Chick pea, tomato and ginger curry

Tinned lentils and beans make a great, easy to prepare comfort food in the depths of winter.  Today was cold and wet, and this quick to make chick pea curry was the perfect antidote.  This recipe uses my bottle masala, so if you don't have any substitute with a good curry powder or your own mix of red chilli powder, turmeric and whole cumin seeds.

To feed four people generously (you can also easily halve the recipe), you will need:

3 tablespoons of oil 

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 stalk of curry leaves (if you have them)

1 tablespoon of crushed ginger

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of Bombay bottle masala

2 large tomatoes, blended to a pulp

2 tins of chick peas, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon of tamarind paste

1 teaspoon of salt

half a bag of fresh baby spinach leaves

a handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion.  Add the curry leaves, ginger and chilli and fry until everything is lightly brown.  Add the bottle masala, quickly followed by the pulped tomatoes and stir until everything is mushy and starts to smell nice.  Empty the drained chickpeas into the pan, stir well and cover and cook on a very low heat for 10-15 minutes.  Stir intermittently and add a little splash of water here and there if the curry is too dry.  At the end, add the tamarind paste and salt, and adjust water to ensure you have as much gravy as you like.  Just before serving, throw in the baby spinach leaves and fresh coriander and stir through. 

Coconut, ginger and prawn curry

I was enjoying my coconut chutney so much I decided to use it in this curry... which I will cook again and again... it was spicy, gingery and full of coconut flavour - perfect for this cold weather.  

We ate it with rice but I think it would also taste good with noodles.  

For two people you will need:

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 stalk of curry leaves (if you can get them)

1 tablespoon of ginger, cut into very thin matchsticks

½ to 1 green chilli, depending on how hot you like it

2 spring onions, finely chopped

½ cup of peas

250 g prawns

½ a tin of coconut milk (around 135 ml)

125 g coconut chutney

salt and pepper to taste

To make the coconut chutney you will need:

1 cup of dessicated coconut

1 green chilli

1 inch square of ginger

½ a teaspoon of salt

1 ½ teaspoons of sugar

juice of half a lemon

For tempering the chutney:

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1/3 teaspoon of mustard seeds

a stalk of curry leaves (10-12 leaves)

To make the chutney, first place the coconut in a bowl and pour in some bowling water – it should reach the top of the coconut but not go over.  Set aside for 10-15 minutes.  After this, put it in a blender with the rest of the chutney ingredients and blend to a paste.

Heat the coconut oil in a small pan, throw in the mustard seeds and wait until they start to pop, then add the curry leaves and keep frying for a few seconds.  Tip this mixture into the blender and blend again to a paste.

Taste chutney for lemon, salt and sugar before serving. 

To make the curry, heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan and fry the curry leaves, ginger and white parts of the chopped spring onions for a minute or two.  Throw in the peas (they can be fresh or frozen) and then add the chutney.  Fry for a few more minutes, stirring constantly, and then add the prawns.  Keep stir frying for about 30 seconds and start to add coconut milk.  Add up to half a tin of coconut milk or to taste – depending on how thick you want your curry.  Cook for a few more minutes only - don't let the prawns overcook.

Taste for salt and add some pepper and a squeeze of fresh lime juice at the end if you fancy it.  Before serving, stir in the rest of the chopped spring onions (the green bits).  

Quick coconut chutney

I do like my chutneys.  I live on green chutney, but this coconut chutney is also pretty good... for total convenience I make it with desiccated coconut but it would be lovely with fresh grated coconut.  I served it with this curry leaf and coconut toast and it was delicious.  To make your own, you will need:

1 cup of dessicated coconut

1 green chilli

1 inch square of ginger

½ a teaspoon of salt

1 ½ teaspoons of sugar

juice of half a lemon

For tempering:

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1/3 teaspoon of mustard seeds

a stalk of curry leaves (10-12 leaves)

For the curry leaf toast:

sliced bread

10-15 curry leaves

coconut oil

To make the chutney, first place the coconut in a bowl and pour in some bowling water – it should reach the top of the coconut but not go over.  Set aside for 10-15 minutes.  After this, put it in a blender with the rest of the chutney ingredients and blend to a paste.

Heat the coconut oil in a small pan, throw in the mustard seeds and wait until they start to pop, then add the curry leaves and keep frying for a few seconds.  Tip this mixture into the blender and blend again to a paste.

Taste chutney for lemon, salt and sugar before serving. 

To make the curry leaf toast, I smeared a few slices of bread with coconut oil, arranged the curry leaves on top and placed them in a sandwich grill to brown.  I sprinkled a bit of salt and pepper on to the toast before serving. 

