Curry-Palooza: Eggplant with Crushed Mustard Seeds & Yogurt

This week I had the opportunity to try a brand new curry involving certain techniques that I'm not at all familiar with. Margie of More Please picked this rather unusual recipe by Madhur Jaffrey who, I am convinced, has a knack for taking a few simple ingredients and turning them into something amazing. Every single time. 

This curry uses 'Paanchporan' - a Bengali spice-mix that I have never used before but discovered is the same thing as 'achari masala/spice-mix' which I have indeed used & am very fond of. I made my own 'Paanchporan' since I had all the whole spices on hand (it requires equal parts of cumin, nigella seeds, aniseed, black mustard seeds and fenugreek). I was skeptical about using such a large (seemingly to me) amount of fenugreek because experience has taught me that it has to be used sparingly or it lends a certain bitterness to curries. The recipe also requires the unusual method of crushing the mustard seeds, mixing them with water along with a bare pinch of cayenne pepper and simmering the eggplant in this mixture. Atypical as it was I found that this technique lent a wonderful 'mustardy' aroma to the curry and gave it a deep, yet unsaturated,  note of flavor. 

That said, I had a few minor issues with the execution: I diced my eggplant smaller than indicated, so it cooked faster and  turned out a little mushy. In addition to which the yogurt split when added and I found that the fenugreek did indeed make the curry a teeny bit bitter so it did not go down well with the rest of the family. Maybe it's my/our taste buds, or maybe it's that I need to improve on the technique of cooking with this particular spice, but I intend to reduce the amount of fenugreek seeds significantly when I prepare my Paanchporan mix next time. It's a shame about the bitterness because, otherwise, I really like the flavors in this simple and quick-cooking curry.

I know for a fact that the other Curry-Palooza members had no such issues & really enjoyed this curry. The recipe can be found on Margie's blog. Please check out the participants' posts by following these links:

Croque-Camille

More Please

Sage Trifle

Curry-Palooza is a monthly event. Members take turns picking random recipes each month & next up it's Camille's pick. I'm hoping she will throw a challenge our way!

If you'd like to join in the fun, please email either Rocquie or myself. 

Curry-Palooza: Cardamom & Black Pepper Chicken

Since it was my turn to pick the recipe this week, I opted for this simple & aromatic, non-vegetarian curry.

The chicken required little preparation and was quick to put together (other than a 3-hour marination time). I assume it as well with rice as it does with flatbreads or Pitas. Camille served hers with rice & I am assuming from Rocquie's photos that she used flatbread. 

Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Cardamom and black pepper chicken – Madhur Jaffrey

(Serves 4)

For the mardinade:

6 tbsp onion

2 inch piece fresh ginger

2 large garlic cloves

Salt ½ tsp

Cayenne pepper ½ tsp

Freshly ground black pepper ½ tsp

450 g boned and skinned chicken breasts

To cook the chicken:

150g (5 oz) onions

Corn or olive oil

1 medium stick cinnamon

8 whole cardamom pods

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

4 tbsp natural yogurt

8 tbsp tomato, grated

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp garam masala

2-3 tsp lemon juice

Step one: To make the marinade, peel and finely chop the onion, ginger and garlic and put them into a blender with ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp cayenne pepper, ½ tsp black pepper and 3 tbsp water. Blend to a smooth paste, pushing down with a rubber spatula when needed. Cut the chicken breasts 3cm or 1/8 inch slices and put into a bowl. Add the marinade and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours if desired.

Step Two: Peel the onions and slice into fine half rings. Pour 3 tbsp oil into a wide, non-stick pan set over a medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Stir for 10 seconds, then add the onions and fry, stirring at the same time, for 6-7 minutes or until the onion turns a reddish-brown color. Add the cumin and coriander. Stir once. Add the natural yogurt, a tablespoon at a time, and stir till it is absorbed. Add the tomato and stir for a minute.

Step Three: reduce the heat to medium, add the chicken together with the marinade, and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until all the chicken pieces turn white. Add 175ml (6 oz) water, salt, garam masala and lemon juice. Stir and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes, stirring now and then.

Serve. 

Curry-Palooza is a monthly event & all participants take turns picking random Indian recipes. If you'd like to participate, Please email either Rocquie or myself. 

In order to check out the other participants posts this month, please click on these links: 

Croque-Camille

More Please

Sage Trifle

Curry-Palooza: Rajmah

As far as indian food goes, Rajmah is one of my favorite things to order when we eat out at Indian restaurants. I'm also guilty of throwing in the occasional packet of 'Gits Rajma Masala' into the grocery cart, unhealthy as it might be.

I have actually never tried  making it myself & simply presumed that I wouldn't be able to get it right. The thing about Subcontinental cooking is that some recipes seem simple and unassuming yet getting the right flavor can seem so elusive.

For this months' currypalooza I wanted to pick something flavorful yet simple that could be put together quickly. I've been back home for over two weeks but things have been so chaotic that I simply don't have the time to make anything labor-intensive in my not-yet-quite-functional kitchen. Blogger croquecamille had introduced me to the Quick Indian Cooking website and after testing out one of the other recipes there last week, I decided to pick Mallika Basu's Rajmah curry for this challenge.

Since it uses canned kidney beans, it was a snap to make this morning though I let it simmer longer than needed so that the masalas would really infuse the beans. The only down side of using canned beans is that they tend to remain quite bland regardless of how deeply flavorful the base-curry itself is. However, simmering them on low heat for almost an hour seemed to do the trick for me. And the resulting curry was almost like the one I eat at restaurants. I had been aiming for a thicker sauce and had added only just enough water to cover the beans. This was a mistake and I should have simply added more and gotten a slightly thinner sauce. That said, the flavors in this curry were spot on & we enjoyed it as part of a more elaborate indian-themed meal this evening. 

Please head over to Sage Trifle to check out Rocquie's version of this curry and for the recipe please follow this link. Currypalooza is a monthly event and we take turns picking random Indian recipes instead of following any particular book . I hope others will join us!

post-note: I've been unable to upload photos because blogger keeps telling me my post cannot be saved. I'm publishing this without them for now & will try uploading tomorrow morning.