Weyalan's ocasional curry recipe thread

[Weyalan]

I have no objection... do as you see fit Sir.

[Weyalan]

Coyote's Hurricane Hobo Chili (reprinted without permission)

Ingredients

1 bag beef jerky, chopped
1 quantity various vegetable, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 shitload garlic, chopped
1 can beer, warm
3 cans hormel firehouse chilli

Method

First up, fire up the grill with minimal charcoal. Once that's burning, start tossing bits of foliage and palm wood that you've pre-dried in the sun until you've got a fairly large grill fire.

Take an old camp pot and start boiling a fair bit of water in it. Once you've got a fair boil, mix in a full bag of beef jerky, chopped into small pieces with a pocketknife. Move the pot to the edge of the grill.

Using a flashlight, open the fridge real fast and grab some likely looking vegetables. Are any starting to look a bit ragged? Perfect! Grab a couple of onions and a shitload of garlic off the counter, take them all outside, and chop them up with a machete out on the porch, toss them in with the mix. Grab a cold beer from the cooler, and one beer from the still-warm reserve in the kitchen closet.

Put it back on the fire until it starts to boil. Now pour in three cans of Hormel Firehouse chili and the warm beer. Mix in salt and a boatload of hot sauce. Once boiling, move back to edge of the grill.

Drink the cold beers until you're having a bit of trouble walking in a straight line, while feeding more dried foliage into the fire.

Serve.

[Weyalan]

Red Thai Curry Chicken (kaeng phet daeng kai)

Fiery hot traditional thai chicken curry. Did I mention hot? This is a hot one, by the way. Hot.

Ingredients

2 cans (14 oz.) unsweetened coconut milk
2 tbsp red curry paste (vary quantity according to hotness / taste)
1 lb. chicken (thigh fillets*), cut into pieces
3 - 4 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp palm sugar
1 lb. green beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces **
1/2 c. fresh basil leaves for garnish
3 fresh chili peppers, cut into strips

*Note: Traditionally, this would be made with a whole chicken, chopped into pieces, or alternatively, chicken legs & wings on the bone. We “farangs” tend to be less excited by meat on the bone (although it does, generally, have more flavour). Use whatever cut of meat you prefer.

**Note: Other vegetables can be used – thai aubergines (eggplant), for example, or bamboo shoots, snow-peas, baby corn or, basically, any combination of vegetables that takes your fancy really.

Method

Pour half a can of coconut milk into medium saucepan or wok. Add the curry paste & mash together wel to combine. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to medium/low and continue to cook, stirring, until coconut milk becomes oily. Add rest of coconut milk and simmer for 20 - 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Increase heat to high, add chicken, stir well, bring to the boil, reduce heat & simmer for 10 - 12 minutes. Add beans and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Note: Adjust your cooking time to suit the selection of vegetables you are using – snow peas might only be added 1 – 2 minutes before serving, for example.

Stir in fish sauce and palm sugar. Add basil and chili peppers & stir well. Remove from heat & garnish with a little cilantro. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

[Weyalan]

Red thai curry paste (nam prik kaeng phet daeng)

This is a fairly traditional thai red curry paste. The quantity of both dried and fresh red chillis should give you an idea that this is a hot one. You can just buy the paste from a store (“Mae Ploy” is one of the better brands), but it is more fun to make your own.

Ingredients

15 - 20 prik haeng (dried thai red chillis), halved and seeds discarded
4 tsp coriander seeds
2 sticks of lemongrass, 1 or 2 outer leaves discarded
1 tsp black peppercorns (whole)
4 tsp galangal (kha), peeled & finely chopped
6 Kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp coriander (cilantro) roots or stems, chopped (retain leafy part for for other recipes / garnishes)
5 - 6 shallots, chopped
1/4 cup garlic, chopped
15 - 20 red prik kii noo (fresh bird's-eye chillis) or serrano chiles, finely chopped
2 tsp ga-pi (thai shrimp paste)
½ tsp salt

