Lamb curry with yoghurt recipe

You can make this into a complete, one pot meal, by adding some chickpeas and some vegetables (in this recipe I've used cauliflower, but you could potentially use other vegetables, like eggplant or green beans).

Ingredients

All quantities are approximate. It shouldn't matter if you have a bit more or less of any.

• ghee, 6 tbsp (this will give it a richer flavour than using oil)
• onions, 2 large
• garlic, 6 cloves
• ginger, 1 inch piece
• lamb chops containing bones, 1kg
• curry powder, 5 tbsp
• cardamon pods, 6 (not essential)
• cinnamon, 1 stick (not essential)
• greek yoghurt, 1 cup
• chopped tomatoes, half a 400g can
• fresh coriander, handful of
• garam masala, 1 tbsp
• lemon juice, 1 tbsp
• to make it into a complete, one pot meal
• chickpeas, 2 cans, drained
• cauliflower, 1 small-med

Directions

I've made these directions fairly detailed, to show which bits you can prep while other bits are cooking, and to explain the rationale for the steps.

• finely chop the onion (that will give you a smoother curry sauce) and fry it in the ghee at a medium temperature (you don't want the temperature to be too high, as you want to soften and evenly brown them, not make them crispy).
• they'll take a fair while to brown, so you can do a lot of the other prep while they're browning.
• you want to get them to a bit past golden, into browning. You'll probably want to lower the temp a bit once they start getting golden, so they don't burn. Browning the onions is pretty important for the flavour.
• stir the onion mixture from time to time (every couple of minutes, I'd say) to stop it from burning.
• meanwhile, prep the garlic and ginger by peeling them. I add them to the onion once the onion is golden. I don't add them earlier so as to not burn them. When the onion is approaching golden, finely grate (or finely chop and add) the onion and ginger into the pan.
• prep the meat by cutting out the bone pieces (and saving them - we want to add them to the curry for flavour) and then chopping the meat into approx 1 inch lengths... doesn't matter how wide they are. Doesn't matter that much as to how the meat is cut up.
• if the onions aren't yet past golden and a bit browned, you can do more of the prep described further below.
• once the onions are past golden and a bit browned, add the meat (and bones). You probably want to lightly brown it. Turn up the heat a bit to help this along. Stir every minute or two to prevent any burning (you don't need to worry about this as much while there's meat juices in the pan).
• prep the yoghurt by adding it to a bowl along with (roughly) 1 cup of water (the amount shouldn't matter much). Use a fork or spoon to mix it into a smooth liquid.
• once the meat looks lightly browned, push the meat and onions etc to the side a bit and add the curry powder (and cardamon and cinnamon, if using) to the freed-up space in the pan. Mix the curry powder around in the ghee a bit, and fry it for a minute or two, then mix everything together. 
• add (in any order) the optional (drained) chickpeas, the half a can of tomatoes, and the yoghurt mixture. You want all the ingredients to be just covered by the liquid, so add some extra water if necessary.
• cover and simmer - so turn the heat down to a suitable level for simmering.
• you want to do this first step of simmering for probably 45 mins to an hour. I'm not sure exactly how long is necessary.
• while it's simmering, prep the cauliflower by washing and chopping it. I'd cut it into roughly 1 inch pieces, though I don't think the size matters that much.
• you can also wash the coriander (I wouldn't chop it up till near when you're going to add it, to keep it fresh).
• after simmering the meat for 45mins to an hour, add the optional cauliflower. I'd say simmer that for about 15 mins. You want it to be softened. You can test it after 15 mins to see if it's soft enough, and if it isn't, simmer it some more.
• Note: if you were to use eggplant instead of cauliflower, you'd probably need to cook it for longer. Just keep cooking it and check it periodically to see if it's soft enough.
• add salt to taste
• roughly chop the coriander leaves.
• add about 1 tbsp of garam masala, the coriander leaves, and optionally maybe 1 tbsp lemon juice.
• simmer for a couple of minutes.

Mangalam's Sothy Recipe

Mangalam's Sothy Recipe

Soothy (pronouced like "soo-dy") is a South-Indian dish featuring coconut cream or milk and fenugreek that you can eat with rice or string hoppers (if you can get them).

The dish is quite liquidy from all the coconut milk. The idea is to drown the rice in it a bit, and the rice will soak up some of it.

oil, 1 tbsp
fenugreek, 1 tsp
brown onion, 1 medium, diced
yellow capsicum, 1, diced
curry leaves, 1 strand of (optional)
red chili, 1 (more if you want it spicy)
tumeric, 1/4 tsp
coconut milk, 100ml
water, 100ml
tomatoes, 2 medium
salt, for seasoning


Heat the oil in a pan in low heat. Fry the fenugreek until lightly brown.

