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Posts Tagged ‘curry’

A ladleful of taste: “post-operative” cauliflower and chickpea comfort curry!

Posted in Diabetes, Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, Robin Ellis, tagged , , , on October 28, 2012| 18 Comments »

We had simple salmon fillet for supper the evening that we returned from the clinic.

The next night I felt a little more adventurous, but in need of something easy and preferably from a single pot–a ladleful of taste over some basmati brown rice; comfort food that cooks itself.

I looked in the fridge and found a cauliflower in good condition, a leek and a bottle of chickpeas on the shelf in the larder and I knew there were a few small tomatoes left to gather at the end of the garden–perfect!

I love buying cauliflowers–their tight white heads look so tempting and beautiful.

However sometimes they stay in the fridge–not exactly forgotten, but requiring some thought.

What am I going to do with that cauliflower?!

Cosy cauliflower curry–why not?

Here goes…!

1 onion--chopped small

2 garlic cloves–chopped

2 tblsps olive oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp each of turmeric, cumin powder and ginger powder

1/2 tsp each of coriander powder, cayenne powder

8oz tomatoes–chopped roughly

1 pint/450 ml stock–I use organic vegetable stock cubes

1 cauliflower–separated into bite-size florets

1 leek–cleaned and sliced

3 tblsps cooked chickpeas (from a tin [a can] or bottle–you may not need the whole tin. Spoon out the required amount and drain off any liquid–but no need to rinse.)

salt and pepper

2 tblsps of whisked low/no fat yogurt or coconut cream (my new discovery; more on that in future posts)

  • Sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil until they soften and begin to colour.

  • Add the mustard seeds and let them cook for a minute.

  • Add the rest of the spices and mix them in.

  • Add the tomatoes, stirring them into the spice mix and cook for five minutes to break them down a little and form a sauce.

  • Add half the stock and cook for a further 5 minutes–reducing it a little.

  • Mix in the sliced leeks and the broken up cauliflower–you may find you only need half the head–making sure the vegetables are immersed in the liquid.

  • Cover and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes–checking now and then in case it’s drying up–as it very nearly did for me!
  • (Add more stock as you need and cook on.)
  • Add the chickpeas and cook a further five minutes.

–

  • When the vegetables are tender, turn off the heat and let it cool down.
  • Fold in the yogurt or coconut cream.
  • Gently reheat to serve over some basmati brown rice.
  • There was a thumbs-up from Meredith as she helped herself to a spoonful more (see above)!

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Chickpea curry with leek and fennel

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 21, 2012| 8 Comments »

My copies of Rose Elliot’s vegetarian cookbooks, Not Just a Load of Lentils and The Bean Book, have been on my bookshelves for ages and are much thumbed!

First published in the 1970s, her recipes have withstood the test of time–and the ingredients often fit in with my adopted way of eating.

This is adapted from a recipe in The Bean Book. 

I made it in the morning and gently reheated it in the evening–giving the spices time to settle and meld. We had it for supper last night and it was worth the wait.

Meredith is wary of pulses because of their tendency to cause flatulence.

This time the positive outweighed the negative and she gave it the thumbs up–phew!

for 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

1 small onion–chopped

1 clove of garlic–peeled & chopped

1/2  teaspoon of powdered cumin

1/2 teaspoon of powdered coriander

1/2 teaspoon each of garam masala ( an earlier post), turmeric, ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cayenne/chili powder

1 teaspoon fresh root ginger–peeled & chopped (optional)

1 large jar of cooked chickpeas–drained (the precise quantity is not critical!)

2 fennel bulbs–outer leaves removed, quartered and chopped

1 large leek–damaged outer parts removed, cut down to the base, washed and sliced

2 tablespoons of parsley or coriander–chopped

1 pint of vegetable stock (I use organic cubes diluted with boiling water.)

  • Heat the oil in a pan.
  • Gently fry the cumin seeds until they start to pop.
  • Add the onion and garlic and soften–about 3 minutes.

  • Add the spices and mix them in.

  • Add the chickpeas.
  • Add the leeks and fennel and mix.

  • Add the stock–start with half a pint and adjust as needed.
  • Bring the mixture up to boil, then cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes.

  • Fold in a tablespoon of parsley or coriander.
  • Sprinkle the second  tablespoon of parsley or coriander over the dish when you serve it hot with…
  • Brown basmati rice and yogurt sauce (see the next post).

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Fabulous Festive Fish Curry…

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , on June 9, 2011| 3 Comments »

Much fish curried!

This is adapted from a recipe by the brilliant and imaginative British food writer–Nigel Slater.

It’s simple and a good dish for company (we had it on Christmas Eve one year)– allow 150 g/5 oz of fish per person.

You can make the basic sauce ahead of time–even the night before–and prepare the fish pieces in advance too.

Then all you have to do is reheat the curry sauce and slip in the fish in the appropriate order while you cook some brown basmati rice.

We had it tonight with a cooling cucumber raita.

Serves 4

2 medium onions–chopped

2 cloves of garlic–chopped

1 tablspoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

a thumbnail size piece of fresh ginger–chopped

3 small red chillies (the heat level is a matter of taste)–chopped

1 teaspoon each–garam masala, cayenne and turmeric

225 g/8 oz fresh or tinned tomatoes–chopped

500 ml/1 pint/2 cups stock–I use organic vegetable stock cubes

250 g/9 oz mussels

8 clams (palourdes)–if you can find them

600 g/20 oz white fish in fillets–this could be monkfish, haddock, cod or some of each, preferably fish that holds its

shape when cooked in pieces

8 prawns in their shells

1 tablespoon of low/no fat yogurt – whisked smooth

A good handful of chopped parsley–or coriander if you can find it

  •  In a casserole large enough to hold all the fish, fry the chopped onions and the garlic gently in the oil until soft.
  •  Add the mustard seeds and ginger and mix.
  • Add the chopped chilli and mix.
  •  Add the garam masala, cayenne and turmeric and mix.
  •  Add the chopped tomatoes and let them mingle with the spices for 5 minutes.
  •  Add the stock and bring everything to the boil.
  •  Let this sauce simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Let the sauce cool.
  •  Stir in the yogurt carefully.

    ready for the fish

  • Debeard, scrape and rinse clean the mussels.
  • Scrub the clams if you have them.
  • Check the fish fillets for bones and cut into bite-size pieces.
  • Have the prawns standing by.
  • Reheat the sauce if you have precooked it.
  •  Slip in the white fish and cook until it turns opaque.
  •  Then add the mussels, clams and prawns.
  • Cook gently, making sure that the sauce is covering the fish, until the mussels and clams open and the prawns heat through.
  • (I sometimes throw the mussels and clams in a saucepan with a tablespoon of water to get them to open, then add them to the curry.)
  •  Check the salt, add the parsley/coriander and bring this bubbling colourful wonder to the table.
This is Meredith’s choice for my 100th post– and it’s a recipe from Delicious Dishes for Diabetics–A Mediterranean Way of Eating (Constable & Robinson and Skyhorse).
(Published August 4th 2011 in the UK and November 1st in the USA–but available on Amazon.co.uk for pre-order now.)

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