Raseydaar Methi Malai Jheengey-Shrimps in a creamy, fenugreek flavoured curry.

Not too long ago I posted a recipe for Methi Masala Shrimps. Some of my friends tried it and loved it. I usually make that for starters and it is always a hit. I happen to know quite a few combinations and permutations of spices and being absolutely hyper and restless with most things, I keep trying them out with different kinds of meat and fish. The results are not always good trust me, but the one I 'formulated' last night, was thankfuly a success. Gosh, I do sound imprtant huh!  I shared on my FB page that I was not in a mood to cook at all last night and yet the menu plan for Tuesday was already in place, the ingredients bought for it and some prep done by my maid before she left. She is a Bangladeshi and has no ewwwiness in handling fish/seafood, so I got her to wash the Shrimps I was planning to cook. Much to my relief, the fish mongers here will devein and shell the prawns for us.  If I were doing it myself, I would have expected nothing less than diamonds from hubster. Handling and cleaning of anything 'fishy' is not my scene, thank you.

Anyhow, true to myself, I had to come up with a different spice blend for my curry since I wasn't really keen on our usual family Kerela curry . It would have to be distinctively North Indian. So here is what I did. Read on to know what you will need.

1/2 kg fresh shrimps, shelled, de-veined, washed and drained.
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 large tomato, chopped fine
1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste

2 tbsp each of fresh corriander and mint leaves- to garnish

And oooh, my own spice blend : although there is no such thing as 'my own whatever....' , one  cannot really own a recipe if you know what I mean.

1 tsp black cumin seeds i.e shahi jeera
6 green cardamoms
6 cloves
10 black pepper corns
1' cinnamon stick
Nutmeg- just about the size of the nail of your little pinky finger, and I do hope you dont have a humungous pinki-finger-nail.
1 whole dry red chilli ( optional, I didn't use it, however use according  to your  preferance)
1 tbsp heaped almond powder, crush/grind whole almonds

Dry roast the spices mentioned above, except the almond powder in an iron skillet or a non stick pan. Cool and coarsely grind along with almond powder. Keep aside.

1/2 tsp of turmeric
1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
2tbsp fresh cream
1tbsp heaped Kasoori Methi- dry fenugreek leaves,crush between palms and keep.
Salt to taste
Mustard oil or peanut or sesame oil- 4-5 tbsp

* PS-  use red chillies-whole or powdered according to your choice, I didnt use much at all because I had already used crushed black pepper, more than what I have recomended above.

Heat the oil in a round wok/Kadai. Start by frying and browning the ginger garlic paste, followed by the chopped onions. On medium flame, be patient and keep browning untill the oil seperates. Add the chopped tomatoes. Mix/stir/fry/brown again untill the tomatoes are mushy and completely softened. Look for the oil seperating. Now add the ground spices, turmeric, chilli powder if using and salt to taste. Mix well. Cover and cook for about five minutes on low to medium flame, this is for the almond to integrate rather than for the spices to cook because we have already roasted them beforehand. Add about 1/2 cup of hot water should you feel the curry paste is becoming too thick or is sticking to the bottom. We need to get the curry completely ready before we add the shrimps since they cook in no time and we cant let it get over cooked. In the picture below, you can make note of the ground spices with the almonds. It is coarse in texture as you can see. 

The amount and measures I have recommended is not a large one. So the entire cooking time of the curry base wont be more than fifteen minutes, covered on low flame. Or even lesser. In about 10-15 minutes of slow cooking, open lid and add the shrimps. They will rapidly release moisture, so you dont need to add any more water. Mix the shrimps around in the curry. Now sprinkle some crushed Kasoori methi, corriander and mint leaves, dot the top with cream all over, check salt, cover and let the shrimps cook for just five minutes. Turn off the flame and dont remove the lid yet. Let it sit, the cream would have melted and made the curry creamy smooth. 

Just before you serve, give it all a final mix and serve it along with buttered rice, some vegetable stir fry of choice and a cold cucumber/mint raita. Serves four easily.

                           Have fun cooking this and send me feedback.

Vegan's delight- Olives+Almonds Dip.

This weekend we went over to meet our old neighbours. A lovely family who is big time in to healthy living, healthy eating and Yoga. And oh, they are also vegans. So anyway,we caught up over some lovely finger food. My friend also served us this awesome pesto like vegan dip...so simple and bursting with flavours of olives, garlic, shallots and almonds.  I was blown away really! Pat, my friend, is a wonderful cook. While she herself is a vegan, she comes up with some amazing fish recipes. I have tried a few and wow can she cook! She also happens to be a very generous soul and when she saw my amazed delight with the dip that she had served, she immediately told me how it's done. Without even asking! It was so good and is so easy to make, trust me, you will be sending me 'fraandship' requests on fb! Ok sad joke. 

