Curry night part 2 with new, tasty dishes

So, another dinner party, another curry extravaganza. Helpful domestic guides (IE. lifestyle magazines), tell you that in all cases of entertaining guests, simpler is better. Probably make a few things the day before, maybe buy the dessert, eliminate the starter etc. I even own a few of these publications and often sit reading them imagining my life as an organised hostess, free to chat to my guests, drink in hand while everything takes care of itself. Why then, do most of the soirees I end up hosting have me sweating, stressed and half drunk before I've as much as thrown my naan breads under the grill?

I'm not really complaining, I enjoy entertaining, it's just that I always try to do too much. To be honest, for this affair I really was quite organised, even to the point where I was happily able to go the pub with my friends before hand. I still had a mini 'melt-down' just before we ate, Neil constantly telling me to calm down whilst I fanned myself with a tea towel and burnt the naan breads. Everything turned out fine in the end, a good night was had by all and some excellent new dishes were created.

There's a lot of recipes in this post, so I'm going to write the ingredient list and instructions between the photos to make things easier.

First, tomato and apricot chutney.

Chutneys are often served as part of an Indian meal to refresh and cleanse the palate and to provide some cooling relief and a different and more complex taste. 

8oz dried apricots, chopped

6 Heirloom or other flavourful tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

1 inch piece of ginger, chopped small

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

6 tbsp red wine vinegar

4 sun dried tomatoes, chopped small

Place all the ingredients in a pan, bring to the boil, reduce heat and cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes - 1 hour until the mixture is thick in consistency. Bottle in a clean jar and refrigerate when cool.

This chutney will keep for several weeks in the fridge. It can also be used with sausages, as a dip or in a stew such as beef and tomato to add extra oomph.

Carrot salad. 

Salads, relishes and slaws are also common with Indian meals to provide not only a vegetable dish but also to add colour. I used mini heirloom carrots for this in a rainbow of colours that looked pretty and didn't need too much peeling. You can use regular orange carrots.

4 oz carrots, grated or sliced very thinly

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1/2 tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 tbsp finely chopped mint

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, cover and chill for 2 hours before serving.

Rice

Not much to say about cooked rice, except I always use Basmati and this time I added a few extras to the cooking water:

4 cardamom pods

4 cloves

4 curry leaves

1 inch piece of cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp saffron strands

A few drops of red food colouring

The spices and curry leaves fragranced the water slightly and the saffron gave it a subtle buttercup shade. I have seen pilau recipes which use beef stock and require the rice to be soaked for 30 minutes prior to cooking, repeatedly changed to eliminate the starch. This means the rice only cooks for 5 minutes and 10 minutes of steaming, which seems to 'plump' the rice and give it a deep, savoury flavour. 

Mine, however, was boiled along with the spices in a large saucepan of salted water until cooked and then drained and allowed to dry overnight. This ensures fluffy, fragrant rice instead of the sticky, congealed mess so many people seem to produce and the reason why the cooking of rice is so feared. I've even seen a magazine article promoting the principle of 'cooking rice like pasta'. This confused me greatly as this is how I have always cooked it with perfect results.

Curry number 1 - Beef Vindaloo

Don't be scared off by this curry. If you live in the UK there is a good chance you will associate a Vindaloo with a searingly hot blistering curry with tons of flavour and heart burn potential. It's somewhat of a macho thing over there, a bit of a status symbol as to how hot you can handle it. (For a story about Indian food in the UK, click here). In India, however, especially Goa where this curry originates, there is no such stigma attached. Born out of a fusion between Indian and Portuguese, the Vin refers to the vinegar used. I ate a prawn Vindaloo in Goa, bright red with chili powder, sweet and slightly sour, it was hot, but not in a tear-inducing way.

Beef Vindaloo (Adapted from Curry : Fire and Spice by Mridula Baljekar)

1 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp black peppercorns

5 green cardamon pods, seeds only

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp raw sugar

4 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 tbsp ghee

1 onion, chopped finely

2 lbs stewing beef, cut into cubes

1 inch piece fresh ginger, chopped small

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

Grind the first 6 ingredients to a fine powder in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar. Add the salt, sugar and vinegar, mix well and set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp of ghee over medium heat and fry the onion for about 10 minutes until browned and very soft.

Combine the onion and spice mixture in a processor and pulse to a paste.

Chop the beef into cubes and brown on all sides for a good 10 minutes or so. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the coriander and turmeric and fry for another 2 minutes, then add the spice and onion paste and fry for a further 5 minutes.

