14 posts tagged “stew”
This soup/stew is from a book called "Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia," but I have no genuine idea as to how authentic it is. However, I do have some distinct ideas about what it should taste like — as well as what it should look like. :) I was quite happy with how my initial attempts tasted, but not at all happy about the way they looked. (First attempt. Second attempt.) So this time, I figured it would be a kinda third-time's-the-charm kinda deal. I figured I'd get everything right, this time around: I applied the knowledge I'd gained from my two previous attempt, and voilà — er, yeah, no, it didn't turn out perfect after all. I forgot the goddamn kaffir lime leaves! I can't believe I forgot those. Argh.
Well, I'm sure fourth time will be ever so charming... I'll post a proper recipe (providing it turns out perfect, of course).
My third go at this dish, and I'm becoming very comfortable with it. I had the dough for some naan to go with it -- cooking it isn't a big deal (not anymore, at least, now that I've got the hang of it), but I knew I was gonna be pretty tired, so I wanted something easy, and that's Meen Kari in a nutshell.
1 Tbsp ghee or butter
6 shallots (Occasionally I use a red onion, since I always have them on hand)
1 1/2 tbsp AP flour
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp mild chili powder
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 finely diced Serrano chili
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
3 cups of water
1 lb. Salmon fillet or steak, deboned, skinned and cut into 1" pieces
1 cup thick coconut milk (make sure to include the thick bits of the milk)
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Freshly crushed black peppercorns
Chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves
1. Sautée shallots in ghee/butter until browned.
2. Add flour, tomato paste, chili powder, coriander, turmeric and salt. Mix well.
3. While stirring constantly (to avoid lumps), slowly add the water and bring to a boil.
4. Add fish, cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the fish is cooked.
5. Remove from heat and stir in coconut milk and vinegar.
6. Sprinkle with crushed black pepper and chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves and serve.
If you don't have naan, some plain rice in the bottom of the bowl would work very nicely for soaking up the juices, too. And of course, there's no strict need to stay on an Asian theme, either: you could just get a baguette. After all, the Vietnamese learnt to make a baguette from the French -- theirs is made from rice flower, and called Bánh mì.
This is the second time I've made this dish. The first time, I absolutely loved it: it's a Sri Lankan fish stew (from "Curry Cuisine,") and although I'm not sure that it specifically calls for salmon, it is absolutely excellent with salmon. What can I say -- I love salmon :). I said that this dish is definitely gonna see some repeat play, and I'm kinda proud that it took me four months to get back to this thing -- I feel a tad guilty about repeating myself a little too often. You gotta expand your culinary horizons, is the way I see it.
Now, I loved this dish the first time I made it, and I loved it this second time around (you can find the full recipe in the first link), but as always, I do have a couple of things I made a note of, that I'll do different the next time: a little more hotness (I have two chili powders: one mild, one very hot), and also a more stern vinegar. The rice vine vinegar is a little too sweet.
But nevermind about all that -- the really HUGE difference between this dish and the first one, was the bread: The first time I made it, I used Tawa Paratha, which is very flat --it's an unleavened bread. And this fish stew practically screams out for a Naan -- a thicker, leavened, spongier bread that can soak up the juices in the stew.
And boy oh boy, this was my night... I finally managed to do a really good naan. Yeah, the picture is completely out of focus, but trust me: this was a great naan. I say, sod you hoity-toity boulangères and your "Queen of Bread" brioche -- the sexiest bread in the world is definitely a naan. I've been struggling with naans for a really long time, but this time I feel like I finally make a significant step towards creating a truly great naan (I mean, without a Tandoor oven).
The effect of a tandoor oven isn't too hard to replicate -- a simple, charcoal-fueled Weber grill is perfect for any type of skewered stuff like chicken tikka or tandoori, seekh kebabs, sish kebabs etc. But naans are trickier. I broke a pizza stone on the Weber, trying to get it right, until I decided that a grill doesn't bring enough heat from the top, to do a naan properly. A naan is browned on both sides -- because, in a tandoor oven, it gets heats from "below" (ie., from the wall of the oven, where it is slapped against), as well as heat from the coals beneath -- "above." Well, there really is no other cooking implement that I know of, that can do this. But of the ones that are available to us in the west, the simple indoor oven -- with a solid pizza stone, it the closest we can get.
