Cashew Nut Curry and Grilled Banana Prawns with Black pepper and Curry Leaf Sauce

Now, I don't live on your typical suburban block, so when the neighbor says to me that our dinner last night smelled really good, you know that there has to be some weight in that statement! That, or there was a good stiff breeze blowing I their direction that evening!

I wish I could take a bow and say thank you, yes it was a wonderful meal, and feel like an absolute domestic goddess, but unfortunately I can take absolutely none of the credit.

You see, I was reading one of favourite regular blogs, Muppys, and saw her wonderful menu, and of course I had to copy it! Now the credit of course, as Muppy openly admits, doesn't belong with her either - in fact her inspiration came from watching the SBS series My Sri Lanka with Sydney based chef, Peter Kuravita, of Flying Fish fame.

All I can say about this menu is...... You have to try it! It is absolutely fabulous! The flavours, the aromas...... I'm salivating again just thinking about how good this meal was! It truly urge you, make the effort, source out the indigents, and give it a go. It really isn't that hard, once you have everything chopped up, it virtually cooks itself, and then all you have to do is quickly fry off the prawn the prawns.

Of course, I did make a couple of amendments, some by accident, some by choice, but check out the original recipe, and make your own adaptions. After the link I will tell you my adaptions to the recipes.

Cashew Nut Curry

Cashew Nut Curry Sauce simmering away!!!

* Changes:

Forgot to buy green chillies, - so used 1 x red chilli - heat volume was good, but if you like hotter, go with the green chilli.

Ooops, forgot the roasted curry powder as a garnish!!!

Grilled Banana Prawns With Black Pepper and Curry Leaf Sauce

Black Pepper and Curry Leaf Sauce

Changes:

Couldn't find Bombay Onions, - used purple/red onions.

Oooops, didn't do all the garnishes - had no idea what a pomelo was, and.... well I was getting hungry by this stage and the aromas had been wafting around for about an hour now!!!!  Just get those puppies on the plate!!!!

Please, please try this, you will not be disappointed! You have my word on this!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Muppy for giving me the inspiration to try this dish!!!!

Malaysian Chicken Curry with home made Naan Bread

Do you ever see a photo of a dish and know that you just have to make it?  I do it all the time.

I saw the photo for this dish in the MasterChef magazine several months ago.  It looked so good, I just knew I had to make it.  I even went out and bought all the ingredients, but just never seemed to get around to making it.  Anyway I was revisiting the magazine and ran across the picture again. That was it, I just had to make it now!  The trouble was after going to all the effort of making the dish I was really let down by the flavours.

I think if I ever made it again I would do it all a little differently.  It needed a little more flavour - perhaps a little more chilli, and I really think the curry leaves need not only to be a garnish, but cooked within the dish as well.

Malaysian Chicken Curry
From MasterChef Magazine April edition

Serves 4

2tbs vegetable oil
20 curry leaves *
1/2 tsp chilli flakes, or more to taste
1 cinnamon quill
1 onion, halved, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
185g jar Malaysian Curry Paste **
800 - 1kg chicken thigh fillets, trimmed and cut into cubes
2tbs coconut milk ***
2 large desiree potatoes, quartered lengthwise
1 tsp sugar
50g unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
coriander sprigs, hard boiled eggs and steam rice to serve

Heat oil in a deep frying pano voer medium high heat.  Add curry leaves and chilli flakes, and fry for 1 minute or until curry leaves are crisp.  Remove and drain on a paper towel.

Add the cinnamon, onion and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft.  Add the curry paste and stir for 2 minutes or until fragrant.  Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes until well coated.  Add 1/2 cup water, coconut milk, potatoes and sugar.  Season with salt and stir to combine.

Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over low-medium heat for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked.

Divide the curry among bowls and scatter with the curry leaves, peanuts and coriander sprigs.  Serve with quartered hard boiled eggs.

* I think you need to double the amount - fry off half and put the other half in the curry while cooking
** I used Ayam brand
*** I omitted the water and added more coconut milk - around 200ml

Homemade Naan Bread

FromMeat on the Menu Thermomix Cookbook

1 egg

50 olive oil

200g milk

210g greek style plain yoghurt

2 tsp yeast

600g bakers flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

Place the egg, oil, milk, yoghurt and yeast into the TM bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 3.  Cook for 4 minutes at 50 degrees on speed 3.  Leave in TM bowl for approximately 10 minutes to activate yeast.

