A Curry Base

It's only fairly recently that we have got a soup maker. I have found it perfect for making the sauce bases for a number of dishes, especially curries. I've generally set the soup maker away while preparing the rest of the curry. On this occasion I made it the day before while I had some chicken marinating in the fridge. The sauce will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. You could freeze it.

Added 12/05/2017 - I tried adding a couple of large dollops of Yogurt to the mix. Very nice.

Ingredients

 

 

Onion - 1 medium sized, roughly chopped.

 

Tinned tomatoes - 400g, chopped or not, it doesn't matter.

 

Ginger - 3 inch piece, peeled and roughly chopped.

 

Garlic - about 6 cloves.

 

Chillies - 2, roughly chopped.

 

Coriander - the stalks from a large bunch. The leaves went into the complete dish.

 

Cumin, Coriander and Turmeric powder - 1 Teaspoon each.

 

Butter - about 25g, or the equivalent in oil.

 

Water - about 200 mil.

 

I don't add seasoning at this stage. That goes into the complete dish.

 

 

The Process

All the ingredients (apart from the butter) ready to be prepared.

Our soup maker takes twenty one minutes and here is the result. Very easy.

This will be linked to some of the curries I do. I used this one for a kind of Chicken Dopiaza.

Mediterranean Roast Vegetables

This goes very well with roast chicken or good sausages. A good cheese works too. Parmesan shavings. I've sometimes stirred in baby spinach leaves or added red onion. It's one of those dishes you can play around with. Put some in a food processor and you have a sauce.

Ingredients

 

 

Aubergine - 1 sliced into 5 mm discs.

 

Courgettes - 2, cut into chunks about 10-12 mm thick and twice as long.

 

Peppers - 3, preferably red, yellow and orange. Cut into 25-40mm sized pieces.

 

Garlic - a whole bulb, separated into the cloves but skins left on.

 

Cherry Tomatoes - about 350g. I usually use baby plum tomatoes but these were going cheap.

 

Olives - about 120g. I use those pitted black Hojiblanca ones you can get at Morrisons deli.

 

Slow Roasted Tomatoes - about 7 or 8 cut into 10mm pieces. Again I get these from the deli and cram them in with the olives.

 

Basil - a 120g pack. Leaves only and the larger ones torn.

 

Olive oil - enough to coat the vegetables.

 

Salt and Pepper - to taste.

 

 

The Process

 

This is what goes in for the first thirty minutes.

The above all chopped and ready to be seasoned and oiled. Remember the Garlic cloves have their skins left on. I've placed the Aubergines on top so they catch the heat and get a little browned. About 160c should do it (Fan Oven). Leave a bit longer and turn the heat up a little if you want the Aubergines further browned. Their skins can get almost toffee like.

The rest of the ingredients to be added at different stages.

The Cherry Tomatoes, Olives and Roasted Deli Tomatoes can go in after about thirty minutes. stir everything together at this point.

After about an hour in total, check everything to make sure it's done the way you like it. Once finished add the torn Basil leaves.

I stirred in about a cup of Italian style sauce - My Italian style sauce.

We had ours with Italian inspired sausages.

And red wine of course.

Chorizo and Chickpea Stew

This is a Spanish inspired stew. Most of the cooking is done in a slow cooker. The only exception to this is frying off the onions.

Ingredients

 

 

Onions - 2 medium sized, chopped.

 

Tinned tomatoes - 2 x 400g.

 

Carrots - 4, chopped.

 

Celery - 2 to 3 sticks, de-stringed and chopped.

 

Chickpeas - 1 x 400g tin. The jarred versions are better but since these are going in the slow cooker it doesn't matter.

 

Red, Green and Brown lentils - 1 Tablespoon each.

 

Chorizo - about 8 inches worth.

 

Lardons - 1 pack, 100g. I used unsmoked.

 

Garlic - 4 cloves. You could put more in if you wish but bear in mind the Chorizo has some garlic in it.

 

Dried Parsley - 2 heaped teaspoons.

 

Dried Oregano - 1 heaped teaspoon. 

Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon - ground. This gives it some heat and compliments the Chorizo.

Salt - half a teaspoon to cook with the onions. Remember the lardons will have salt in them.

Oil - about a tablespoon to cook the onion with.

Water - About 300 mil.

 

The Process

 



The first thing to do is prepare the onions and set them off in a little oil. A medium heat and just keep stirring them in between preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Start off with the tomatoes in the slow cooker, switch it on and just add the rest as you prepare. The order does not matter.

Chorizo, lardons and garlic go into a food processor. They are for flavour and, especially with the lardons, not there for the texture. You may need to add some water to ease the process.

I used the heart from the remains of an old piece of celery.

By now the onions will have browned a little and be soft and sweet.

Everything else is ready. Once it's all in the slow cooker finish off with the water and give it all a good mix. Put the lid on and leave until you are happy with the result. That is mainly down to the lentils. It's an ideal dish to set away in the morning and come back to in the early evening.

The finished result. A very easy, simple dish but very flavoursome.

It's nice with soured cream or yogurt.

