Drumstick Fish Curry

A typical Kerala Style fish curry using drumsticks,; dry roasted coconut and fish.
Ingredients:

1. Fish- 1/2 kg (any big fish)
2. Drumstick- 7 pieces (of 3 inch long)
3. Coconut oil-1 tbsp
4. Grated coocnut- 1/2 cup
5. Small onions chopped- 1 cup
6. Ginger chopped-1  1/2 tsp
7. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
8. Chilly powder-1 tbsp
9. Curry leaves-one spring
10. Tamarind-one small lemon sized ball
11. Green chilly slit-2 nos
12. Salt-to taste

For Seasoning

1. Coconut oil-1 tbsp
2. Mustard seeds-1 tsp
3. Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp
4. Curry leaves-1 spring

Preparation:

• Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of water.
• Heat coconut oil in a pan; add small onions and saute for a minute.
• Add coconut grated and roast for few minutes until nice golden in color.
• Switch off the flame by adding turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt.
• After cools down; add it in to a blender along with 1/2 cup of water and make a smooth paste out of it.
• In a clay pot (or any) add this paste; drumstick pieces, green chilly, curry leaves and a cup of water.
• Cook for about 10 minutes on medium flame until the drumstick pieces  cooked half.
• Then add the tamarind pulp; allow to boil.
• Add fish pieces (add salt if required) and cook for another 5-8 minutes or until the fish pieces and drumstick get cooked.
• Switch off the flame and do seasoning on top (heat oil; splutter mustard seeds followed by fenugreek and curry leaves. pour it over the curry.)
• Serve with steamed rice!!

Note: Instead of tamarind; you can use kokum (kudam puli) or mango pieces.

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Recipe: Mango Chicken Pasta Salad

Everyone loves convenience meals (especially from Woolworths) but they are DAMN pricey and full of hidden fats and sugar. One of my favs is their mango chicken pasta so I've re-created a (slightly) healthier version at home. This recipe makes one perfect single serving, enjoy! :)

Woolies Copycat Mango Chicken Pasta Salad with sweet curry dressing

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raw wholewheat pasta
• 1/2 cup cooked chicken, diced
• 1/2 cup mango, diced
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1 tbs pumpkin seeds

For the dressing:

• 2 tbs fat free yogurt
• 1 tbs mayonnaise
• 1 tsp apricot jam
• 1/2 tsp garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• salt and pepper
• squeeze of lemon juice
  
  
  Method:

1. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions then set aside.
2. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients and mix with pasta once cooled.
3. Mix in remaining ingredients. I served mine alongside rocket and broccoli.

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Beef Vindaloo

Beef vindaloo is an absolutely delicious Anglo-Indian spicy curry packed with the flavors of garlic, red chilly and vinegar. Give a try on it, serve to your family and don't forget to leave your feedback here.

Ingredients:

1. Beef-1 kg
2. Dry red chilly- 12 to 15 nos (depending on the spice tolerance)
3. Garlic- 1/2 cup
4. Vinegar- 1/2 cup
5. Onion-2 nos
6. Tomato-1 nos
7. Coriander powder- 2 tbsp
8. Garam masala powder-1 tsp
9. Salt-to taste
10. Oil-for frying onion
11. Coriander leaves-to garnish 

Preparation:

• Soak dry red chilly in vinegar for few minutes. (Remove the inner seeds of dry red chilly; if you don't want much spiciness; but the dish tastes its best with hot).
• Add it in to a blender along with garlic. Make a smooth paste out of it.
• Marinate the cubed beef pieces with salt and the above blended paste.
• Let it rest for 1 hour (first 1/2 hour in fridge and half hour at room temp).
• After that, pressure cooks the beef pieces  (without adding any water ; if necessary add little) for few whistles until cooked.
• In a pan; deep fry onions until nicely golden (Don't let it to turn brown).
• Drain it from the oil.
• Take 2 tbsp of oil in the same pan (avoid excess oil) and add tomato chopped; saute until mashed well.
• Add coriander powder and saute for a minute.
• Add the cooked beef pieces and mix well.
• Cook on high flame for few minutes until reaches the desired thickness.
• Then add fried onions and garam masala powder; mix well.
• Switch off the flame and sprinkle coriander leaves  and little fried onions on top.
• Serve warm with the choice of your roti or rice ☺☺.

