Chicken karhai with mint • Blueberry muffins

New member

Curryclub  gained a new member this past week: a dapper chap called Alan. We picked him up last weekend from the excellent North London Cats Protection League (sadly not the furry football team I imagine; http://www.northlondon.cats.org.uk). The little man only has one eye but that’s not holding him back; a couple of days ago he stole a sausage from an unattended toad-in-the-hole and was still clutching onto it when I removed him from the scene of the crime…

Martin Creed, “What’s the point of it”

I visited Martin Creed’s new exhibition “What’s the point of it” at the Hayward Gallery on Friday. The highlights were the giant sythe-like neon sign spinning round at the start of the exhibition and the balloon-filled room mid-way round, which made me feel a bit like an atom. All in all an enjoyable evening, but there were a few crummy items along the way. Special thanks to the kind attendant who went out of his way to point my mother and I out onto one of the balconies in the rain so that we didn’t miss the giant close-up 12 x 12ft projection of a penis…

Tonight’s recipes

Tonight’s dinner was a speedy Curry Easy chicken karhai recipe from Madhur Jaffrey. Essentiallly it’s just marinated chicken quickly stir-fried, and with chopped mint added right at the end. It was pretty tasty but nothing particularly nuanced or memorable. I imagine that it would be quite nice in a pitta or wrap with some raita and greenery, though.

Pudding was blueberry muffins a la Mary Berry (or Mezza Bezza as I like to call her). They were okay, but pretty small and a bit lacking in sugar for my tastes – definitely not the big pillowy objects of my muffin-y dreams.

Marks: 6/10

Madhur Jaffrey’s baked beef curry • Wagamama’s chargrilled pineapple slices

Can you guess who it is yet?

Family feasting time

Is there a better way to spend a grey and dreary weekend than at home  tucking into a mama-made curry and snuggling on the sofa watching IT Crowd boxsets? I think not.

The apple mango hasn’t fallen far from the tree in our case – my mum is also a first-class curry fiend. I bought her a copy of Curry Easy for Christmas as I’ve been really impressed by its simplicity and the depth of flavour in the recipes. This Saturday we sat down to an aromatic dinner of home-made “baked beef” and “okra with shallots”– both were very rich and tasty. Mum also made some fresh naan breads using dough from her bread maker – superior skills.

The undoubted highlight of the meal, however, was pudding. A little ray on sunshine on a wet, grey February day, this tasted like caramelized piña colada on a plate – moreishly sweet and exotic – and I liked it a lot. I think it’s time to dust off my Wagamama’s cookbook… Here’s the gist of things if you’d like to give it a try:

Wagamama’s chargrilled pineapple & coconut broth

(serves 2-4)

• Put a can of coconut milk in a pan with 50g white sugar, the zest of half a lime and juice of a whole one. Add 5cm of lemongrass (outer leaves removed) finely sliced.

• Simmer ingredients on a  medium heat for 5 minutes then set aside to cool.

• Heat a griddle pan till almost smoking. Sprinkle 25g sugar over 6 pineapple rings (fresh or tinned) and cook for 1 minute on each side.

• Strain and reheat the sauce and pour over the pineapple to serve.

Marks: 9/10 all-round

Curry Club, the return

Boom! Curry club is back! It’s been a funny old summer – four weddings and two funerals worth to be precise. Doesn’t have much of a ring to it, but therein lies the rub.

There’s been a whisper of autumn crispness in the air today so we seized the day and decided to make a warming Rajasthani red meat curry from Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Easy (which sounded similar to the amazing dish I ate at Cinnamon Soho). On the side I made some tasty pan-grilled courgettes. The final result was delicious and hot, hot, hot. The recipes were of course, easy…

Rajasthani red meat curry (serves 4–6 people)

• Mix 1 tsp cayenne pepper and 2 tbsp of sweet (or smoked) red paprika.
• Cut up 900g of stewing lamb (shoulder is best) into chunks, rub on the spice mix and leave for a couple of hours.
• Heat 2 tsp oilve oil in a frying pan and fry 5 inches of cinnamon stick, 6 cloves, 8 green cardamon pods and 2 black cardamon pods. After a couple of minutes add one chopped red onion and cook until browned.
• Add 3 tsp ginger and garlic paste, plus 1 tbsp of ground coriander and cook for one minute.
• Add the lamb and cook until browned.
• Add 1 litre of water, bring to the boil, cover with a lid and simmer for an hour (or more) untl the meat is lovely and tender.
• Sprinkle chopped coriander on top and serve with a spoonful or two of greek yoghurt.