Return the meat to the pan along with 1 and 1/4 cups of water. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours until the beef is really tender. You can do this the day before and refrigerate when cool overnight. Generally, curries improve by the next day, so preparing them before hand is a good idea, (if you have that kind of luxurious time management).

Curry number 2 : Chicken Tikka Masala (Adapted from same book as above)

This is a cheats version of this classic buttery, creamy curry invented in England. I used some shop bought paste. In my defence I was already making 1 other curry, a vegetable dish, rice, a salad, a chutney, three dips, poppadoms and naan breads. I think I can be forgiven for not wanting to roast and grind more spices. Besides, those ready made pastes, especially Pataks, taste really good.

Chicken Tikka Masala

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast fillets, chopped into chunks

3 tbsp tandoori paste

3 tbsp vindaloo paste OR 6 tbsp tikka paste (I couldn't find any - there's a recipe from scratch here)

4 tbsp plain yogurt

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 green chili, sliced

1 inch piece fresh root ginger, peeled and cut small

1 tbsp tomato paste 

1 tbsp ground mixed almonds and cashews

1 cup water

3 tbsp ghee, melted

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp cilantro, chopped finely

Mix half of the curry pastes and yogurt together in a bowl and add the chicken. Stir well, cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.

Grind the nuts to a powder in a small blender or spice grinder.

For the sauce, heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic, ginger and chili for 5 minutes. Add the remaining curry paste and fry for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste, ground nuts and water, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Thread the chicken onto wooden skewers which have been soaked in cold water for 30 minutes first and grill (broil) until cooked through and starting to take on some colour.  Brush them with the melted ghee or butter half way through cooking.

Add the chicken pieces to the sauce, sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and serve.

3 extremely easy chutneys for poppadoms

In a UK Indian restaurant, whatever you order, you will be rewarded with a free dish of poppadoms along with 4 different chutneys to accompany. Usually these will be the ubiquitous mango chutney, some kind of yogurt variety, a disgusting lime pickle that tastes like disinfectant and a mint and onion relish. In Vancouver, the poppadoms (sometimes) appear like magic but you're going to have to pay for those chutneys I'm afraid. I decided to make three quick dips for my guests and buy the mango chutney as it's always better from a bottle anyway. 

Chutney 1 : Tomato and chili

4 heirloom tomatoes or other flavourful varieties, chopped small

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

Juice of half a lemon

Mix everything together and allow to sit before serving for the flavours to mingle.

Chutney 2 : Onion and mint

1/2 onion, chopped small

1 tbsp mint sauce from a jar

1/4 tsp sugar

Juice of half a lemon

A little sprinkle of salt

Mix everything together well.

Chutney 3 : Yogurt and cucumber raita.

1/4 cucumber, peeled and chopped small

4 tbsp natural yogurt

Juice of half a lemon

1/2 tsp paprika

Little sprinkling of salt

Touch of sugar

Mix everything together well.

Aloo Sag is a famous vegetarian dish in India, comprising of potatoes, (aloo) and saag (spinach). I made a farmers' market version substituting the greens for beet tops, kale and mixed summer greens. I was a little worried that the taste might not be quite the same but had no need to fret as it was really good. The mineral, briny taste of the greens was tempered by the earthy turmeric and the tiny potatoes were sweet and soft. 

3 tbsp ghee or oil

1 onion, chopped

1 inch piece ginger, chopped small

2 green chilies, sliced

1 tsp turmeric

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 lb potatoes, chopped into small pieces

8 oz of greens, shredded

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium - high heat and add the onion, cook until soft. Add the spices and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. 

Add the potatoes and salt to taste and stir well. Cover the pan tightly with a lid or a makeshift foil one and cook for about 20 minutes over fairly low heat until the potatoes are cooked. Keep checking, don't let it get too dry or burn. 

Add the greens and cook until they are wilted and tender, stir well and serve.

So, that's it. We came home from watching a Beatles' cover band with beer already inside us and enjoyed an Indian meal whilst listening to old 60's vinyls. Later, we were treated to an impromptu jive by Marcus's parents, twisting and turning on the 'dancefloor' rug with the lights low and the candles lit, the smell of turmeric, cumin and chili still lingering in the air.

Lunch the next day. Popped in the microwave and blasted until steaming hot, the curries took on a new intensity, sweet, fragrant, spicy and a little bitter, the aloo saag tasted even more earthy and briny and the rice was dry and fluffy with palest yellow and vivid pink grains.