And I think I got really close in this case. I'll post a proper recipe when I test this recipe again (I generally don't post recipes here unless I'm certain I can stand behind them) I'll probably try incorporating some additional flavorings like garlic, onions, etc at that point, though. I feel much more confident now, fiddling around with bread dough, after having read up on that crazy/awesome Bread Baker's Apprentice book.
Now, I loved this dish the first time I made it, and I loved it this second time around (you can find the full recipe in the first link), but as always, I do have a couple of things I made a note of, that I'll do different the next time: a little more hotness (I have two chili powders: one mild, one very hot), and also a more stern vinegar. The rice vine vinegar is a little too sweet.
But nevermind about all that -- the really HUGE difference between this dish and the first one, was the bread: The first time I made it, I used Tawa Paratha, which is very flat --it's an unleavened bread. And this fish stew practically screams out for a Naan -- a thicker, leavened, spongier bread that can soak up the juices in the stew.
And boy oh boy, this was my night... I finally managed to do a really good naan. Yeah, the picture is completely out of focus, but trust me: this was a great naan. I say, sod you hoity-toity boulangères and your "Queen of Bread" brioche -- the sexiest bread in the world is definitely a naan. I've been struggling with naans for a really long time, but this time I feel like I finally make a significant step towards creating a truly great naan (I mean, without a Tandoor oven).
The effect of a tandoor oven isn't too hard to replicate -- a simple, charcoal-fueled Weber grill is perfect for any type of skewered stuff like chicken tikka or tandoori, seekh kebabs, sish kebabs etc. But naans are trickier. I broke a pizza stone on the Weber, trying to get it right, until I decided that a grill doesn't bring enough heat from the top, to do a naan properly. A naan is browned on both sides -- because, in a tandoor oven, it gets heats from "below" (ie., from the wall of the oven, where it is slapped against), as well as heat from the coals beneath -- "above." Well, there really is no other cooking implement that I know of, that can do this. But of the ones that are available to us in the west, the simple indoor oven -- with a solid pizza stone, it the closest we can get.
And I think I got really close in this case. I'll post a proper recipe when I test this recipe again (I generally don't post recipes here unless I'm certain I can stand behind them) I'll probably try incorporating some additional flavorings like garlic, onions, etc at that point, though. I feel much more confident now, fiddling around with bread dough, after having read up on that crazy/awesome Bread Baker's Apprentice book.
Creole-style shrimp and sausage gumbo from The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2007 (the guys who publish Cook's Illustrated). Their books don't do much to inspire you to try new and unusual things -- but that is not what they aim to do. They take standard American dishes and figure out the optimal way to make them in a home kitchen.
The bow-tie wearing dude in charge (Christopher Kimball) is so nerdy he makes Alton Brown look like Humphrey Bogart on qualudes. Which is cool -- hey, I'm an unabashed nerd. Their motto is "We make it dozens of times, so you only have to make it once." And that holds true. Alton Brown 's "Good Eats" does similar stuff, but he sometimes comes up with methods that are just a tad to extreme for a home cook (and Heston Blumenthal's "In Search of Perfection" is at least twice as crazy) -- but America's Test Kitchen always do things that are completely practical, and can be done in any home kitchen.
They also include things like "Things that can go wrong," "What you can do ahead of time" and "Great discoveries" (some great insight gleaned from experiments, or simply good advice from experienced chefs), so you get a chance to learn some very solid fundamentals from this book. They're not as "sciency" as Alton Brown, which is fine by me -- it's "just the facts, ma'am."
The bow-tie wearing dude in charge (Christopher Kimball) is so nerdy he makes Alton Brown look like Humphrey Bogart on qualudes. Which is cool -- hey, I'm an unabashed nerd. Their motto is "We make it dozens of times, so you only have to make it once." And that holds true. Alton Brown 's "Good Eats" does similar stuff, but he sometimes comes up with methods that are just a tad to extreme for a home cook (and Heston Blumenthal's "In Search of Perfection" is at least twice as crazy) -- but America's Test Kitchen always do things that are completely practical, and can be done in any home kitchen.
They also include things like "Things that can go wrong," "What you can do ahead of time" and "Great discoveries" (some great insight gleaned from experiments, or simply good advice from experienced chefs), so you get a chance to learn some very solid fundamentals from this book. They're not as "sciency" as Alton Brown, which is fine by me -- it's "just the facts, ma'am."