Pan-grilled  courgettes (serves 2–4 people)

• Five small courgetters, sliced into quarters
• Fry the slices in olive oil until the skin is turning a chargrilled colour. Lay the slices out and sprinkle with lemon juice, salt, pepper, a sprinking of roasted and ground cumin, and a dash of cayenne pepper.

Try it if you dare.

Marks: 8/10

Kerala–style fish curry • South Indian-style green beans

A first for Curryclub this week in the shape of a fishy supper… My two best friends from school came over for dinner and a catch-up this Saturday (and to watch Romeo and Juliet – no shame there). These lovely ladies gave me a big bag of spices and other curry delights for my birthday this year so I wanted to treat them to a nice dinner without spending too much time in the kitchen.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Kerala-style fish curry recipe was ideal – you can make it with almost any fish (from hake to salmon or mackerel) and it doesn’t need too much fussing over. I struck lucky at our local fishmonger, Harry’s (http://tinyurl.com/p5bhv25), where I managed to barter down a substantial monkfish tail to only £8 – plenty to feed three people. The green bean accompaniment was great too, despite my initial reservations about them tasting a bit bland, and the recipe was very quick to make.

Here’s the fish curry recipe in brief, with my suggested alterations. Serves 2–4 people:

• Buy 550g  fish (with skin) cut into 7cm segments. Spread pieces out and sprinkle with salt.
• Fry 65g sliced shallots in olive oil till brown.
• Add 1 tsp grated ginger and 2 crushed garlic cloves and fry for 1 minute.
• Add 250ml water, 1/2tsp tumeric, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or add as you’d prefer – I foud 1/2tsp too hot), 1/2tsp paprika, lots of black pepper, the juice of a lemon and lots of black pepper.
• Simmer for 5 minutes, then add half a can of coconut milk and simmer again.
• Add fish pieces back into the pan and simmer for 5–10 minutes, or until cooked.

Ariane also fried up some poppadom’s in vegetable oil for us to try– super tasty. Kids, make sure you do this using proper tongs rather than a fork as I’m sporting a bit of a nasty burn on my finger this week after my attempt. Apparently it’s possible to cook them in a microwave too but I’ve not been able to test drive this idea yet as I can’t fit one in my teensy kitchen.

Marks: 7/10. Quick, tasty and easy, but rather lacking in depth. I’d reduce the amount of cayenne pepper next time as it was a bit spicy, even for me. Romeo and Juliet: 10/10; we felt sad that the equivalent for twelve-year-olds today is Twilight…

(PS The last image – above – is Steeve, the fox who lives in the garden of the flat below mine. He clearly got wind of our curry as he’s been getting much braver recently and has been coming quite close to the flat),

Review of Cinnamon Soho coming soon…

Pakistani lamb chops and pan-grilled courgettes

We rolled in with the larks last night after a fun night of birthday celebrations in Tooting Broadway at The Antelope Pub (theantelopepub.com) – where I tried “monk’s beard” greens for the first time – and the Tram and Social bar/club, – a cavernous, shabby-chic warehouse-type affair. Luckily MrCurrycub put some Pakistani lamb chops in the fridge to marinate yesterday and they were just the tonic for our weary heads this evening. The  combination of home-made garam masala (ground in our Cuisinart Mini Food Processor – ideal for a small kitchen) and juicy lamb was toe-curlingly good; eat your heart out Tayyabs.

Both recipes were easy to follow, and the only adjustment he made was to crisp up the fat on the lamb chops in a frying pan  before putting them under the grill, to make them nice and crispy.