Method

Cut dried chillis into 1/4-inch pieces. Place in a bowl and add enough hot (just boiled) water to just cover the chillis. Allow to soak for about 20 minutes then drain. While chillis soak, toast coriander seeds in a dry small heavy skillet or fry-pan over moderate heat, shaking occasionally, until fragrant (3 - 4 minutes), then cool. Thinly slice lemongrass stalks (discard top couple of inches) and finely chop. Finely grind coriander seeds and peppercorns with mortar and pestle, then toss together with lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, cilantro, shallot, garlic, fresh chiles, and soaked dried chiles in a bowl. Pound mixture (in 3 or 4 batches with mortar and pestle, or in a food processor) until a fairly smooth paste is formed. (If using food processor, add about 1 1/2 tablespoons water per batch.) Return all of curry paste to mortar, then add shrimp paste and salt and pound (or pulse) until combined well.

Note: This is a very hot curry paste. Substitute milder chillis, or even us some hot chillis and some red capsicum (bell pepper) if you cant handle the heat! Don't be too much of a pussy though - this is supposed to make you get a sweat on!

[Weyalan]

Indonesian Chiken Satay with peanut sauce

Delicious Indonesian skewered appetizers. Actually, these are not really just Indonesian… they, or similar variants are ubiquitous throughout South East Asia.

Peanut sauce

Ingredients

2 tsp peanut oil
4 red Asian shallots, finely chopped (shallots, spring / red / brown onion will also suffice)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped
2 - 3 Bird's eye chillis, seeded and finely chopped (vary quantity according to taste)
125g crunchy peanut butter
250ml coconut milk
2 tsp shoyu (or any dark soy sauce)
2 tablespoons palm sugar, grated (or soft brown sugar if you can’t get palm sugar)
1 ½ tbsp fish sauce
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 ½ tbspLime juice

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, ginger and chili. Fry, stirring continuously for 5 minutes, or until the shallots are golden. Reduce the heat to low and add the remaining sauce ingredients. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from the heat and keep warm. Discard the lime leaves.

Marinaded chicken satays

Ingredients

2 ½ lbs chicken breast or thigh fillets, chopped into satay sized pieces
6 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tsp. ground coriander
4 tsp. palm sugar, grated
1 tbsp. black pepper
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shoyu (or any dark soy sauce)
4 tsp. ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp. lime juice
6 tbsp. oil (I like to use 4 vegetable oil, 2 sesame oil)
Satay sticks (skewers)

Method

Mix marinade ingredients. Cut chicken into 1 1/2-2 inch cubes. Add to mixture and marinate at least two hours (preferably longer). Thread chicken pieces onto satay sticks. Barbecue, basting occasionally with marinade. Serve with the peanut sauce & sprinkled with a little fresh cilantro and crushed unsalted roasted peanuts

[Weyalan]

So, my beautiful Pricness Lisa, who I love dearly, decided it would be a nice idea to invite a few of her work colleagues over for a soiree this evening. Not that I know these people, but fair enough methinks. She then casually tells me, on Wednesday that "few" = 30 plus! (/boggle), including several vegetarians. So I have been slaving over a hot stove. So far I have cooked
Lamb rogan josh
Chicken korma
Toor daal
Bombay cabbage
Between getting home frome work (5pm) and guests arriving (6-6:30) I am going to attempt to whip up a scallop choo-chee (with snow peas, basil & cherry tomatoes), some basmati rice, brown rice and a truckload of papadums. Pray for me!

[Slide]

May the cooking gods and Rebis smile down upon and not just point and laugh.

[Weyalan]

The dinner party was, surprisingly, quite successful (more by luck than good management, no doubt). Here is the scallop recipe I invented specifically for the night:

Choo-chee scallops
Ingredients
3 tbsp red curry paste (vary quantity according to taste)
1 can of coconut milk (400 g)
1 tbsp oil
bottom half of a stalk of lemongrass, outer leaves taken out, smashed a bit to release the oil
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp palm sugar (to taste)
1 tsp fish sauce (to taste)
3 or 4 slices galangal
200g cherry tomatoes
1/2 tsp shrimp paste
16 large scallops (more if small)
a handful of Thai basil leaves (normal basil will do)
2 or 3 kaffir lime leaves, julienned
16 snow peas
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

