Weyalan's ocasional curry recipe thread

[N.U.]

Why are we not writing this down? i mean seriously. We could be selling cookbooks to cover the web-hosting costs easily, with bunches to spare.

[Coyote]

Um. We are writing this down.

[N.U.]

doh!

[Weyalan]

I went for a snorkel yesterday and came back with 8 big fat juicy abalone. I'm thinking Thai green curry....mmmm mmmm

[Weyalan]

Let the record show that Green Thai abalone Curry is bloody magnificent. Oh yes.

[Trademaster]

Let the record show that Green Thai abalone Curry is bloody magnificent. Oh yes.

Let the record show that anything caught fresh in an ocean is superior to anything not caught fresh in an ocean. (yes, seafood>cow,pig,chicken, etc.)

[N.U.]

I would like to add a caveat that said freshly caught food must also be consumed fresh.

[Weyalan]

Halo's Dirty Rice:

Classic Cajun. Ok; so it aint curry, but its spicy, which is close enough for rock 'n roll

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
¼ pound lean ground beef
¼ pound lean ground pork
¼ pound chicken livers and/or gizzards * optional - see note, below
1 whole medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
½ small green bell pepper, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups uncooked, long-grain rice
4 cups chicken stock
black pepper, to taste
ground cayenne pepper to taste
fresh parsley, chopped

Method
Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a pan on a medium heat, get this good and hot before adding the meat. Sauté the beef and the pork until no more pink can be seen. Next, add the onion into the pan with the meat and sauté until the onion is clear / softened. Add the celery, the bell peppers and the garlic. Stir continuously for about five minutes or so. Pour the rice into the pan and spread it out, add in your stock. Season the pan with the cayenne, black pepper, salt etc. (more garlic, bay and/or parsley). Let the stock come up to a full boil and then cover it, reducing the heat to a low simmer. It should take around 20 minutes or so. Check the rice to see if it’s done, give the pot a stir to make sure everything’s evenly coated. Remove it from heat and re-cover for a few more minutes to make sure the flavors marry and any remaining liquid is absorbed. Serve hot with a little parsley as garnish.

Note: Authentic Dirty Rice should really include chopped chicken liver and gizzards, but most people aren't really into that kinda stuff. If you are one of those people, leave it out.

[Weyalan]

I have always been intrigued by Cajun & Creole cuisine, but decent recipes are hard to find. Now I have established an inside source (in New Orleans, no less) and as a result hope to be adding a few more classic dishes... maybe macque choux next?

[Rev. Tseng]

I made your chana daal, it was fantastic. I did cut the cumin by 2/3rds, otherwise I followed the directions. Definitely will make again.

Also, speaking of curry, do you have any rice recipes? Not something served with/over rice, more of something I can just throw all into one pot and cook together, preferably without meat and without coconut. I know there are a lot of recipes floating around the Internet like this but I've never found one I really liked (or that doesn't call for coconut milk and curry powder and probably raisins) so I'm hoping you can help me out.

The dirty rice looks right, I'll give it a shot and report back at some point. Most of the dirty rice recipes I've seen have actually included a few chicken livers. I have no idea if it's authentic or not, I'm not a huge fan of them myself so I usually leave them out.

[Coyote]

I have always been intrigued by Cajun & Creole cuisine, but decent recipes are hard to find. Now I have established an inside source (in New Orleans, no less) and as a result hope to be adding a few more classic dishes... maybe macque choux next?

I'll get on the ball and start posting. I am a very big fan of cajun/creole, and while I'm still not a pro, I'm definitely getting my skills up. A couple of friends are experts in the field.

First thing they taught me about really doing it right: many dishes are all about the roux. No oils, always use clarified butter. Actually they use specialized roux that they pick up in N'Orleans, but you can still do it right at home. Cup of clarified butter over medium, when a sprinkle of flour bubbles it's ready to whisk a cup and a half, cup and 3/4ths into it until it pastes up. Whisk continually over medium. Almost everything I make with roux uses dark brown variety, so I keep going for 35-45 minutes over medium, continual whisking, until it's coffee-colored and thin.

Turns a gumbo or a jambalaya from tasty to fanfuckingtastic.

[Weyalan]

I made your chana daal, it was fantastic. I did cut the cumin by 2/3rds, otherwise I followed the directions. Definitely will make again.

Also, speaking of curry, do you have any rice recipes? Not something served with/over rice, more of something I can just throw all into one pot and cook together, preferably without meat and without coconut. I know there are a lot of recipes floating around the Internet like this but I've never found one I really liked (or that doesn't call for coconut milk and curry powder and probably raisins) so I'm hoping you can help me out.

The dirty rice looks right, I'll give it a shot and report back at some point. Most of the dirty rice recipes I've seen have actually included a few chicken livers. I have no idea if it's authentic or not, I'm not a huge fan of them myself so I usually leave them out.

Sure - there are plenty of great rice-based dishes - pulaos, biryanis, etc. I don't cook them often, but I can look through my books to refresh my memory and will post some soon.

Glad you liked the daal... it is a favorite of mine. I once spent a month or so doing some high altitude trekking in the himalayas. During that time I would go for up to a week where I was eating 1 meal a day, only, and always the same - daal and rice.

The person who gave me the dirty rice did say that the addition of chicken livers would be more authentic but that she didn't care for them. I should edit the recipe to include that factoid, especially since I rather like chicken liver.

[Trademaster]

I've always done dirty rice as kind of a "kitchen sink" dish. the meat is fungable imo, adding meat and/or sausage of any type, depending on what I have extra of.

[Thornapple]

I saw on Good Eats, he made his roux by baking it in the oven so he could control exactly how dark it got. As it goes from tasty to burned in seconds if you're not careful on the stove.

cast iron pot in a 350 deg oven
4 oz of veg oil (could use clarified butter of course)
4 oz of all purpose flour
whisk together and bake for 90minutes for a brick roux.

Part1 (shows the roux method at the end of this one about 9:30ish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SzAz6RfkYo

Part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvfczuivTd8&NR=1

[Coyote]

I saw on Good Eats, he made his roux by baking it in the oven so he could control exactly how dark it got. As it goes from tasty to burned in seconds if you're not careful on the stove.

cast iron pot in a 350 deg oven
4 oz of veg oil (could use clarified butter of course)
4 oz of all purpose flour
whisk together and bake for 90minutes for a brick roux.

Part1 (shows the roux method at the end of this one about 9:30ish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SzAz6RfkYo

Part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvfczuivTd8&NR=1

Your brother and I (and the Alligator Alley guys) argued about this long ago. Me and the chefs think Alton's full of shit.