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Macau-Style Portuguese Chicken Rice

I only needed one bite of the Portuguese Chicken Rice from Double Chin to know that I needed to figure out how to make it at home.  I hadn't even ordered it myself; my friend Alvin was nice enough to let a bunch of us try his, and I'm so grateful he did.  Sadly, it's not a very photogenic dish, but once you try it, you won't care.

It starts with a layer of chicken fried rice topped with a mild coconut curry sauce and finished with a sprinkling of shredded cheese.  Then everything goes under the broiler until it gets all bubbly and gooey.  I know it's kind of strange to have cheese on an otherwise Asian dish, but it works so well in this case.  I think the key is to use a mild, melty cheese so that it doesn't overpower the rest of the dish.  I ended up using a mix of mozzarella and provolone.  I thought it was interesting that when I was looking for recipes on-line to use, a lot of them just listed "shredded cheese" as the ingredient without any reference to what kind of cheese.  Perhaps in Asia there is just one kind of shredded cheese available!

I ended up referring to Lady and Pups' version because I love everything else she does, and it seemed the most similar to what I had at Double Chin.  The modifications I made were that instead of fish I used chicken and marinated it beforehand.  I used chicken breast because I prefer white meat, but feel free to use chicken thigh meat if you prefer dark meat.  I also made a couple of other modifications to her recipe based on what I had on hand (less scallions and water instead of milk) and taste preferences (half the amount of shallots).

Please note that this makes quite a bit of food.  Mandy's original recipe said that it serves 2, but it would probably be more like 6 Joy-sized servings.  And if you're wondering why it's called Portuguese chicken rice, I think it has to do with the fact that Macau was a Portuguese colony up until the end of the last century.  Apparently this dish is very popular in Hong Kong cafes, and I remember seeing something similar at one of my favorite eateries in Taiwan.

Macau-Style Portuguese Chicken Rice (heavily adapted from Lady and Pups)
serves 4-6

For the chicken:
1 lb. boneless chicken, cut into 1" pieces
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix all the ingredients except for the oil and marinate for 20 minutes.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat and cook the chicken until lightly brown.  Save 2/3 of it for the fried rice and finely chop the rest for the sauce.

For the fried rice:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2-3 eggs, beaten
3 cups day-old cooked rice, refrigerated
1/2 cup chopped scallions
Kosher salt and white pepper, to taste

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large pan and add the eggs.  Immediately add the rice and mix to coat.  Once the rice is heated through, add the scallions, salt, and white pepper to taste.  Add the reserved chicken and mix until even.  Remove from heat and set aside.

For the coconut curry sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 shallot, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoons finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
13.5 oz. can coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups mix of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese, divided

Use a small blender to puree the oil, shallot, and garlic cloves.  Mix with the grated ginger and butter and cook over medium heat in a saucepan for a few minutes until very fragrant.  Add the curry powder, onion powder, coconut, and flour continue to cook for a few more minutes to toast the spices.  Whisk in the coconut milk and water and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 5-7 minutes until thickened.  Stir in the chopped chicken and 1 cup of the cheese.

Preheat the broiler.  Transfer the fried rice to a buttered casserole dish or oven safe pan.  You can also use multiple smaller dishes.  Pour the curry sauce over the rice and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.  Broil for a few minutes until browned in spots and bubbly.  Serve immediately.

Next:  Caramelized Honeycomb Ice Cream
Previously:  Extra-Crispy Tortilla Pizza
Two Years Ago:  Taiwanese Taro Swirl Mooncakes
Three Years Ago:  Brown Butter Vinaigrette Lobster Buns
Four Years Ago:  Caramelized Onion and Swiss Chard Quiche

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Coconut Curry Seafood Stew

This is a delicious coconut curry seafood stew with a lot of ingredients common in Vietnamese and Thai cooking.

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 tablespoons pureed lemon grass
2 tablespoons curry powder
6 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon tamarind soup base  (or 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice at the very end)
2 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk
1 teaspoon chili oil
1 pound medium peeled and deveined shrimp
1 pound hardshell clams
8 ounces mussels
8 ounces halibut (cut into 1x1 inch pieces) or fresh Alaska king crab meat
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
cooked jasmine rice about 4-6 cups
Siracha Chili paste (optional to add heat)

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Cook and stir in ginger, lemongrass, and curry powder in oil for 1 minute.  Pour in chicken broth over mixture and stir continually to incorporate irall ingredients.  Stir in fish sauce and brown sugar; simmer for 15 minutes.  Stir in tamarind soup base and coconut milk.  Add shrimp, clams, mussels and halibut and cook till no longer translucent about 5-8 minutes.  Serve in a bowl with 1/2 cup of rice and garnish with cilantro.

