Tag: south asian food

Recipe – Egg Curry

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Good for a Cold Day Tomato Onion Egg Curry
  • 4 eggs
  • 3-4 Tbs oil
  • 1 Cinnamon stick
  • 2 Cardamom pods
  • 1 medium onion sliced
  • 1-1/12 teaspoons of turmeric and chilli powder
  • 3/4 teaspoons of cumin and coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger
  • 1 garlic clove crushed
  • 1 chopped tomato
  • cilantro, fried onions, green chillies and garam masala to sprinkle
  1. Bring 4 eggs and enough water to cover to rolling boil. Turn off. Cover. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain. Peel. Dust with 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric and chili powder.
  2. Fry eggs in 2 tbs oil. There will be agressive popping sounds and splaterring. Stand back. Fry until surface acquires color and texture. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside.
  3. In the same pan, add more oil if needed, add cinnamon and cardamom. Fry sliced onions until soft.
  4. Add ginger, garlic, salt, tumeric, chili powder, cumin and coriander with a 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 chopped tomato. Cook 10 mintues until tomatoes break down and forms cohesive sauce. Allow oil to separate in order to roast the spices and flavor the oil.
  5. Return eggs to pan. Add another 1/2 cup of water to create a gravy. More if you like it thinner. Simmer on low for 5 minutes.
  6. Garnish with chopped cilantro, garam masala, green chillies and fried onions (store bought is fine).
  7. Serve and enjoy with khichuri or plain rice. With the gentle heat, a hint of cinnamon, and chili-ginger heat, this was perfect to warm up on a cold snowy day.

Like most intuitive home-cooks I feel challenged by measurements and exact timings. Please use this recipe as loose guidance and inspiration, comment below with specific questions and I’ll attempt to answer.

Beef Nehari and Paratha

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Dear vegetarian and healthy eating friends, please stop reading.

I confess, bone marrow is delicious….. incredibly luxurious and surprisingly under-appreciated. We got two very large beef bones, cut up into six, 3-inch pieces for about $5. I wanted to try making a spiced beef bone soup tradionally sopped up with warm naan or hearty bread.

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Beef Nehari

  1. I had 3lbs of bones and 1 lb of meat. Brown. Set aside.
  2. Saute 1 cup of sliced onions in the beef browning oil.
  3. Add…1 tablespoon of ginger paste, 1 teaspoon of black cumin (Shah Jeera), 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cardamom pods, 3 cloves. Saute until fragrant. (add whatever spices you prefer to flavor your soup)..I think Chinese five spice would be good too.
  4. Add the bones back. Add enough water to cover the bones.
  5. Simmer for 2 hours. Add salt and pepper.
  6. Simmer for another hour or two until the meat relaxes and tenderizes.
  7. Sprinkle red chilies and cilantro. Serve with Naan, Paratha or any flat bread.

The paratha recipe is a bit trickier to explain. A lot of it is about “feeling” the gluten develop. I used bread flour and my parathas turned out denser than usual…less light, flaky…flattened croissant texture that I like. My grandmother was a master at this. Watching her make these buttery flatbreads was mesmerizing.

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This is the point where the bread is rolled out, ghee is applied and the dough is rolled up into these rosettes to be flattened…and rolled out again. This process gives the bread its flaky layers.

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The fried eggplant on the right bottom of the image turned out to be bitter. Oh well. The cucumber, tomato, cilantro, shallot and vinegar salad helped balance the rich bone soup.

With the leftover spicy beef broth, I’m planning to make a rice pilaf. I imagine it will taste close to a biriyani. Maybe add some peas and serve it with a cool cucumber yogurt raita.

Good for a cold winter day and shared with a crowd.

Looking forward to the end of winter,

Hungryphil

 

 

 

Goan Fish Curry – Testing Saveur Recipe

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Every region thinks that their cooking is the best. Despite being Bengali, I concede yesterday’s Saveur recipe of the day of Goan Fish Curry was…… excellent. Two things make it both satisfyingly hearty yet bright in flavor.

  • The recipe promised vinegar to be the magic ingredient. It was. I was skeptical about the coconut milk and vinegar combination. Now I want to add vinegar to everything!
  • The second trick that I’ll use in other fish dishes is marinating the fish in lemon juice and salt for a half an hour before cooking. It starts the cooking process and makes the fish taste fresh and “less fishy.”

I used catfish, instead of cod. Had about pound and a half instead of two. And, may have added more vinegar than the recipe called for.

Here is the recipe. Try it.

Enjoy!

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