MALABAR SEAFOOD CURRY: A LITTLE BIT OF KERALA IN LA

After a few days of pretty good eating in the peachy state of Georgia (Savannah post soon come), our return home left us wanting not only a bit of comfort eating, but also in one of those all too rare moods where meat was not top of the agenda.

It was Sybil who suggested we use up a few bags of frozen prawns and scallops lurking at the back of the freezer and, when that was combined that with my own urge for something with a little bit of spice, it had me reaching for this terrific recipe for Malabar Seafood curry given to me by a friend from the southern Indian state of Kerala.

The use of coconut is very typical of many dishes from the area and you could substitute the shrimps and scallops that I used for white fish or other types of seafood. I have made similar dishes with clams, mussels and even chunks of lobster and crab. The key to a great end result is to poach the seafood in the sauce towards the end of the cooking time so that it does not over cook and become tough.

Some versions call for tamarind to be added as a souring agent. While that can be delicious, I find that the addition of fresh lime juice at the very end of the cooking time achieves much the same affect and gives an added freshness to the dish, as indeed does the garnish of grated lime zest.

Definitely worth a try.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)
12 Large Shell On Shrimp
5 Large Scallops (sliced into three discs)
1 13oz Can Coconut Milk
1 Can's Worth Of Water
½ Large White Onion (sliced)
3 Cloves Garlic (peeled and minced)
3 Green Chillies (seeded and minced)
1 Inch Fresh Cinnamon Stick
1 Inch Fresh Ginger (peeled and minced)
½ Tsp Fenugreek Seed
½ Tsp Mustard Seed
3 Green Cardamom Pods
1 Tsp Ground Coriander
1 Tsp Ground Turmeric
1 Tsp White Pepper
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Lime (juice and zest)
Vegetable Oil For Cooking


METHOD
Heat the oil in a large, deep sided frying pan.
Add the fenugreek seed, mustard seed, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods and fry for two minutes to allow them to flavour the oil.
Add the minced ginger, chilli and garlic and sweat for a few minutes until they begin to lose their raw smell.
Add the sliced onion and cook until soft and golden.
Combine the salt, sugar and ground spices and mix with a little water to form a paste.
Add to the pan and combine well with the existing contents.
Cook for five minutes until the spices begin to release their oils.
Add the can of coconut milk and the same amount of water.
Stir well and bring the sauce to a simmer.
Allow the sauce to cook until the contents of the pan have reduced by half.
Add seafood and poach gently until it is cooked.
Add the juice of one lime an stir in gently
Spoon into a serving bowl and sprinkle with lime zest.
Serve with plain boiled white rice and, if you can find them Appams or “hoppers” as they are known (rice flour batter pancakes)

PORK VINDALOO: THAT RECIPE ONE MORE TIME

This is not the first time I have posted a recipe for Vindaloo on DH.

However, as we have a lot of new readers recently and this is one of the recipes I am most requested to send when I receive e-mails, I thought it was worth posting once more. I am also developing the dish each time I prepare it, so it may have altered from the last time I shared it, two years ago.

Although Vindaloo is associated with the Indian state of Goa. It has its origins in Portugal. It was first mentioned in England in 1888, when one W. H. Dawe explained it in The Wife's Help to Indian Cookery,

"Vindaloo or Bindaloo--A Portuguese Karhi.... The best Vindaloo is prepared in mustard-oil.... Beef and pork, or duck can be made into this excellent curry."

Traditionally Goan Vindaloo is a mixture of roasted spices and vinegar and, unlike much of the rest of India, the locals were able to use pork because they were predominantly christian and had no dietary laws forbid it.

It has its roots in a dish still found in parts of Portugal today, "Carne Vinha-d'Alhos" a delicious, thin stew of pork, garlic and white wine vinegar. On arrival in India, it was transformed into the spicy dish we are more familiar with today, although I hope you will find the recipe below a suitable alternative to the British curry house version, which seems to want to replicate as much as possible, the act of eating a plate of broken glass.

Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

INGREDIENTS (feeds 4-6 people)

2lbs of Pork (preferably pork butt/shoulder)

For the Marinade
1/2 Cup palm vinegar (or white vinegar if you can't find palm)
2 inches ginger, peeled
4 Fresh chillies finely minced
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 black cardamom (optional)


SPICES (If you don't have whole spices, use pre ground, just make sure they are fresh)
5 Cloves
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Ground Cumin seeds
1 tsp Ground Coriander seeds
1 tsp Ground Fenugreek seeds
2 tsp Hot chilli powder
1 tsp Ground ginger
1 tsp Ground cinnamon or a cinnamon stick
1 tsp Sugar
½ tsp Salt

1/2 Large white onion (sliced)

Oil for frying

METHOD

Trim the pork of excess fat, cut into 1in cubes and place in a bowl.

Blend the ginger, chilli and garlic to a fine paste with a little water and salt and pour over the pork, massaging well into the meat.

Add the palm vinegar to the bowl and massage into the meat.

Roast the whole spices in a pan and toast until they begin to release their scent.

Grind them and add all the other ingredients except the onion.

Pour over the pork and massage well into the meat.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to marinate for at least two hours. This allows the spices to penetrate and the vinegar to help tenderise the tougher cut of meat.