This dish (Gang keo goung) calls for a Laotian all-purpose curry paste called Kore -- or in a pinch, a store-bought Thai curry paste. Since this dinner was a little involved, I decided against making Kore, and instead added some of its ingredients to a Thai curry paste: freshly grated galangal, finely chopped kaffir lime leaves, and some sweet Indian curry powder.
Apparently, Laotian food sometimes makes use of Indian curry powder, which I've never seen in Thai food. This struck me as a bit odd, since Thailand is closer to India than Laos -- but perhaps there are some historical, cultural ties there somewhere...
Laos frequently uses dill in their seafood (it is sometimes referred to as Laotian coriander (leaves -- ie., cilantro)). It's never cooked, but just added as a garnish. This is a great idea -- it is a great addition to a spicy seafood curry. Only problem, in all the excitement, I forgot to chop it up... An excellent dish. Oh, and I put some plain, boiled rice in the bowl -- traditionally, this dish is eaten by dipping sticky lumps of rice into the soup, but that didn't strike me as very practical...
"Kang soh" turned out to be the perfect side dish for this curry. It has a very fresh taste from lime juice and fish sauce, with a smoky counterpoint from toasted sesame seeds (in fairness, I toasted them a little too much, but when I do this again, I'll toast them exactly the same amount again, because it worked just right), along with toasted shallot and garlic, strips from half a de-seeded and de-veined chili, scallions and cilantro. It doesn't look like much, but the flavor was a perfect match for the curry.
Finally, I made some dessert crêpes with an apple caramel sauce and whipped cream. I found my savory crêpes didn't taste of anything much at all, so I wanted to make sure these had an actual flavor of their own to contribute. I didn't have an exact recipe, so I just followed a savory crêpe recipe, used less salt, and added sugar and vanilla extract. They turned out great. I'm thinking of crêpes kinda like wine -- if it doesn't taste good on its own, you shouldn't be cooking with it.
I made the crêpes and the sauce the night before. The sauce consisted of water, brown sugar, diced apples and cinnamon, simmered until soft, buzzed with an immersion blender -- and a bit of lemon juice. I added some strips of fresh apple (to offset the sweetness of the sauce), whipped cream and crumbled ginger snap cookies for some crunch.
This went over real well, but I think I'll reserve it for a night when I'm not cooking the main course...
Apparently, Laotian food sometimes makes use of Indian curry powder, which I've never seen in Thai food. This struck me as a bit odd, since Thailand is closer to India than Laos -- but perhaps there are some historical, cultural ties there somewhere...
Laos frequently uses dill in their seafood (it is sometimes referred to as Laotian coriander (leaves -- ie., cilantro)). It's never cooked, but just added as a garnish. This is a great idea -- it is a great addition to a spicy seafood curry. Only problem, in all the excitement, I forgot to chop it up... An excellent dish. Oh, and I put some plain, boiled rice in the bowl -- traditionally, this dish is eaten by dipping sticky lumps of rice into the soup, but that didn't strike me as very practical...
Finally, I made some dessert crêpes with an apple caramel sauce and whipped cream. I found my savory crêpes didn't taste of anything much at all, so I wanted to make sure these had an actual flavor of their own to contribute. I didn't have an exact recipe, so I just followed a savory crêpe recipe, used less salt, and added sugar and vanilla extract. They turned out great. I'm thinking of crêpes kinda like wine -- if it doesn't taste good on its own, you shouldn't be cooking with it.
This went over real well, but I think I'll reserve it for a night when I'm not cooking the main course...
This noodle-based soup gets a slight sweetness from coconut milk, but that flavor is much more subdued than similar Thai dishes. It's spicy, but not actually hot -- it's a very gentle heat. The main taste is the amazing array of flavors that comes from the homemade paste, which includes both ginger and galangal. I really liked this dish. And it was very simple. It's definitely going into my permanent repertoire...
I've been digging into the Curry Cuisine cookbook recently. I was going to make Chingri Malai Curry (Jumbo Shrimp in Coconut Curry Sauce from Bengal), and noticed a comment in the introduction to the recipe, that the author was very surprised by how similar it was to a Malaysian Laksa. The book had a recipe for Laksa Lemak (Laksa with Shrimp and Tofu), so I had a look... As it turns out, Laska Lemak is made with noodles, and since we had rice yesterday, and since I'll be serving rice the next day, I decided to go with this Laksa thing instead.