Be careful not to burn - the fenugreek as it becomes bitter if it is burned.

Add the onion and fry until its soft.

Add the capsicum and saute for about 2 minutes.

Add the water, chili, tumeric, tomatoes, curry leaves (optional) and bring to boil.

Then add coconut milk and season with salt.

Remove from heat once it boils.

Coconut milk, garlic and green-chilli dahl

updated, 9.4.09 and 21.01.2020

This dish is near perfect. It's so simple, yet so good. It's surprisingly flavoursome, given that it's only lentils, garlic, onion, green chillis, tumeric and coconut milk. Somehow the flavours combine so well, and the fragrance of the green chillis adds so much.

It's also very quick and easy to prepare, compared to most Indian dishes or other dahls.

If you cut most of the seeds from the chillis (as I do) the dahl isn't chilli hot. The flavour of the dish doesn't suit being too chilli hot.

Thanks to Mangalam for the recipe.

• Red lentils, 1 cup
• Garlic, 5 cloves
• Onion, a small amount (cut out a wedge ½ cm thick at its thickest edge)
• Tumeric powder, ½ tsp
• Green serrano chillis, 1 or 2
• it's important to use green serrano chillis, not jalapenos or red chillis. So much of the flavour and fragrance of this dish comes from chillis, and jalapenos don't have the right type of flavour or fragrance, and red chillis don't impart much fragrance or flavour.
• Coconut milk, about 100ml
  • for a richer flavour, you can add more, or use coconut cream instead
• Salt
• Black pepper

Green serrano chillis.
Use these for this dish, not jalapenos or red chillis.
(image source)

Add the lentils to a saucepan and wash them till the water runs clear.

Add enough water to cover the top of the lentils by about 1cm.

Put it on a high heat.

Finely chop the onion and garlic and add them to the pan.

Add the tumeric.

Once it's boiling, turn it down to a brisk simmer. Stir occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Slice the chillis in half and take the seeds out.

The lentils should take about 20-25 mins to cook. You want them to be fairly broken down, so the dahl is relatively smooth. It's no big deal if they're still a bit rough, however. Add more water if it gets too dry at any point. If it's still too liquidy after 20-25 minutes, cook it longer to evaporate more of the water.

Once the lentils look cooked, add the chillis and cook for 3-5 mins.

Add the coconut milk, stir and cook gently for another couple of minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the chilli pieces.

It's now ready to eat.


Notes:

• If you want to add some vegetables, cauliflower goes well with it. Add some chopped cauliflower a couple of minutes before the end. The base recipe is so perfect, though, that I prefer it without any additions.
• The chillis only need to be chopped in half because their function is to infuse their flavour and fragrance into the dahl. We remove them at the end. Their texture wouldn't be very nice to eat and they wouldn't add anything to the end result. You don't want to chop them into smaller pieces and leave them in the dahl, either. Their skin is a bit tough, and wouldn't be very pleasant to eat (it's not -- I've tried it), against the smooth texture of the dahl.

Gujerati Carrot Salad

Gujerati Carrot Salad

(adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking)

This very simple salad tastes great. Even though it's an Indian dish, it isn't at all spicy (in flavouring or heat). It's essentially just grated carrot and cooked black mustard seeds, which have a nutty taste that really compliments the carrot. It'd go well with non Indian food as well.

• carrots, 5, coarsely grated
  
• salt, 1/4 tsp
  
• vegetable oil, 2 tbsp
  
• whole black mustard seeds, 1 tbsp
  
• lemon juice, 2 tsp
  

• In a bowl, toss the grated carrots with the salt
  
• Heat the oil in a very small pan over a medium flame.
  
• When very hot, put in the mustard seeds.
  
• As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop (this takes just a few seconds), pour the contents of the pan (the oil and seeds) over the carrots.
  
• Add the lemon juice and toss

Can be served either at room temperature or cold.

Favourite Recipes: Chicken in Green Masala Sauce

Chicken in Green Masala Sauce

To me, this recipe is fairly different from the sort of curries you find in restaurants and even in cookbooks of Indian home cooking. The sauce has a fairly light and somewhat fresh taste to it, and is a little sweet. It doesn't have a spicy flavour to it like curries tend to.

It’s quite quick to make, and has pretty broad appeal - so it’s good when you’re cooking for others.