Add the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into the TM bowl.  Set dial to closed lid position and knead for 3 minutes on interval speed.  Place the dough into a large oiled bowl.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for up to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to at least 200 degrees C.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand until smooth.  Divide the dough equally. Roll out to 1/2cm thickness.  Stretch by hand into a pear shape.  Place onto a baking sheet that has been lined with baking paper.  Bake in the hot oven for around 5-8 minutes, or until golden. You do not need to turn them over.

 Serve with curry....

Has anyone else made this curry - I would be interested to hear your thoughts on it.  I just think it lacked a little something - I was so disappointed after all that anticipation.

It does look nice though!!!!

Massaman Curry and some exciting news!

There is nothing that evokes my olfactory system more than the words Massaman curry.  As soon as I see or hear the words I can already imagine that wonderfully heady, cinnamon infused aroma that is the Massaman.

On MasterChef last week when they had the pressure test - which should have been called "Fix my Massaman - if you even know what goes in one!" I knew straight away that I would have to make a Massaman, and very soon.  The difference for me this time, was that I was going to attempt one from scratch.  Usually I have relied on commercial pastes as the base, and then added the other ingredients - this time around I wanted the real deal!!  I did a bit of research along with my friend "Mr. Google", and I combined elements from several recipes to get the combination of flavours that I love.

What were the 2 core ingredients that I wasn't going to miss out on though???? What were they???Peanuts and potato!!!!  I am sure I wasn't the only one sitting at home yelling out - get the peanuts, get the potatoes!!!!  I mean really, Andrew professed to making Massaman at home on a regular basis!!!!  I don't think so!!!  How could you forget those two key elements - especially when they are sitting right there in pain view???

This recipe evolved over several days, due to unforeseen circumstances, and I can't say that I am upset about that.  I think by taking my time and making it over several days I allowed the flavours to fully develop.  Saying that however, if you are gung ho and have all day - go right ahead and make it in one day (but I think having the basic curry cooked, and resting for 24 hours makes a world of difference!! You decide.)

Massaman Paste
Makes approximately 250g (or enough for 2 curries - you can freeze the rest!)
Adapted from foodiesite.com

1 tbs crushed chilles (or to taste)
1tbs coriander seeds
1tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
5 cloves
5 cardamon pods, crushed
2 star anise
3cm stick cinnamon bark
8 shallots, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3cm piece galangal, finely chopped
8 dried shrimp *
5cm pice lemongrass, finely chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves, veins removed, finely diced

* The recipe specified shrimp paste - but I did not have any - so used the shrimp instead.

Now while I did use the Thermomix to dry fry the spices, and I certainly advocate using the Thermomix for this I am not going to specify times as I was doing this for the first time, and it was all a bit of a hit and miss.  It did work, but I am unsure now how long etc each stage took.

Place the chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cardamon pods, star anise, and the cinnamon bark in a dry pan over a moderate heat, and cook them for a few minutes or until the spices are aromatic.  Place the spices in a food processor (TM) and grind on high speed until you have a powder.

Pour a little oil in a pan and saute the shallots, garlic, galangal, and shrimp paste if using (I added the dried shrimp in the last stages)  Cook over moderate heat, or until slightly browned.  Remove the mixture from the heat, and allow it to cool slightly.  When cooled, place in the food processor with the ground spices.  Add the lemon grass and lime leaves, and puree the mixture until you have a smooth paste.

Place the paste in a well sealed jar, and keep refrigerated.  It will keep for up to 3 months.  Or you can freeze the unused portion.

Now to the actual meat component of the dish

For this component I adapted a recipe that I found at cuisine.com.au.

1.2kg Stewing steak, such as chuck
1 large onion, sliced
2 x400g tins coconut cream *
4 tbs of curry paste (from recipe above)
1 litre beef stock
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 tbs fish sauce
1 1/2 tbs palm sugar (I used Jeenys cubes)
1/2 tbs tamarind concentrate
roasted peanuts to serve
chopped coriander to serve

* Allow one of the cans of coconut cream to sit undisturbed for several hours - you want to skim the creamy top part off!!

Trim the meat of any excess fat and sinew and cut into 5cm cubes.

Heat a small amount of oil in a large heavy based saucepan and fry the onions until soft and lightly golden.  Add the meat, season with a little salt and continue to cook the meat until it is browned all over.

Open the can of coconut cream and scoop out the thick cream that has risen to the top.  Add this and the curry paste to the pot, lower the heat and cook gently for approximately 5 minutes.  Add the beef stock and the remainder of the can of coconut cream.  Mix well.  Add the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves, and cook, uncovered on a slow steady simmer for 1-2 hours, or until you can see the meat beginning to become very tender.