Wendy's pickle fowl

My friend Wendy Chaves from Bombay sent me this recipe for a traditional East Indian curry called Pickle Fowl... not one I've ever come across before or could find in any of my old recipe books.  

It is a very elegant precursor to the more modern British tradition of cooking curries with dried fruits and nuts, and let me tell you, it is one of the most delicious curries I have ever tasted in my life.  It is hot, sweet and sour all at once, and full of fresh ingredients. 

I can't recommend it highly enough.. stop what you are doing and cook it immediately!

To make a substantial curry for 6-8 people you will need:

1 kilo of boneless chicken thighs 

5-6 tablespoons of oil

6 small onions, very finely chopped or roughly blended

10-12 dried red chillies

1 pod of garlic (around 10-12 cloves)

2 tablespoons of finely chopped ginger

1/4 cup of white wine vinegar

100 grams of raw cashew nuts

50 grams of 'kishmish' (raisins)

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

First blend the raisins and the cashews until you have a thick paste and set aside.  Next, blend the red chillies, garlic and ginger in the white wine vinegar to a paste and set this aside as well.

Heat the oil in a large pot and gently fry the onions until they have turned a light brown.  Add the chicken pieces and brown them too.  

Add the chilli, ginger and garlic paste, stir fry for a couple of minutes until the oil starts to separate, add a small amount of water and the salt and cover and simmer until the chicken is nearly done (around 15 minutes for boneless chicken thigh pieces).  

After this, stir in the raisin and cashew paste, turn up the heat slightly and fry until the sauce reduces slightly and you end up with a bright red, thick gravy.

We added a few whole toasted cashews to the curry at the end, and ate much more of it than we intended.  It was totally amazing!  

I think it would taste great with duck, or even prawns ... so watch out for the next version. 

Thank you Wendy!

Bombay potato chops

Potato chops are an institution in Anglo Indian cooking.  They are basically crumbed and fried patties with a surprise centre of spicy mince coated in soft mashed potato, and definitely take the made-for-each-other combination of meat and potato to a whole new level of deliciousness.

In my family of course everyone has their own version of the recipe which they will fight in the trenches to claim as the best.  To maintain my relationship with my mother I had to overlook my Nana's and her old cook Hira's recipe and go with hers, and I have to admit they were pretty amazing.

Potato chops are a bit fiddly to make but they are worth the effort.  You can always make the potato and mince filing a day ahead so you're not in the kitchen for hours doing them all at once. Or more efficiently, make your mum do it for you.  

Eat them with curry and rice or just plain as a burger or in a sandwich... however you do you'll be converted.. especially if you're my Irish husband, who's enthusiasm was so great it stretched to the inadvertent consumption of eggplant.

To make 12 potato chops you will need:

For the mince:

2 tablespoons of oil

300 grams of good quality lamb mince (we used organic)

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 large tomato, finely chopped

1 small Japanese eggplant (or substitute with regular eggplant or another veg)

½ a green capsicum

1 heaped tablespoon of Bombay Bottle Masala (or substitute with a good curry powder)

3 finely chopped spring onions

2 finely chopped green chillies

handful of finely chopped coriander

salt

lemon

For the potato chops:

8 large potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed

1.5 cups of breadcrumbs – make your own if you can

1 egg

½ cup of oil to fry

Prepare the potatoes and leave aside to cool.

To cook the mince, heat oil in a large heavy frying pan and brown the finely chopped onion slowly.  Add the garlic and then the tomato and stir fry for a minute, then add the bottle masala.  Next add the finely chopped vegetables – eggplant and capsicum, and when everything is looking well cooked add the mince.  Stir fry to break up lumps and ensure everything is well mixed, add a splash of water if you need to and a teaspoon of salt.  Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes.  When it is done, stir through fresh spring onions, green chilli and the juice of half a lemon, and check for salt.  Set aside to cool.

To make the potato chops, have your bowls of mashed potato and mince ready, spread the breadcrumbs over a large tray, whisk the egg in a small bowl and roll up your sleeves.

Use a 1/3 cup measure or similar to take a scoop of mashed potato in your hand, flatten it into a round patty and then shape it like you are making a small bowl.  Place a tablespoon of mince into the middle of this, and work with your hands to fold over the potato so the mince becomes enclosed (see pic below). 

It takes a bit of practice, but after a few you should get the hang of it and end up with 12 evenly sized flat potato cakes (it is definitely worth persisting).

When you are done, dip these one by one in the beaten egg and coat them in breadcrumbs.

Heat a good layer of oil in a frying pan, and shallow fry the potato chops until they are golden on all sides.  Drain on kitchen towels and if you need, place them in a warm oven to stay crispy until you serve them.