According to the recipe, Laksa used to mean fine rice noodles, but today the dish is made with whatever noodles you've got. It's basically a spicy soup with coconut milk, noodles, and whatever protein you can find: chicken, fish, shrimp, scallops, tofu etc. Lemak translates literally as fat, meaning rich, lavish and luscious -- I agree. Wikipedia says the word Laksa may have come from the Sanskrit word for "many" -- referring to the many ingredients in the soup, and that it is a Peranakan dish, originating from Chinese migrants to Malay and Java -- Wikipedia has a few other things to say on the subject, so follow the link if you'd like to know more... (Sorry. Yeah, I'm an unapologetic, black-belt nerd...)
Here's my recipe, which includes a few modifications that I made.
Paste:
2 large, chopped medium hot red chilies (If you like heat, use hotter ones, or more chilies -- if you can't stand heat, seed and devein them. I like hot and spicy food, and have a higher tolerance for it than most people, but I think additional heat would detract from the complex flavors, and the gentle sweetness from the coconut milk. Too little heat would would -- well, I feel kinda pretentious to say this, but if there's no heat at all, it would sort of throw it off "balance," if that makes sense? It really does need a little heat.)
2 chopped shallots
8 chopped garlic cloves
1/4 cup cashew nuts
1 1/2" chopped ginger
1 1/2" chopped galangal
2 Tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp tamarind juice
2 Tbsp peanut oil
Soup:
3 cans chicken or vegetable broth (if you don't mind losing a little richness, you can substitute about half of that for water -- the majority of the flavor comes from the paste).
1 can coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste, as you cook
8-12 oz of whatever noodles you like
1 lb peeled shrimp (or other protein)
1/4 lb mushrooms (or other vegetables)
1 hardboiled egg (per 2 persons)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
(Taste frequently throughout the cooking process, and season with salt and pepper accordingly)
Instructions:
1. Grind the paste ingredients together, into a very fine paste (I didn't grind it as much as I should have, which resulted in the occasional chunk of ginger and galangal, which I didn't like too much).
2. Fry the paste in oil for 2-3 minutes, while stirring constantly (don't overdo it, as it gets extremely fragrant) and set aside.
3. Bring the broth and coconut milk to a boil, and add pasta. Let simmer until almost done.
4. Add mushrooms, simmer for 4 minutes.
5. Add shrimp and simmer for 4 more minutes (adjust time according to what veggies and proteins you're using).
6. Serve with cilantro for garnish, and a quartered, hardboiled egg.
I made a couple of mistakes when I followed the original recipe (which I have NOT repeated in the above recipe, of course): I didn't grind the paste as much as I should have. I sautéed the mushrooms and shrimp before adding them to the soup -- this was pointless, and added nothing to the dish (plus -- extra pan to clean). Finally, I was a little freaked out by how much liquid there was and decided to reduce it by almost half before adding the pasta, mushroom and shrimp -- at which point I discovered I didn't didn't have enough soup... Duh.
Avoid those three mistakes, and you'll have a great Laksa Lemak. Highly recommended.
Oh, and it makes for some awesome leftovers... I don't normally go for leftover seafood, but this stuff is great for next day's lunch... The phrase "brown-bagging it" has such a mundane, or even pitiful ring to it. But when some poor, hapless bastard plods past your cubicle with his greasy bag of McDumpster, stopping dead in his tracks, and starts begging for a taste -- hey, maybe I'm evil -- but sometimes that can be the highlight of your day, you know?
I've been digging into the Curry Cuisine cookbook recently. I was going to make Chingri Malai Curry (Jumbo Shrimp in Coconut Curry Sauce from Bengal), and noticed a comment in the introduction to the recipe, that the author was very surprised by how similar it was to a Malaysian Laksa. The book had a recipe for Laksa Lemak (Laksa with Shrimp and Tofu), so I had a look... As it turns out, Laska Lemak is made with noodles, and since we had rice yesterday, and since I'll be serving rice the next day, I decided to go with this Laksa thing instead.