Method
For the sauce, heat up a small pan until hot, add the oil, a few spoonful of the cream part of the coconut milk, then the curry paste & shrimp paste. Cook this, stirring vigorously, for a few minutes until oil begins to separate from the sauce. Throw in the stalk of lemongrass and a few bruised lime leaves. Then add the rest of the coconut milk in three batches, taking care to let it cook until separated each time. Let the sauce simmer & reduce for about 20 minutes. Season with palm sugar and some fish sauce. Add the cherry tomatoes a couple minutes before your sauce is ready. You want the sauce to be creamy rather than watery, and the tomatoes to just barely break the skin. Disgard the lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves in the sauce.
In a large sautéed pan with some hot oil, sear the scallops quickly until brown on both sides. I like my scallops on the rare side, but you can cook them more if you'd like.
In a frypan, flash fry the snowpeas in sesame oil, with garlic & soy sauce. They only need a minute or 2; you want them still crisp.
Line a large plate with a big handful of Thai basil leaves, on go the scallops & snowpeeas over the leaves, pour sauce over the whole thing, top with julienned lime leaves. Serve with jasmine rice.

N.B. The above recipe is really my own creation; my guess of how I think choo-chee might be made, based on the choo-chee I have eaten at my favourite local thai restaurant; Mai Ake. I make no claims to authenticity.

[Weyalan]

This is a pretty simple Southern Indian chicken curry.
Kerala curry chicken

Ingredients:

4 green chillis, roughly chopped (vary quantity / type to taste)
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1½ tsp peeled and finely grated root ginger
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
½ tsp salt
4 tbsp groundnut oil (or vegetable oil)
6 curry leaves, preferably fresh, but dried will do)
4 whole cloves
1 large Spanish onion, finely sliced
1kg/ 2lb 3 oz chicken drumsticks and thighs, skinned and pricked
200 ml/7 fl oz coconut milk
2 green chillies, slit lengthways into strips


Method:

In a blender, or with a pestle and mortar, blitz the 4 chillies, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, garlic and salt with 1 tbsp of the oil and 2 tbsp cold water to make a coarse paste. Heat the remaining oil in a heavy-based pan. Add curry leaves, cloves and onions and fry over a medium heat for 3 minutes.

Add the paste and fry, stirring, for a minute or two . Add the chicken pieces and fry for 10 minutes on a medium to low heat. Rinse out the blender or mortar that contained the paste with 200ml/7 fl oz cold water. Mix this with the coconut milk. Pour over the chicken and mix well. Cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Garnish with green chillies and serve hot with plain basmati

[Weyalan]

Simple Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

1 Haas avocado
12 tomatillos, husked and chopped
3-4 serrano chiles, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

Cut the avocado in half and remove the stone. Scoop out the avocado into a blender. add all the other ingredients and whizz 'em up until smooth & creamy.

[Weyalan]

Indonesian Beef Rendang

Ingredients:

1lb. rump steak, diced
2 onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, roucghly chopped
3 red birdseye chillis, chopped (vary quantity to taste)
1" ginger root, chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tblsp paprika.
1 stalk Lemon grass, chopped.
3 Lime leaves, chopped
20 fl. oz. coconut milk.
3 fl. oz. water.

Method:

Put the onions, garlic, chillis, ginger, paprika, turmeric & water in a food processor and blend into a smooth paste. In a large bowl, mix the diced steak with half the paste & set aside. Put the other half of the paste into a heavy pan over a medium heat and add the coconut milk, chopped lemon grass and lime leaves. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered for approx 30-40 min (until mixture has reduced by about half). Add the meat mixture and return to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered, stirring regulary, for a further hour till the steak is tender. this dish is supposed to be almost dry when cooked, and the meat should be cooked until it is very tender. If it becomes too dry during cooking, add a little water, as necessary, to prevent burning. Serve with jasmine rice.

[Rebis]

May the cooking gods and Rebis smile down upon and not just point and laugh.

/points and laughs

[Weyalan]

Isn't it about time you posted another of your recipes Mr. Rebis?

[Rebis]

Ooops yeah, great recipes have been developed with three chefs in a house: me, one Thai, and a Singaporean. Western meets East is great..

[Weyalan]

Less with the talkin' it up, more with the posting the recipes already.