The Cookbook Challenge Week 38 - Spice - Pumpkin & Chickpea Curry - 2 - $ - V - (!)

This week's catch-up Cookbook Challenge was an epic fail! It had nothing to do with the recipe mind you. Well I'm assuming it was my fault due to my rather large deviation from the ingredients. It all started so well too, with good intentions of maximising today's vegetable intake and providing lunch for my colleagues tomorrow.

Never mind, cook and learn. And what I learned today was not to use the coconut version of evaporated milk thinking it will behave like proper coconut milk because it WON'T. It curdles and should only ever be added at the last minute on a low heat due to having barely any fat content. Of course I know this NOW. Which is a real shame because the curry looked and smelled great before it all went wrong.
I think you should give the recipe a try and follow the ingredients to the letter because I'm going to have another go and I promise to do as Curtis Stone asks in Issue 4 of the MasterChef magazine which is where it comes from.


Ingredients - serves 4

100gm dried chickpeas or 1 x 400gm tin - if using dried cover in boiling water and soak for 40 minutes or until water goes cold
2tbs olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2cm piece of ginger, grated
2 long green chillies, seeded and finely chopped
2 long red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
400gm butternut pumpkin, peeled and chopped into 3cm pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 3cm pieces
2tsp garam masala
2tsp ground coriander
2tsp caraway seeds, toasted
1/2tsp ground cumin
1/2tsp ground turmeric
juice of 1 lime
1tbs brown sugar
2 x 400ml cans of coconut milk - use the real deal!
1/4 cup coriander, roughly chopped and extra to serve
steamed rice

Sort out your chickpeas if using dried ones or drain the tinned ones and rinse well.
Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium-high heat and cook off the onion, ginger, garlic and half the chillies for about 4 minutes or until soft.
Add pumpkin, carrot, chickpeas and spices and cook stir for another 3 minutes. Add the lime juice and sugar and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add 250ml water and the coconut milk. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 35 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Season and stir in the chopped coriander.
Serve with rice and garnish with remaining chillies and extra coriander.

Enjoy!

Mulligatawny Soup - 1 - $

One of the very few things I gained from having to shop at stupor-markets while I lived in London for several years was Mulligatawny. It is an old British colonial dish from back in the days of The Empire, but don't hold that against it. I used to buy ready-made but sought out a recipe when I moved back to Melbourne, because, unlike the London Underground, I really missed it when I came home.



You can use either chicken or beef mince in this recipe, and don't be scared of the curry powder as serving it with yoghurt will take the edge off. This will easily feed four as it's deceptively filling.

Ingredients

1 Carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 Red capsicum, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 Red onion, finely chopped
1 Long red chili, seeds removed and finely chopped
3 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 Piece of ginger, approx 2.5cm, peeled and finely chopped
1 Bunch coriander, stalks finely chopped, keep the leaves for later
2 tbs Madras hot curry powder
1 tbs tomato paste
2 Tins of chopped tomatoes
200gms mince (chicken or beef)
2 Cups stock - chicken for chicken, beef for beef
1/2 Cup basmati rice
Natural yoghurt to serve

Heat some olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat and cook the onion, garlic, carrot, capsicum, ginger, coriander stalks and chili for around 10 minutes until they are soft.
Add the curry and tomato paste, stir through and cook for a minute or two until the curry powder becomes fragrant.
Add the mince and cook stir for a minute or two to break it up, then add the tomatoes and stock, season and bring to the boil. Keep the pot covered and simmer on a low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Add the rice, stir through, return to the boil and then cover again and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked.
Finely chop the coriander leaves and stir through just before serving (save some to garnish too). Spoon into bowls and serve hot with a big dollop of yoghurt on the top.

Enjoy!

Cauliflower Dahl - 2 - $ - V - !

Lentils are one of the best sources of iron from the vegetable world - who knew?
This dahl can be served with naan bread, rice or is perfect as part of a Thali - a tasting plate from the Rajasthan region in India which has lots of different curries and chutneys to try.



Before we start, if you are going to use the yellow lentils that I have listed in the ingredients below, soak them in cold water for at least half an hour beforehand so the dahl has a lovely creamy texture. Red ones are fine to use too and you can bung these ones straight in.

OK dahl-ings, let's cook!

Ingredients

1 Brown onion, finely chopped
1 Clove of garlic, finely chopped/crushed
1 Piece of ginger, approx 2.5 cms big, peeled and finely grated
3 tbs Sunflower oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
75gm yellow lentils, soaked for approx 30 mins, then rinsed and drained
300ml vegetable stock
1-2 tbs Madras hot curry powder (the coconut milk will take some of the heat out, but once the curry is in there you can't get it out, so use to your taste)
1/2 Cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets
300ml coconut milk (the "lite" versions are fine to use)
50gm baby spinach
1/2 Punnet cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
2tbs fresh coriander, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon

Heat 2 tbs of oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and dry spices (NOT the curry powder) and fry for approx 5 minutes until the onion softens. Add the lentils and stock and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes on a low heat.
In the meantime, heat the remaining oil in a large fry-pan or wok. Add the curry powder and stir for approx 1 minute until fragrant. Add the cauliflower and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes until the stems begin to soften.
Add the cauliflower and coconut milk to the lentils and return to the boil. Simmer for another 10 minutes, covered, on a low heat. Add the cherry tomatoes and simmer for another 3 minutes. Add the baby spinach and stir until it wilts. Remove from the heat and stir through the coriander and lemon juice just before serving.

Enjoy!