At this stage you can allow the curry to cool slightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours to allow the flavours to develop, or you can add the remaining ingredients.

As I had allowed my curry to sit overnight, when I placed it back on the stove I added an additional cup of coconut cream.  Bring to a gentle simmer, and add the potatoes.  Adjust the seasonings to taste.  For me a good Massaman is slightly sweet with a good sense of cinnamon.  At this stage I added a sprinkle more of cinnamon powder to the mixture.

Don't forget the potatoes!!!

Serve over steamed jasmine rice, topped with peanuts and coriander.

Making this dish over several days meant that I had the wonderful aromas lingering around my kitchen for quite some time - something I was not unhappy about!!!!

So what is the exciting news I hear you ask?

This blog has been a good starting point in the food world for me, but I have decided to take it one step further.  As you know I became the proud owner of a Thermomix at Christmas time, and I think the time is right for me to combine my passion for food with my love of the Thermomix.  So yesterday I started my own business and became a Thermomix Consultant!  Of course I still have to complete basic training - but I will be up and running in a couple of weeks.

If there are any loyal readers out there who would like to help me get up an going, (I need some practice in front of people!!!) and would like to have a demonstration (and live within reasonable distance of the Sydney Metropolitan area) I would love to come and introduce you to the wonderful world that is Thermomix!!!

Thai Seafood Curry

I know it has been a long time since my last post, and yes we have been eating!!  I really don't know what happened this last week - either I was rushing to get the meal to the table and forgot to take a photo, or the meal wasn't WOW - and I just didn't think I should blog about it.  The weeks just seems to blur along at the moment - we have so much activity going on after school - and we are eating at weird hours - so food, well it becomes just a chore!

Anyway I tried my hardest last night to rectify this terrible wrong.  I scoured the cook books looking for something that I could blog about (sad existence isn't it??)  I had a hankering for fish, prawns, any kind of seafood really.  I almost got off track along the way when I found a recipe for duck.  I have had this wonderful duck dish at a greek restaurant - meltingly tender duck baked in a claypot with honey, apricots and strawberries - the recipe I found had honey and orange, I could almost see and taste the modifications to "my" dish....... No!!!  Back on course!!!  I want seafood!!  No duck tonight!!!

So what did we have?  Well of course you know, you have already read the title to the post - so yes it was Thai Seafood Curry.  Oh it was so good!  Nice and spicy - but not too spicy, or Mr. CCC would complain - but fresh, crunchy, seafoody and spicy - I'm in heaven!

Thai Seafood Curry
Adapted from Delicious Quick Smart Cook Cookbook

Serves 2

280g fish, cut into 3cm cubes (I used Marlin)
250g green prawns (peeled weight - I purchased around 500g)
380g squid hoods (2 tubes)
400ml coconut milk
400ml chicken stock
1 lemongrass stem (pale part only), halved
3 kaffir lime leaves (that's 6 leaves in total)
3-4 tbs green curry paste (to taste)
3 tsp fish sauce
3 tsp caster sugar
1 cup frozen peas
2-3 tbs lime juice
1 cup bean sprouts, trimmed
1 cup thai basil leaves
1 cup coriander leaves
1 long red chilli, chopped

lime wedges and steamed jasmine rice to serve

Cut the squid hood along one side so that you have one large piece of calamari.  Score the soft inside with a sharp knife, making small diamond shapes, making sure not to cut the whole way through.  Once scored cut into 2 cm wide "ribbons, cut these ribbons in half.

Place the coconut milk, chicken stock, lemongrass and kaffir leaves in a saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to the boil.  Add the curry paste, fish sauce and sugar (taste at this point, and adjust to suit).  Decrease heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the peas, allow the mixture to come back to the boil.  Add the seafood and half of the chopped chilli, and simmer gently for approximately 2 minutes, or until the prawns have turned pink.  Stir in the lime juice.

Ladle into bowls, top with bean sprouts, remaining chilli, thai basil leaves, and coriander.

Serve with steamed rice and lime wedges.

I feel redeemed now - a decent meal at last!! Definitely broken the "food drought" now!!

So tell me Dear Readers, do you have weeks where the meals just become a blur?  Where you make food that is quick, easy, and probably just a little bit boring?  Please tell me you do, just so I feel a little bit better!

Light Butter Chicken

I love Indian food, but sometimes you come away with a heavy feeling.  When I saw this recipe for butter chicken, I looked mainly at the ingredients, they were all light and healthy.  Then I looked at the method, and saw that it was prepared in a way that was different to how I had ever made this before - interesting!  I did slightly alter the recipe (as usual) I hope it's for the better.