Thai Green Curry

One of our favourite dishes is Thai Green Curry; with King Prawns or chicken. We've tried various made up versions. The best by far is from Rafi's Spice Box in York. It has a fresh fragrance that few others can compete with. For some years I have tried to match their version and although I have come close I've always just fallen short. A couple of weeks ago I fell a long way short and so I set to with some careful research to see if I could create something that not only was as good if not better but also a dish I could repeat. It's partly why I do this blog. If I haven't cooked anything for a while I have a record that I can read up on.

Here is the result, the best Thai Green I have made by far and, according to my wife, one that matches Rafi's.

Ingredients

 

The Paste

 

5 Chillies - deseeded and roughly chopped.

 

4 Shallots - roughly chopped.

 

4 Garlic Cloves - roughly chopped.

 

Coriander stalks from a large bunch - the leaves will be used in the curry.

 

3 inch piece Galangal - use ginger if you can't get it.

 

3 Lemongrass stalks - the stubby end, roughly chopped. The rest can join the curry.

 

1 Lime - juice and rind.

 

6-8 Kaffir Lime leaves - I used the dried ones here.

 

1 tablespoon Coriander powder.

 

1 teaspoon Cumin powder.

 

1 teaspoon Black Pepper.

 

1 teaspoon Soy sauce - I used Amoy reduced salt.

 

1 teaspoon Fish sauce.

 

2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

 

 

The Curry

 

 

450-500g of Chicken breast - cut into bite sized pieces.

 

2 Lemongrass stalks - lightly bashed (the top ends of the stalks used in the paste can be added too)

 

8 Kaffir Lime leaves - I used those you get in Sainsbury's fresh herb section. Tear them up a little.

 

4-5 Star Anise.

 

1 Lime - juice only.

 

1 heaped teaspoon of dark sugar.

 

400g Green Beans - topped and tailed and cut into thirds.

 

225g tin Sliced Water Chestnuts.

 

Leaves from a large bunch of Coriander - chopped.

 

400g tin Coconut milk.

 

Fish sauce - a splash.

 

 

The Process

 



To the left you can see the ingredients for the paste.

Pile all the paste ingredients into a food processor and whizz to a fine paste.

Fry the paste for a couple of minutes on a high heat and then reduce the heat. I didn't add any oil as there is plenty, in my view, in the paste itself. Keep stirring on a medium heat and add the Sugar, Lemongrass, Kaffir Lime leaves and Star Anise from the Curry ingredient list.

The pan you can see to the top left of the photo has the green beans in it. They will take about 7 minutes.

Add the chicken and coat in the paste before pouring in the Coconut milk. Stir it all in and allow to simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Towards the end add the Lime juice and extra Fish sauce.

Once the curry is nearly ready add in the Green Beans, chopped Coriander leaves and Water Chestnuts and heat through.

Almost done. It is best left to stand a while to let the chicken rest and curry to cool a little. The flavours are best when not too hot.

While the curry is cooking you can sort out a side dish. I tried the following. Shredded Chinese cabbage, 2 red chillies, chopped, 4 large spring onions sliced lengthways and cut into 2 inch sections, a couple of inches of ginger cut into thin batons, 3 cloves garlic crushed. I fried the garlic, ginger, chillies and white parts of the spring onion for a minute in a tablespoon of oil; added a tablespoon of Soy sauce and a teaspoon of Fish sauce before adding the rest. It worked well with the main dish.

Here is the finished result for the curry. We got three good portions. most people would probably get at least four.

A Salad with Zing

This salad goes well with Thai style chicken or prawn, especially Satay and also as an accompaniment to Mexican food. It's colourful and refreshing with just a little zing to it. Substitute Lemon for the Lime, Cucumber for the Peppers and you've got something like an Indian Kachumber.

Ingredients

 

 

One bag of soft leaves - you can see I used a Spinach, Pea Shoot, Purple Radish and Red Chard combination. Whatever takes your fancy.

 

4 or 5 Chinese Cabbage leaves - chopped into roughly inch square pieces. You could use Iceberg. Basically something with a bit of crunch to contrast the soft leaves.

 

A pack of small tomatoes - Baby plum or whatever you have access to. They had these multi coloured tomatoes in store so I've used those this time. Cut each one in two.

 

Pack of Salad Peppers - either these or Romano peppers. Chopped into roughly inch square pieces.

 

Bunch of Spring Onions - finely chopped. Red onion makes a good substitute.

 

2 Red Chillies - deseeded and finely chopped.

 

1 bunch Coriander - leaves only and finely chopped.

I Lime - juice and rind.

2 Cloves Garlic (optional) - crushed. I gave it a miss this time.

1/2 Teaspoon Cumin (optional) - It got included this time.

3 Tablespoons Virgin Olive Oil - a good Rapeseed oil works well.

Salt and pepper to season.

If I'm using it with an Oriental style dish I'll sometimes add a splash of Soy Sauce. Chopped radishes go well in it too.

The Process

Dead simple really. Just chopping. The photo to the left shows all the ingredients I used bar the Lime, spice, seasoning and oil.

All chopped and mixed. Enough for up to six servings depending on how much you like salads.

It got a 10 from my wife so is included.