According to the recipe, Laksa used to mean fine rice noodles, but today the dish is made with whatever noodles you've got. It's basically a spicy soup with coconut milk, noodles, and whatever protein you can find: chicken, fish, shrimp, scallops, tofu etc. Lemak translates literally as fat, meaning rich, lavish and luscious -- I agree. Wikipedia says the word Laksa may have come from the Sanskrit word for "many" -- referring to the many ingredients in the soup, and that it is a Peranakan dish, originating from Chinese migrants to Malay and Java -- Wikipedia has a few other things to say on the subject, so follow the link if you'd like to know more... (Sorry. Yeah, I'm an unapologetic, black-belt nerd...)
Here's my recipe, which includes a few modifications that I made.
Paste:
2 large, chopped medium hot red chilies (If you like heat, use hotter ones, or more chilies -- if you can't stand heat, seed and devein them. I like hot and spicy food, and have a higher tolerance for it than most people, but I think additional heat would detract from the complex flavors, and the gentle sweetness from the coconut milk. Too little heat would would -- well, I feel kinda pretentious to say this, but if there's no heat at all, it would sort of throw it off "balance," if that makes sense? It really does need a little heat.)
2 chopped shallots
8 chopped garlic cloves
1/4 cup cashew nuts
1 1/2" chopped ginger
1 1/2" chopped galangal
2 Tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp tamarind juice
2 Tbsp peanut oil
Soup:
3 cans chicken or vegetable broth (if you don't mind losing a little richness, you can substitute about half of that for water -- the majority of the flavor comes from the paste).
1 can coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste, as you cook
8-12 oz of whatever noodles you like
1 lb peeled shrimp (or other protein)
1/4 lb mushrooms (or other vegetables)
1 hardboiled egg (per 2 persons)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
(Taste frequently throughout the cooking process, and season with salt and pepper accordingly)
Instructions:
1. Grind the paste ingredients together, into a very fine paste (I didn't grind it as much as I should have, which resulted in the occasional chunk of ginger and galangal, which I didn't like too much).
2. Fry the paste in oil for 2-3 minutes, while stirring constantly (don't overdo it, as it gets extremely fragrant) and set aside.
3. Bring the broth and coconut milk to a boil, and add pasta. Let simmer until almost done.
4. Add mushrooms, simmer for 4 minutes.
5. Add shrimp and simmer for 4 more minutes (adjust time according to what veggies and proteins you're using).
6. Serve with cilantro for garnish, and a quartered, hardboiled egg.
I made a couple of mistakes when I followed the original recipe (which I have NOT repeated in the above recipe, of course): I didn't grind the paste as much as I should have. I sautéed the mushrooms and shrimp before adding them to the soup -- this was pointless, and added nothing to the dish (plus -- extra pan to clean). Finally, I was a little freaked out by how much liquid there was and decided to reduce it by almost half before adding the pasta, mushroom and shrimp -- at which point I discovered I didn't didn't have enough soup... Duh.
Avoid those three mistakes, and you'll have a great Laksa Lemak. Highly recommended.
Oh, and it makes for some awesome leftovers... I don't normally go for leftover seafood, but this stuff is great for next day's lunch... The phrase "brown-bagging it" has such a mundane, or even pitiful ring to it. But when some poor, hapless bastard plods past your cubicle with his greasy bag of McDumpster, stopping dead in his tracks, and starts begging for a taste -- hey, maybe I'm evil -- but sometimes that can be the highlight of your day, you know?
A friend recently lent me a book called "Curry Cuisine: Fragrant dishes from India, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia." I'm normally a little weary of the use of the phrase "curry" -- it's just not accurate, nor fair -- to describe the enormous variety in Indian cuisine (or the rest of South East Asia for that matter) as simply "curry." But I'm no fanatic, and this book looked very promising.
This is the first dish I tried: a Sri Lankan fish stew called Meen Kari, along with a very simple, unleavened bread called Tawa Paratha. The bread was unremarkable, but the stew was excellent. It was also very simple, and quick (if it wasn't, I'd never dare try baking bread along with it, heheh).
