Quick Lamb Curry

This simple lamb mince dish is based on one from Simple Indian Cookery by Madhur Jaffrey – an old book that I came across at work recently, with loads of terrific and EASY Indian dishes.

There is no rocket science here; the key is in the use of fresh spices – get your mortar & pestle action on!

You could serve this as is, in a bowl, or make it a bit more glamorous with rice, tortillas or naan bread, raita, and maybe a side dish of sauteed mushrooms or mashed potato!

Minced Lamb With Peas

2 tbsp olive oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 tsp cumin seeds, ground

1 tsp coriander seeds, ground

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground

1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tomatoes, chopped

4 tbsp low-fat Greek yoghurt

500 gms minced lamb

cracked pepper, to taste

1 cup water

juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup frozen peas

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger; stir until lightly browned.

Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne pepper, and stir for 10 seconds. Add the tomatoes and yoghurt. Cook over medium heat until the tomatoes have softened, stirring often.

Add the lamb and cracked pepper. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, breaking up all the lumps.

Add the water and bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add lemon juice and peas, return to a simmer and cook gently, uncovered, for a further 10 minutes.

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!

All Aboard the Quinoa Train

I became a fan of quinoa when living in Chile – it’s a staple thing there, just like rice or couscous. At the time, no one in Australia had heard of it, but now it is very trendy and recipes are popping up in all the foodie magazines. Quinoa is extremely nutritious, and goes equally well as a plain side dish or as a more substantial meal, such as this pilaf.

My work colleague, who writes the fabulous Excelsior literature blog, and runs the book club at our library, adores quinoa and recommended this Indian-Spiced Chicken Quinoa Pilaf recipe as one he had tried and found delicious. And I agree! I made it exactly as written and it was completely perfect in every way.

My goodness, this was sooooooooooooo tasty! There was quite a bit of chopping up and measuring things out beforehand, but the actual cooking part was easy. I thought it would be very spicy because of the green chilli and all the spices, but actually it wasn’t so much spicy as flavoursome – a great Indian blend of aromatics that works really well.

This is VERY filling and quinoa, like rice, increases hugely as it absorbs liquid, so this quantity would easily serve 6 if you had some kind of bread and salad with it.

As a variation, I’m thinking prawns instead of chicken would work really well here – added sometime towards the end maybe, as 20 minutes would be way too much cooking time.

This is definitely going in to my saved recipe files.

Happy Fooding!

Aloo Dhal Curry

This website promotes Australian potatoes (including some varieties that I’ve never heard of!) and every now and then puts out a leaflet of recipes in the supermarket, which is how I came across this vegetarian lentil curry recipe. And, it tastes amazing!!

Below is my tweaked version – mainly I’ve just changed a few quantities to suit my taste or the weight of vegies I happened to have, and of course I upped the garlic lol. I also found it took longer than the stated cooking time, but then I did cut my vegies in quite large chunks so that could be my fault, not theirs.

Anyway, this is lovely and flavoursome, and hearty warming Winter fare for this last burst of cold weather (which I really hope is the last….). Or you can check out my similar-but-not-exactly-the-same Potato & Lentil Curry, a great vegetarian curry standby that is a no-fail easy dinner.

Aloo Dhal Curry

1 brown onion, cut into wedges

4 cloves garlic, crushed

3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled & grated

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp coriander seeds, ground

1/2 tsp cumin seeds, ground

2 tbsp olive oil

450 gms potatoes, cut into large dice (leave skin on)

500 gms pumpkin, peeled & cut into large dice

1 1/4 cups brown lentils, rinsed & drained

425 gm can diced tomatoes

2 cups water

cracked pepper, to taste

1 bunch (about 1 cup) fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil on medium heat, and saute the onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, ground coriander and cumin for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add all remaining ingredients except coriander leaves. Bring to a simmer, and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add coriander and stir through to serve.

Serve with yoghurt or raita and naan bread, if desired.

Serves 4.

Happy Fooding!

Spicy Potato & Lentil Curry

This warming vegetable curry is super easy and quick, and makes a great side dish as well as a main vegetarian dish. If serving as a main, have some naan bread and raita or Greek yoghurt on the side, and you won’t be disappointed. The potatoes will break up easily when it’s done, and in fact you could squish them up quite a bit and make this a great filling for roti or tortillas.

And don’t worry, despite the 2 chillies, it is actually NOT high in heat.

Spicy Potato & Lentil Curry

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion (any kind), finely chopped

2 red or green chillies, finely chopped

5 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground

1 tbsp turmeric

6 medium potatoes, cut into 5mm slices

2 x 400 gm cans lentils, drained & rinsed

2 cups vegetable stock

100 gms baby spinach leaves

cracked pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, and saute the onion, chill and garlic for 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Add coriander, turmeric and potatoes, and saute for 5 minutes.

Add lentils, stock and cracked pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are very soft. Add the baby spinach and fold through for about a minute until it has wilted.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish or 3-4 as a main.

Happy Fooding!

Vegetable Curry

Freshly ground spices and garlic make this into something out of the ordinary – not particularly hot, but full of flavour. Serve with brown rice, yoghurt & naan bread, and take the leftovers to work for lunch the next day (if there are any….).

Vegetable Curry

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin seeds (whole)

1 cinnamon stick

1 large brown onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, crushed

250 gms button mushrooms, cut into 3mm slices

425 gm can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp cumin seeds, freshly ground

2 tsp coriander seeds, freshly ground

2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp chilli paste

2 x 425 gm cans chickpeas, drained & rinsed

1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped (about 3/4 cup)

cracked pepper, to taste

100 gms baby spinach leaves

1 tbsp lemon juice

Heat oil in medium saucepan over moderate heat.  Cook cumin seeds and cinnamon stick for 30 seconds, stirring until fragrant.  Add onion and garlic; cook for 3 mins until soft.  Add mushrooms; cook until wilted.  Stir through tomato, water, ground cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli.  Simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally.  Add chickpeas and coriander and pepper; simmer for 10 mins longer.  Stir through spinach and lemon juice until wilted.

Remove cinnamon stick before serving.

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!