When ready to cook, heat a little oil in a deep sided pan and fry the onions until gloden.

Pour the entire contents of the bowl into the pan (watch out for the waft of vinegar steam that will shoot up.

Add 1/2 pint of water, stir well and reduce the heat.

Cover the pan and allow to simmer on a low heat for about three hours, checking to see when the meat is cooked and that it does not catch at the bottom of the pan. If it does, add a little more water.

After two hours, remove the lid to allow the sauce to reduce. The end result should be quite a dry curry, perfect to serve over plain white rice

PRAWN PATHIA: HOT, SOUR, SWEET, PERFECT

Believe it or not, HP is a hard man to please. It's a Bengali thing and, when food is placed before him, his first words after tasting are usually "very good, but if I had one criticism........."

So, when I received an e-mail from him entitled "Curry" I opened it with no little trepidation as I knew it referred to a dish of Prawn Pathia I made the day before and left for him to eat at his convenience. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the mail and it read "excellent stuff, I had two large bowlfuls"

Lavish praise indeed coming from HP.

In truth, it should not have been that great a surprise, this really is a terrific curry and the only real surprise was that it had been nearly ten years since I made this hot, sour, sweet and delicious Parsee seafood dish.

Two things are certain, however. The next time I cook something for HP he will say "Very good, but if I had one cricitism...." and that it wont be ten years before I make a Prawn Pathia again.

Here, in case you want to give it a shot yourself is the recipe.

Enjoy and do report back if you try it.

PRAWN PATHIA

INGREDIENTS

200gm frozen prawns (you can also use large shelled king prawns)
4 fluid oz white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 white onion (diced)
1 Red pepper (seeded and sliced in strips)
3 cloves garlic
1 inch fresh ginger (peeled)
5 green Serrano chillies (if you use Birds Eye,reduce to three)
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric.
1 teaspoon salt
1 8oz tin of chopped tomatoes
8 fluid oz of water.
1 lemon
2 tablespoons of oil for cooking

METHOD

Blend the garlic, chilli and ginger into a paste with a little water and salt.

Dissolve the brown sugar and tamarind in the vinegar and add the chilli/garlic/ginger paste combining well.

Heat the oil in the pan and fry the onions until soft and golden.

Add the slices of red pepper.

Add the ground spices and salt and a fry until they lose their raw smell (about three to four minutes). If they begin to stick, add a little water.

Add the vinegar/tamarind/garlic mixture to the pan and mix well with the onions and spices.

Add the tomatoes and the water and mix well.

Reduce the sauce by half (it should be quite a thick consistency by now)

Add the prawns and cook through.

Before serving, sprinkle with lemon juice.

Serve with plain boiled rice, or as I did with a dish of spiced sweet potatoes and peas.

THE BRITISH CURRY AWARDS: WELL DONE WASIM (AND A GREAT COMPETITION)

Last night saw me join my good chum, Wasim Tayyab, half a dozen of his friends and Petra “Choc Star” Barran at the 5th Annual British Curry Awards. It was a colossal event with close to 2,000 people gathered together in Battersea to witness the presentation of weighty trophies to the best “Indian” restaurants from all regions of the country.

The main event was hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald. Chris Tarrant also popped up and exhorted the gathered congregation of wealthy Asian business people to dig deep into their pockets for the worthy Lords Taverner’s Charity. Judging by the event car parking lot, stuffed with Bentley’s, Jaguar's, Maserati’s and Porche's, there was plenty of money for them to dig deep for. There is, obviously plenty of money in curry.

Food was provided by Madhu’s Restaurant in Southall, no mean task when feeding a couple of thousand of your peers, and the entertainment was loud and a lot of fun. But, we were here for the awards and Wasim, in true fashion, barely noticed when a photo of Tayyab’s dining room was flashed on the screen as a nominee for the “Best Casual Dining” category and was busy chatting to Petra when his name was read out as the winner.

Champions had been asked to keep their speeches brief and not to thank every member of their family, which with Asian families meant the event could have gone on for days. Even so, Wasim’s “er, thanks” was a measure of the man’s reticence to be in the spotlight and quite frankly he looked terrified as the battalion of photographers began flashing away in his general direction.

You may have noticed that we have begun to offer some fun prizes on Dos Hermanos recently. We get approached to do a great deal, but pick and choose what we consider the very best. Well, on the 25th November, Wasim is throwing an incredible dinner for friends and regulars of Tayyab to celebrate the opening of the new expanded space at the restaurant. I have been working with him on the guest list and the menu and it promises to be an extraordinary night. Let me just say the words “Whole Roast Lamb” have been used

Wasim has kindly allowed me to offer two pairs of tickets to the event for Dos Hermanos readers and to be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is answer the following question

HOW MANY KILOS OF LAMB CHOPS DO TAYYAB’S SERVE IN AN AVERAGE WEEK

A) 300
B) 400
C) 600

Please email via the website. The competition will close on Friday 13th 2009. I don't have time to enter into correspondence with individual entrants, but will let the winners know on that day.

Hopefully a lucky day for four people who will have one of their best meals of the year

GOOD LUCK and once again WELL DONE WASIM