Butter Chicken


Serves 4-6


1/2 cup butter chicken curry paste (I used Pataks)
200g Greek style yoghurt
1.2 kg chicken thighs, fat removed, cut into 3cm pieces
1 tbs oil
1 large onion, cut in half, then into thin wedges
2 cloves crushed garlic
400g can diced tomatoes
120g baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup chopped coriander


Steamed basmati rice to serve
roasted cashews and coriander sprigs, to garnish


Combine the curry paste and yoghurt in a glass or ceramic bowl.  Add the chicken, stir to combine.  Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to marinate for at least 2 hours.


Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan over medium high heat.  Add the onion and garlic, cook stirring for 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft.  Add the tomatoes, cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture comes to the boil.


Add the chicken and yoghurt mixture, stir until combined.  Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat until just simmering.  Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.  Stir through the spinach and coriander.


Spoon the rice into bowls, top with the butter chicken, garnish with chopped coriander and cashews.


This is a really lovely mild curry that even the kids will like.  To increase the intensity of the curry try adding a spoonful of hot mango chutney on top, and stirring through.  Everyone is happy then!!!!

Massaman Curry

You know funnily enough I can still recall the very first time I had a Massaman Curry.

It was in the early 80's at a restaurant that was located in a Bowling Alley in California - the name of the restaurant escapes me ... something or other Siam? - but the beautiful warm exotic flavours of this curry do not elude me.  The melt in your mouth soft cubes of beef, the chunks of potato, and the pieces of peanuts, all held together with a lovely warm brown sauce that has undertones of cinnamon and cardamon - the hint of heat, but also sweetness!  You know you can smell and taste it, can't you??

Thai food had not yet caught on in Sydney at this time, so upon reflection, I travelled a long way to taste my first Thai dish.

The Massaman Curry was exotically alluring, not brash and in your face fiery, like some of the Mexican food that I had been trying.  Cooking in California was a challenge for me on many levels, but even armed with Charmaine Solomon's "Asian Bible"  I could not replicate it.  It wasn't until I returned to Australia many years later that I started experimenting with this dish.

The version I made last night did not disappoint.  It filled the house with that lovely sweet, cinnamon and cardamon fragrance, and was so easy to make.


Massaman Curry


Serves 4


2 tbs oil - I used Rice Bran Oil
1kg casserole beef, cut into cubes
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 can (114g) Massaman Curry paste
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
270ml coconut milk (I used light - the M.O.T.H. thinks it should have been full fat!!)
3 large potatoes, peeled, cut into 3cm cubes (do this after the dish is nearly cooked)
2 dried bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
4 cardamon pods, lightly bruised (I did this gently on a chopping board - you just want to break the skin)
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs palm sugar, you can used brown sugar also


Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/160 degrees C (fan forced).


Heat a small amount of the oil in a heavy based flameproof casserole dish over medium high heat.  Cook the beef in batches, until it is just browned.  Put aside.


Heat remaining oil, add onion and garlic.  Cook stirring for approximately 3 minutes, or until the onion is soft.


Add the curry paste, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant.


Return the beef to the pan.  Add the stock, coconut milk, bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamon, fish sauce, lemon juice, and sugar.  Cover, and bring to the boil.


Transfer the dish to the oven.  Bake for 2 hours, or until the beef is tender.


What I actually did was leave it covered for 1 hour, then removed the lid for the 2nd hour of cooking - just to reduce the sauce a little.  This dish can actually take additional cooking (we had to watch the news so it sat for an additional 30 minutes in the oven and it wasn't harmed in the least!!)


When the meat is cooked place your potato cubes in a microwave safe dish with a little water and cook them until they are just tender.


Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamon pods from the dish, and add the potato cubes.  Mix Gently.


Serve this beautiful curry with steamed Jasmine Rice, garnished with chopped peanuts and coriander, and mango chutney on the side!

I must apologise Dear Readers, I was so excited and hungry last night I forgot to take a photo!!!  Maybe the leftovers tonight will look appealing?!?

So Dear Readers do you have a food memory from a time when you have travelled - or can you remember your first Massaman???  As they have said many times on MasterChef - nothing evokes memories more than food!!

So what is on the menu this week you ask?

Shepherd's Pie
Oven Baked Chicken Stroganoff
One Pot Sausage Stew
Chianti Style Beef Rigatoni
Lentil Barley & Mushroom Soup

and maybe a sweet treat or two!

So make sure you come back to see how it all turned out, and bring a friend!!  There's always room at the table for a few more!!