Korma Curry

Over the weekend I cooked the Korma again so that I could Blog it. You will notice in this one the colours are a lot darker than you would normally expect from a Korma with coconut milk, it is just that the guests asked for some heat, so some extra chilli powder and flakes as well as some extra spices were added to give that much needed heat but I tried to keep the taste of the Korma without the salty hit I tend to get from a Vindaloo or a hot Rogan Josh.
Another hint I was given by an Indian friend when I asked about cooking spices and I have found it THE MOST IMPORTANT hint of all. When you cook spices you cook them on a low heat until they are "Fragrant". Fragrant is when you are unable to discern individual components of the mix by smell during the cooking process and you are only able to smell the one fragrant spice aroma.  

The paste first; all done in a Mortar and Pestle
Paste
1 tsp Turmeric
10 cardamom pods (Take seeds out discard the shell)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
10 Black peppercorns
1tbs Ground paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground Cumin
2 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp dried Chilli flakes (optional)
2 cloves garlic
1tbs chopped fresh ginger
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Ingredients.
2 Onions (sliced finely)
1 tbs Ghee
6 Boneless chicken thigh fillets cut into 4cm cubes
1 cup chicken stock
1 400ml tin of cooconut milk
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Very easy to do and as it cooks you have a wonderful spicy aroma drifting through the home.

In a pot, cook the onions in the ghee until they are soft and translucent. Add the spice mix and cook slowly until fragrant. If this gets too dry when cooking add a little water to keep it moist but not wet.
When it smells right, add the chicken and stir to get the paste over all the pieces. Add the cup of chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cook on a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often to get all the chicken to turn and then add the tin of coconut milk.
Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer uncovered and let bubble away for an 90 minutes or even two hours if you have the time, the longer the better. The chicken thighs are a fatty cut and along with the coconut milk will leave an oily residue on top of the curry, you can spoon it away or stir it in before serving. (your choice)
Serve with rice.

Onions in ghee

My spice dish (wonderful aromas)

dry mix before adding to the mortar and pestle 

Paste stirred through chicken

Stock and coconut milk added

Simmering away

Hope you enjoy...........

This weeks recipe

This is a family recipe handed down from my sister-in-law's side. Very easy to make and delicious but it is not a recipe I recommend you make every week. Your doctor will have you "unsubscribing" from my blog and we can't have that now can we?

 Hope you enjoy. As usual when it comes to anything my family or I have going, there will be a catch somewhere and sometimes the recipes, to some degree, are open for interpretation. There are two instances in this recipe that you need to exercise some self management with. 

1. notice the brown sugar ("2 and a bit cups"............ )
2. and my favourite ( Cook in a 175 degree oven till cooked............... what can I say?) 

Sticky date cake and sauce

This makes 3 loaf tins

Soak (10 mins) 500gs of pitted dates in 600mls of boiling water that has 2 teaspoons of bi-carb soda and 120gs of butter.

All in a mixing bowl:

2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

5 large eggs

360g of SR flour

2 and a bit cups of brown sugar

250g of walnuts (chopped not crushed)

Add date mixture into the mixing bowl with the above – and using the electric mixer, mix for 5 mins

pour mixture evenly into 3 greased loaf tins.

Cook in 175 degree oven till cooked.

Sauce

300 mls of cream

100g of butter

300g of brown sugar – dark brown sugar is better if you have it.

2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

Bring to boil and then turn right down and simmer for 5 mins.

Serve warm with ice-cream.  

 Date Cake finished spongy and moist. 170* for 45 minutes

Sauce caramalised beautifully 

Potato and Leek soup with Bacon
(a winter warmer that can be served for lunch with crusty bread and glass of ice cold Sauvignon Blanc)

Ingredients 

•       6 good size potatoes peeled and cut into 5cm cubes
•       2 leek stems washed and trimmed and sliced thinly
•       2 med onions chopped finely
•       Tbsp of mixed Italian herbs
•       2 cloves garlic crushed
•       200 grams of bacon pieces
•       1 litre chicken stock
•       Tbsp olive oil
•       300 ml cream
•       200gm shredded tasty cheese
•       1/2 cup chopped spring onions.

     

Method

In a good size saucepan or casserole dish, fry the onion, leek, garlic and herbs until the onion is translucent. Add the potato cubes and stir through to make sure all the potato pieces are covered with the mix.

Pour in the chicken stock and just cover the  potatoes.

Turn up the heat and boil until the potatoes are soft and can be pierced easily with a fork.

While this is boiling fry off the bacon pieces.

When the potatoes are soft, using a stick blender, blend the contents into a thick soup with no lumps.

Stir in the cheese allowing it to melt, then 1/2 the cream and just before serving stir in the bacon pieces.

When serving place a tablespoon of cream in the centre of the soup serving and run a spoon gently through it to add some design to your plate. Finally sprinkle a small amount of chopped spring onions as a garnish and serve.

Sweating the onions leek and garlic

The potatoes peeled waiting 

Cubed and mixed

Stock added and set to boil

Bacon fried off

Blended / bacon cheese and cream added. 

Great consistency, a really nice thick winter soup

Big Weekend Coming

Immediately getting away from my goal of this site i.e preparing easy meals for one or two people, Jen and 26 of her friends are coming to dinner......  Well not quite, what will be happening is a "Patchwork and Quilting" weekend here in Goondiwindi. I have been given the task of preparing lunch and dinner for them all ; prepared at home, served on site.

At the moment the menu is 

Lunch  -- Fruit Platter
            -- Potato and Leek Soup with Bacon 

Dinner -- Indian Korma Curry
            -- Osso Buco 
            -- Rice

I will put the recipes up for the meals and some pics of the preparation and hopefully the successful final result.

Wish me luck.

follow up from today...... success! ! ! 

Welcome to my blog

Why do I love to cook? 

35 years ago I met and fell in love with the most wonderful person in the world. Jen was a Home Economics teacher at the time and I was a farmer's son living at home, fed well and often. Given the opportunity to cook for myself from time to time saw me go to fried steak, eggs and potato. 
As a Home Ec. teacher Jen was all about taste, variety and vegetables. She made sure I ate correctly and well, hence my slow demise from an 8 stone weakling to a rather robust individual 35 years later.
I asked Jenny to teach me how to cook, she refused! What she said she would teach me was what happens to food when you cook it. How different ways of preparing the same food gives you different results, how adding small amounts of the correct spices creates wonderful results. How the toughest and meanest cuts of meat taste better than the finer cuts when prepared correctly. It has been a 20 year journey (I'm obviously a slow learner) and one that I have loved.
I believe there are many out there who would love to prepare something "different" from time to time rather than put the "meat and three veg" on the plate every night, but stall when it comes to what and how. Hopefully I would like my blog to provide some inspiration to the "what and how". To get you away from the boring tried and true, and give you some opportunity to experiment with easy to find healthy ingredients and simple to prepare tasty meals.

Hope you enjoy.