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Chicken Curry Pita

This recipe was inspired by my friend Kim Grimmer when we were out fishing in the cold rain with our husbands and I brought a lame lunch with me and she shared her chicken salad pitas with me. Oh it was sooo good. This isn't her exact recipe but was inspired by her.

 

6 oz    canned chicken breast (drained)
1/4 C  light mayonnaise
1 t      curry powder
12      green grapes (halved)
1 C     alfalfa sprouts (divided into fourths)
2        Pitas (halved to form pockets)

Mix chicken, mayonnaise, curry powder together.  Add grapes and lightly mix.  Divide chicken salad into fourths.  Stuff each pita half with mixture and add alfalfa sprouts into remaining pocket space.  Serves 4.

177 calories per serving.

 

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Penang Curry with Chicken (Gaeng Penang Gai)

Thai Translation – Gaeng= Curry, Penang = Penang, Gai = Chicken

This creamy chicken curry will be a favourite in no time. Its very easy to make and tastes amazing when you make your own curry paste too! Adding extra vegetables like pumpkin, eggplant or potato will not only stretch the dish further, but will make it that little bit more nutritious too.

Cooking Time – 15 minutes

Preparation Time – 5 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

200g chicken

1Tbsp penang curry paste

250ml coconut milk

1 kaffir lime leaf

2 small red chilli's

2 tsp fish sauce

Method

1. Prepare the chicken – slice thinly and remove any fat or gristle.
2. In a wok or non-stick fry pan, boil 2 Tbsp coconut milk over low heat until oil begins to appear on the surface.
3. Turn heat to medium and add curry paste and cook until fragrant – 1-2 minutes.
4. Add chicken to wok and cook until it turns white.
5. Add rest of coconut milk and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until it begins to thicken.
6. Add fish sauce and turn heat off.
7. Serve with rice and topped with a garnish of finely shredded kaffir lime leaf and chillis.

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Red Curry with Beef (Gaeng Phed Neua)

Thai Translation – Gaeng = Curry, Phed = Spicy, Neua = Beef

Red curry is a fragrant and creamy curry, hearty and tempting. It is best served with fluffy white rice or sticky rice. You can purchase pre-made curry pastes in most supermarkets which are very good. But they are no substitute for a freshly made paste of your own that can be whipped up in minutes.

Lean beef is an excellent source of protein and other minerals. It is delicious in a curry and when cooked well, it has a delicate mineral taste that goes superbly with a hearty creamy flavours in the curry. The eggplants in this curry are Thai eggplants that are small and round and often described as bitter. There are three main varieties you can use for this recipe –egg size and shaped eggplants (makhue prot), the pea sized eggplant ( makhue puang) which are crunchy and bitter in taste or the purple eggplants or aubergine. Look for the Thai eggplants in Asian supermarkets, but you can use aubergine for this recipe – just be careful about overcooking the eggplant as it can turn to mush.

Cooking Time - 20 minutes

Preparation time - 15 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

500ml coconut milk
250g of lean beef in strips
2 tbsp of red curry paste 
1 kaffir lime leaf

1 tbsp thai basil leaf

1 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)

3-5 thai eggplants or 1 small young purple eggplant

1 tsp fish sauce

Method

1. Slice the beef into cubes or thin slices depending on your own preference. Chop the thai eggplants in quarters or the purple eggplant into inch-sized pieces. To stop the eggplant from going brown, place in a bowl and cover with water once cut. Remove the stem from the kaffir lime leaf and tear into pieces.
2. In a saucepan or wok simmer 2 tbsp coconut milk. When the coconut oil separates from the coconut milk, add the curry paste stirring well.
3. Cook the curry paste for 1-2 minutes or until it begins to be fragrant.
4. Add the beef to the curry paste and cook for another 1-2 minutes so that the meat is beginning to change colour.
5. Add the remaining coconut milk and bring to the boil.
6. Add the eggplants, kaffir lime leaf, fish sauce and sugar, stirring well to combine.
7. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for approximately 10 minutes over low to medium heat.
8. Add basil leaves and turn heat off. Serve with steamed rice.

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