Indian theme

When there are only two of you it can be tricky to manage leftovers.  Freezing is useful but not everything freezes.  Often you want to make up a meal of leftovers later in the week but the meals you have eaten earlier in the week don't go well together.  I had the idea of cooking to a theme so that we bought less and used everything.  Basing the week on Indian flavours we started with meatballs and paneer. I didn't use all the paneer in the first meal and not all the meatballs were eaten but they were able to be incorporated later.
Sticking with the Indian theme I turned to Jack Santa Maria who as usual provided the answer.  A very simple soup comprising primarily lentils and stock.  For two, saute a finely sliced onion, crushed garlic and a bay leaf in ghee.  Add 1/2 cup red lentils with 2 tbsp rice and 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock.  Bring to the boil.  Simmer until the lentils are cooked.  Add 1 tsp garam masala and season with salt and pepper.  To serve squeeze in some lemon juice and swirl though a handful of shredded spinach to wilt.  Jack didn't suggest this but I had some spinach which needed to be used.  Although this sounds way too simple it was just perfect.   In fact I was so inspired by this soup that I looked to see if Jack had written any more books and I found two - Traditional Indian Cookery and Indian Meat & Fish Cookery.  I ordered both of them and they are now waiting at Max's flat in London for us to collect when we visit in June.  Look out for more Indian cooking in July.
I then made a very simple aubergine curry by roasting a halved aubergine smeared with curry paste in the oven for 20 minutes at 200.  If you score the aubergine halves into cubes without cutting the skin it will cut up easily later.  When the aubergine is cooked cut it up and return to the pan with 1/2 cup vegetable stock and 200g yoghurt.  Stir to mix through and cook in the oven about 10 minutes until the sauce is heated through and thickened a little. 
The next day heat up the left over aubergine with the left over meatballs & tomato sauce and the unused paneer.  It is a completely different meal but it all goes together.
And when you are eating an Indian meal don't forget shrikand, the wonderful sweet spiced yoghurt.  The perfect conclusion to any Indian themed meal.

Sunday Curry

We recently had an old favourite curry with some new additions.  I may have mentioned it before but I am going to tell you again.  This has been a family favourite since 2001.  It is known as Malcolm's Curry and is named after the person who first  made it in our kitchen. 
You first need to make a garam masala mix. Take 1 tbsp black peppercorns, 6 cloves, 2 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds, 1 tsp black mustard seeds.  Heat a heavy based frying pan over a medium flame.  Put the peppercorns in first.  After a couple of minutes add the cloves.  After another 2 minutes add the coriander seeds.  Shake the pan gently as the spices roast.  After a couple more minutes a fragrant smell will waft into the kitchen.  Add the cumin & fenugreek seeds.  When the mustard seeds start to pop remove from the heat & pour into a bowl to cool.  Grind with a pestle & mortar.  You can store in an airtight jar for several weeks.  I always keep a quantity on hand.
Now you are ready to make the curry.  Do a good quantity.  You can always freeze or reheat later in the week. For 1 kg meat, in a food processor blend 2 roughly chopped onions, 4 cloves garlic,1 inch piece of ginger until you have a smooth paste.  Add 2 tbsp of the garam masala, 1/2 tsp turmeric & 1 tsp paprika & mix well.
In a heavy based pan add a little vegetable oil and add the spice paste.  It will sizzle & smell quite strong.  Malcolm recommends changing into your gardening clothes and his wife suggests you remove all laundry, coats & bags from the kitchen at this stage, unless you want to smell like a curry house.  I also recommend opening windows because the smell is lovely while cooking but not so much 3 days later. After a couple of minutes add the meat.  You can use any meat you like including chicken, on the bone or off.  On this occasion I used lamb shoulder cut into largish chunks.  This cooks beautifully.  Brown the meat on a high heat and add just enough water to cover.  When the water is simmering, cover and cook until tender.  We cooked the lamb for about two hours. It might take longer if your meat is on the bone.  Less for chicken.  Add water during cooking if it looks dry.  Serve with rice and dhal plus vegetables.
Malcolm also provided a dhal recipe but I prefer mine. Melt ghee or vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add 1 finely chopped onion with 3 cloves crushed garlic.  Sautee until onion is soft then add 2 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chili powder, pinch of salt & a few grinds of black pepper. and sautee 1-2 minutes.  Add 1 cup red lentils. juice of half a lemon & 3 cups water.  Bring to the boil & simmer uncovered until lentils are cooked - about 15-20 minutes.
I served this Nigella Tomato Curry sans coconut rice, because it looks so pretty in the picture.  It tastes as good as it looks.  Nigella is a fan of English mustard powder and it really is a good addition to many things.  I always put a pinch in the cheese sauce for cauliflower cheese.  Do you?
 I wanted an Indian type pudding and I had eaten a yoghurty thing at Moore Wilson's producer day a few weeks ago but couldn't buy it.  Jack Santa Maria came to the rescue.  It's called Shrikand.  Take 600ml thick yoghurt - you could strain it overnight, but it's fine without.  Dissolve a pinch of saffron in 1 dsp rosewater, then whisk into the yoghurt. Mix in about 1 tsp ground cardamom and chill.  Jack noted that in Nepal, cloves, cinnamon & pepper are added with the cardamom so I did that.  He didn't say how much so I did similar quantities.  Adjust to your taste.  Jack mixes though chopped almonds & pistachios before chilling but I added them just before serving with a tsp rose petals.