some fat still attached to melt and make it tender

4 tbsp plain yogurt

1 small tin plum tomatoes

4 sun dried tomatoes (optional)

2 beef stock cubes

1 tsp salt or to taste

Add the meat to the pan with the onions and spices and cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring well until the meat is brown.

Add the yogurt, 1 tbsp at a time, stirring to ensure it is incorporated and then add all other ingredients. Cover, reduce heat to low - medium and let cook for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, the meat should be almost falling apart and the sauce rich and thickened. Serve with some chopped cilantro. (If the sauce is not quite thick enough, boil rapidly, uncovered, for a few minutes).

Recipe : Roasted spiced cauliflower 

I whole cauliflower, broken into florets

2 tbsp of oil

1 tsp of turmeric (or saffron, in which case 1/2 tsp).

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder (depending on your taste)

Pre heat the oven to 350oF. 

Place the cauliflower in a baking dish, drizzle with the oil and the seasonings and mix well.

Cook for approximately 1 hour, turning half way through. Check it is soft all the way through before serving.