We also enjoyed some more vegetable pakora courtesy of our friend Bobby’s mum with dinner, which was a real treat – thank you Mrs Parmar.

I’m looking forward to making something special for next week’s Bank Holiday Curryclub (perhaps a sweet treat), and there’s also a Cinnamon Soho visit in the pipeline for early June – very exciting.

Marks: 9/10 for the lamb chops and 7/10 for the courgettes, which were a great accompaniment, but not particularly special.

Easy like…Curry Easy

Almond chicken & sweet and sour baby aubergines

It’s been a busy few weeks here with weekend trips up to Edinburgh for a hen do and Machynlleth in Wales for a comedy festival, with a few curries along the way: dinner at the always dependable Rasa in Stoke Newington (www.rasarestaurants.com); a takeaway for 21 hungry hens in Edinburgh;  moreish samosas from @TheCurryStall in Machynlleth. The train journey back from Edinburgh was particularly amusing as we somehow found ourselves sandwiched between Vince Cable (serious legend) and David Milliband (surprisingly sauve).

I decided to treat myself to a new curry book this week after leafing through the sumptuous photos and eye-popping colours of Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Easy  at a friend’s house the other day. It’s already been a revelation – the great illustrations make it much more approachable than The Curry Bible and there are lots more interesting vegetable recipes in this book too.

Dinner this Sunday was Curry Easy‘s “Whole Chicken Baked with an Almond & Onion Sauce” and “Sweet and Sour Aubergines” (serves 4). Both of the recipes were incredibly easy to follow, and after 24 hours of marination the chicken tasted out of this world – tender and tangy, with lovely warm ginger undertones; the only change I’d make next time would be to reduce the amount of salt in the chicken before my blood pressure goes through the roof. The sweet and sour aubergines were a doddle too and used much less oil than some of the other aubergine dishes I’ve made.

Mr Curryclub’s leftovers corner

Serves three (using two portions of chicken)

• Heat 2tsp vegetable oil in a small pan, with one cardamon pod, a small cinnamon stick, a pinch of coriander seeds and cloves, one dried chilli and a handful of raisins.
• Add basmati rice for three people to the same pan and a pinch of salt.
• Fry the rice and oil mix while you boil the kettle.
• Add boiling water to cover the rice by 2cm.
• Simmer on a low heat with the lid on until the rice boils dry.
• Pull leftover chicken meat off carcass. Heat in a large pan and add drained rice. Mix thoroughly, pat rice down flat and leave on a medium heat with the lid on until the rice at the bottom goes brown and crispy. Repeat process until all the rice is nice and crispy.  Serve with Greek yoghurt and mango/brinjal pickle.

We also enjoyed some vegetable pakoras with our leftovers tonight courtesy of my friend Bobby’s mum – thank you!

Marks: A whole-hearted 9/10; the leftovers verged on a knockout 10/10.

Lucknow-style black leg chicken biryani

Tomato and cucumber raita, chilli and mango, and a fennel salad

Chicken biryani

MrCurryclub’s identical twin brother came down from Inverness to stay this weekend. The weather was damp and chilly, and the boys were feeling a bit fragile after Saturday’s rugby marathon, so a warm welcome to Curryclub was in order. I decided to make a chicken biryani from the Cinnamon Kitchen’s cookbook, with  Maddhur Jaffrey’s refreshing tomato and cucumber raita on the side. Our lovely house guest whipped up a fresh mango and red chilli chutney, and a refreshing salad of fennel slivers, lemon juice and olive oil.

The biryani recipe was a bit fiddly, but well worth the effort, despite a slight turmeric-in-eye incident (don’t ask). It was really satisfying to dust the cobwebs off our bottle of exotic-looking rosewater, although I’m yet to find out what the alternative ingredient – screwpine – is. The whole dish was lovely and rich, without a “black leg” in sight, and the tangy salads were a great addition. The quantities in the recipe seemed a bit off, however, so I used half the suggested amount of water and salt for cooking  the rice (1.5 not 3 litres, and 1.5 tbsp rather than 3). We substituted green chillis for red ones, and didn’t have any mace unfortunately, but this wasn’t a noticeable omission.