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp ghee or butter
12 shallots (I used 6)
1 1/2 tsp AP flour
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp chili powder (I used a full teaspoon, which was a little too much -- but that all depends on how hot your chili powder is, of course)
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
salt to taste
14 oz kingfish or salmon fillet (I used the latter), skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 tsp wine or cider vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar)
pinch of crushed black peppercorns
1. Sautée shallots in ghee/butter until browned.
2. Add flour, tomato paste, chili powder, coriander, turmeric and salt. Mix well.
3. While stirring constantly (to avoid lumps), slowly add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.
4. Add fish, cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the fish is cooked.
5. Remove from heat and stir in coconut milk and vinegar.
6. Sprinkle with crushed black pepper (I also added chopped cilantro) and serve.
The flavor of this dish wasn't hugely different from anything else I've had, but it was definitely a new taste -- and an excellent one, at that. The sweetness of the shallots and coconut was perfectly balanced against the heat of the spices and the sharpness of the vinegar. I tasted the sauce before I added the vinegar, and found that it was really pretty spicy, so I decided to go with the mildest vinegar I had on hand -- rice wine vinegar. I think that was a good decision. A sharper vinegar would have bumped the heat up even more.
Serving this over rice would be good -- so it could soak up the sauce. Also, I think adding some potatoes to the stew would be a good idea.
As far as the paratha goes -- I used kosher salt, but not enough. When I use kosher salt, it seems like I almost have to double the amount, compared to regular salt. So it was very bland. Also, it was too thin to be able to soak up the sauce. I didn't have time to rise a leavened bread, but a naan would have been far better.
Well, Meen Kari is definitely gonna see some repeat play.
This is the first dish I tried: a Sri Lankan fish stew called Meen Kari, along with a very simple, unleavened bread called Tawa Paratha. The bread was unremarkable, but the stew was excellent. It was also very simple, and quick (if it wasn't, I'd never dare try baking bread along with it, heheh).
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp ghee or butter
12 shallots (I used 6)
1 1/2 tsp AP flour
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp chili powder (I used a full teaspoon, which was a little too much -- but that all depends on how hot your chili powder is, of course)
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
salt to taste
14 oz kingfish or salmon fillet (I used the latter), skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 tsp wine or cider vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar)
pinch of crushed black peppercorns
1. Sautée shallots in ghee/butter until browned.
2. Add flour, tomato paste, chili powder, coriander, turmeric and salt. Mix well.
3. While stirring constantly (to avoid lumps), slowly add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.
4. Add fish, cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the fish is cooked.
5. Remove from heat and stir in coconut milk and vinegar.
6. Sprinkle with crushed black pepper (I also added chopped cilantro) and serve.
The flavor of this dish wasn't hugely different from anything else I've had, but it was definitely a new taste -- and an excellent one, at that. The sweetness of the shallots and coconut was perfectly balanced against the heat of the spices and the sharpness of the vinegar. I tasted the sauce before I added the vinegar, and found that it was really pretty spicy, so I decided to go with the mildest vinegar I had on hand -- rice wine vinegar. I think that was a good decision. A sharper vinegar would have bumped the heat up even more.
Serving this over rice would be good -- so it could soak up the sauce. Also, I think adding some potatoes to the stew would be a good idea.
As far as the paratha goes -- I used kosher salt, but not enough. When I use kosher salt, it seems like I almost have to double the amount, compared to regular salt. So it was very bland. Also, it was too thin to be able to soak up the sauce. I didn't have time to rise a leavened bread, but a naan would have been far better.
Well, Meen Kari is definitely gonna see some repeat play.
Chicken Korma is a mildly flavored, and slightly sweet dish. It uses a "traditional" group of ingredients such as garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander and cardamom, while getting a delicate sweetness from cinnamon and cloves. It obviously uses a tomato-based sauce, and often makes use of ground cashews, but as in this case -- not always. Some recipes calls for yogurt while others use cream -- but I don't know the history of this dish, or what truly constitutes an authentic murgh korma. It's good eats, though.
Another authentic, three-hour Vindaloo. It's a real ordeal to cook, so obviously only a weekend kinda deal -- although it works fine for a late Friday dinner with the lads getting the drinks in. Put on some Ravi Shankar or plop "Bend it Like Beckham" in the DVD player, and you've got an evening right there. I keep trying to make bigger and bigger portions -- and including side dishes, to make sure I get some leftovers, but the stuff gets eaten to the last morsel every time.
Uck. This just looks nasty. The seeds, and slimy nature of okra just doesn't do anything good here. I think gumbo is just inherently not very photogenic, but this is particularly awful. It didn't taste awful, but that doesn't matter too much -- if what you're eating looks like garbage, it's going to have a serious hampering effect on your enjoyment of it...