It’s from “Best-Ever Curry: Over 150 great curries from India to Asia” (originally published with the title “Curry”) by Mridula Baljekar. pg 47.


Serves 4

• sauce
  • natural (plain) yoghurt, 150ml (2/3 cup)
    
  • fromage frais or ricotta cheese, 45ml (3 tbsp)
    
  • onions, garlic, ginger
    • spring onions (scallions), 1 bunch, chopped
      
    • garlic, 5ml (1 tsp), crushed
      
    • fresh ginger, 5ml (1 tsp), grated
  • other flavourings
    • crisp green eating apple, 1, peeled, cored and cubed
      
    • fresh corriander, 45ml (3 tbsp - but see note below)
      
    • fresh mint leaves, 30ml (2 tbsp)
      
    • fresh green chillis, 2, seeded and chopped
  • salt, 5ml (1 tsp)
    
  • granulated sugar, 5ml (1 tsp)
• vegetable oil, 15ml (1 tbsp)
  
• chicken breasts, 350-400g skinned and cubed
  
• garnishes
  • sultanas, 25g
    
  • fresh corriander, 15ml (1 tbsp)
    (note: there is also some corriander listed in ‘other flavourings’, above, making it a total of 4 tbsps of it required for this recipe)
  
  

• Blend the sauce ingredients
  • Process the following in a food processor for 1 minute: the apple, 3 tbsp of corriander, mint, yogurt, formage frias or ricotta, chillis, spring onions, salt, sugar, garlic and ginger. Scrape around the outside of the bowl and process for a few seconds more.
• Cooking the sauce and chicken
  • Heat the oil in a wok, karahi or large pan, pour in the yogurt mixture and cook, gently over a low heat for about 2 minutes.
    
  • Add the chicken pieces and stir well to blend everything together. Cook over a medium-low heat for 15-17 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
• Add garnishes.
  • Srinkle the sultanas and the remaining coriander over the chicken (do not mix in, but leave as a garnish).

Serve with Nut Pulao, if you like.

---

I’ve modified the presentation of this recipe a little, and I've also changed a few of its details. I’ve found an increased cooking time necessary, so I’ve changed that from 12-15 minutes to 15-17 minutes. I also increased the amount of chicken from 225g to 350-400g, as I think the original recipe makes far too much sauce for the amount of chicken in it.

Favourite Recipes: Mixed Dhal

Mixed Dhal

I quite like Indian food, and have quite a few Indian cookbooks - and this is the best dhal recipe I've come across. Works well as a meal by itself.

It's from the "Indian Cooking" recipe booklet in The Australian Women's Weekly's "Great Cuisines" cookbook series. It's one of those little ones that you can get in the checkouts in places like Coles and Woolworths for around $5.

I've modified the presentation of the recipe a bit.

Serves 6

• lentils
  
  • yellow split peas, ½ cup (100g)
    
  • red lentils, ½ cup (100g)
    
  • split mung beans, ½ cup (100g)
    You can vary the proportions of each type no problems, even omitting certain types. (though I've never tried it with more of the split mung beans)
• ghee or oil, 2 tbsp
  
• onion, garlic, ginger
  
  • brown onions, 2 med (300g), finely chopped
    
  • cloves garlic, 4, crushed
    
  • fresh ginger, 1 tbsp, grated
    
• spices
  
  • black mustard seeds, 3 tsp
    
  • black onion seeds, ½ tsp (not essential)
    
  • ground cumin, 1 tbsp
    
  • ground coriander, 3 tsp
    
  • ground tumeric, 1 tsp
    
  • chilli powder, 1 tsp
    
• tomatoes, 2 x 400g cans
  
• veg stock, 2 ½ cups (625ml)
  
• for finishing
  
  • cracked black pepper, ½ tsp (not essential)
    
  • cream, 1/3 cup (80ml) (not essential)
    
  • fresh coriander leaves, 2 tbsp, finely chopped
    
  
  

• prepare lentils
  • Rince peas, lentils and beans, separately, under cold water; drain.
    
  • Place yellow split peas in a small bowl, cover with water; stand for 30 mins, drain.
• Heat ghee/oil in large heavy-base saucepan; cook seeds, stirring, until they start to pop.
  
• Add onion, garlic and ginger; cook, stirring, until onion is browned lightly.
  
• Add ground spices; cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
  
• Add split peas, lentils, beans, undrained tomatoes and stock; simmer, covered, about 30 mins or until red lentils are tender.
  
• Just before serving, add remaining ingredients; stir over low heat until just heated through.