Marks: 8/10 for the whole shebbang

Madhur Jaffrey’s “Moghlai Lamb with Spinach (Palaag Gosht)

Delicious aromas not included

Dinner in progress

Washing up “lite”

A perfect end to a lovely sunny weekend catching up with friends and celebrating milestones, exploring the New Forest and rubber-necking to see the giraffes at London Zoo. I can’t think why I’ve never made this recipe before – it’s very very easy to cook, doesn’t require too many ingredients or spices, and  doesn’t produce gargantuan amounts of washing up. A rich and scrumptious treat.

Marks: 9/10

Recipe adapted from the Ultimate Curry Bible

Marinate 600g of boneless lamb shoulder/neck meat with 4tsp grated ginger, 7 crushed garlic cloves and 2tbsp ground corainder for 30 minutes.

Slice 1 large onion into slim half-rings and fry until golden in 4tbsp olive/vegetable oil. Remove and leave on kitchen paper. Add meat to remaining oil in pan with 1/2tsp tumeric powder, 1tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp salt, and cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat with the lid on.

Gradually add 4tbsp of natural yoghurt, waiting until each spoonful is absorbed, then add chopped, fried onions and 450g thinly sliced raw spinach. Cook on a low heat for 50 minutes, or until the lamb is tender.

Madhur Jaffrey’s “Best ever aubergines”

“Best ever aubergines” in all their glory

I walked several (actually quite enjoyable) miles in the snow to assemble the ingredients for this week’s dish so expectations were high. There was a hankering for a veggie curry at Curryclub towers this weekend as Mr Curryclub made an oxtail stew last night and we were feeling a bit flesh-ed out. To say I had high expectations is an undersatement – I would live ona diet of pure aubergine given the change.

When it came to the crunch, the aubergines were creamy and delicious but greasier than Berlusconi’s hair (implants)… The tangy chickpea and tomato sauce (seasoned with dry Mexican chillis from my friend, Erin) and tart cumin yoghurt  provided nice counterpoints of texture and flavour, and I substitued the fiddly-sounding tamarind chutney for shop-bought brinjal (aubergine) pickle for a lip-smacking sweet finish.

We’re going to Whitstable for my birthday next Sunday (weather permitting) so I’m reschudling curry club next week – watch this space.

Marks: 7/10. Very tasty but we don’t think these are quite as special as the name suggests.

Madhur Jaffrey’s “Chicken with Spinach” (Saag Murgh)

Crispy fried onions

Apologies for the tardy write-up this week – the snow has made me quite soporific! We finally made something from Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimate Curry Bible last weekend. The recipe was a great success. I pureed the spinach so it went a little brown during cooking but still tasted fresh and healthy. The crispy onions added an extra dimension of richness and the dish was far nicer than a takeaway chicken tikka masala – much less cloying. The final 300ml of water made things a bit sloppy though – I’d halve the amount next time. It would be good to find a way to reduce the quantities of cooking oil (I used vegetable oil instead of corn/peanut, for ease) too.

I’m enjoying my education in spice – I used to pour vats of cumin and coriander into my self-invented dishes but see now that it’s all about delicate combinations, not vast quantities. I didn’t realize until this week that cayenne pepper is different to chilli powder – in fact it’s just one of the many components in a good chilli powder! I’m enjoying working our way through the Madagascan cinnamon sticks we bought on honeymoon last October too – they’re delicious! Our flat it definitely taking on the odour of spice…

I also bought some half price asafoetida this week. Wikipedia tells me that it comes from a type of gum produced by a giant member of the fennel family, and “has a pungent, unpleasant smell when raw, but in cooked dishes, it delivers a smooth flavor, reminiscent of leeks”. Could be interesting.

Marks: 7/10. A tasty, easily-made classic. Will retain some crispy onions to sprinkle on top next time. Mr Curryclub also thinks the spinach should be added a little later on in the cooking process.