Without wasting anymore time, here is what you will need.

1 cup of fresh green olives, chopped, de-seeded. Make sure you are using good quality ones.
1/2 cup of soaked almonds or almond powder
2-3 pods of garlic
1/2 medium chopped red onion
Juice of 1 small fresh lemon
1-2 tbsp of olive oil
1 green chilli (optional)-I didnt use any since my son was going to be eating some.
salt to taste.

All you have to do is blend the above to a coarse paste. Thats it! Use it as a spread, a dip, as a topping for baked fish/pizzas...the possibilities are endless. I liked it so much, I had spoonfuls of it just by itself. Infact, I finished the whole bowl actually. What must she have thought of my table manners! Sigh.

I served the dip with some plain Nachos. Which was the rubbish part ofcourse....

Used the remaining bit to spread over a baked sea bass fish dish I was making for dinner later...the recipe is from here here . A lovely food blog I discovered yesterday.

This is so good, promise me you will try it at least once??? Pretty please! While I am wondering if I should turn Vegan....!

Gosht Korma- Easy, Elegant Lamb Korma

I have done chicken and fish and a vegetable so far, on my blog. Time I posted something on Lamb too! Lamb happens to be my all time favoutie meat and has the power to bring me to my knees anytime, anywhere, whichever way it is prepared. The recipe I am sharing here is easy, elegant and versatile. 'Korma' has many variations but I think this is the most standard technique employed across Northern India and Pakistan. I got it from my neighbour SI, who is from Karachi and is a fabulous cook. She is also generous about sharing her recipes for which I especialy admire her. Serve this with a simple Cumin flavoured Pulao and you will be good. I also usually serve a side of mixed Vegetable Jhalfarezi with this if I have guests because I dont make my Korma very spicy, and the Jhalfarezi serves as just the right tangy accompaniment to this otherwise simple lamb curry. It has a tangy-creamy yoghurt sauce base with very simple flavours. Without further ado, read on for the recipe now.

How to:

Lamb: 1 kg I prefer the shanks and some pieces of ribs, of a baby goat. Washed/drained.

Step 1:

2 large onions- finely sliced and deep fried. Browned/caramelised. Drained on a kitchen paper towel.
1 large cup of thick Yoghurt.
Once the onions have cooled off, blend the Yoghurt and onions together to a fine paste. Keep aside.Reserve about 2 tbsps to garnish later. This is the curry base of all kormas.

Now for the other ingredients:

5-6 Green cardamoms
1 Black, big cardamom
5-6 Cloves
1-2 sticks of medium sized cinammon.
A small pinch of nutmeg (optional)
4-5 blades of Mace (optional)
A few drops of Kewra essence (optional)
1 tbsp heaped Ginger Garlic paste

Step 2: To dry grind:

10-12 Almonds (optional but recommended)
2 tbsp heaped corriander seeds
1 tsp heaped cumin seeds
8-10 dry, whole red chillis.
Grind to a coarse powder and keep aside.

Oil for frying onions- about 1/2 cup
salt to taste.
Some extra 3-5 dry red chillis fried and kept aside for garnishing.

Here's how the Korma will be made:

Heat oil in a  wide 'kadai' - Indian wok. Use the same oil in which you fried the onions. Lends a nice flavour and you save on oil too. :) Once heated through, tip in the cardamoms, cloves, cinammon, nutmeg. Let them splutter for a few short seconds. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and saute on high heat, browning it nicely but taking  care not to burn it. Once the raw smell disappears, put in the meat pieces and continue to saute on high flame. Keep stirring it around and wait untill the moisture released by the lamb dries up. At this point the lamb pieces should have also acquired a nice brown tinge. Once the water dries up, sprinkle the ground spices you made of the Almonds, corriander, cumin and red, dry chillis. Mix well. Cover and cook on low flame for about 5 minutes. If the spices start sticking to the bottom of the pan, put in a quarter cup of hot/warm water. The whole dish should look brown and caramelised. After about 5 minutes, pour in another cup of water , cover and cook untill the meat is almost done.  PS- keep adding 4-5 tbsp of water  from time to time, if the meat is drying up.

Once the meat is almost done, pour in the Yoghurt-Onion paste over the meat. Mix vigrously so that the yoghurt does not curdle. Do this for about five minutes. Cover and cook now, untill the meat is completely cooked. In the final two minutes, add about 3-4 drops of Kewra essence.

Serve garnished with the fried onions you had reserved earlier and some fried whole red chillis. Like I said, I usually serve this with Zeera Pulao and Vegetable Jhalfarezi along with the usual Salad.

The final gravy should be thick and not runny.

Best served after a few hours, but I doubt you will be able to wait so long!!