Have I happened to mention how much I adore curry?
I was quite aged before I discovered my passion for spicy food. The primary problem for me was that for many years I couldn’t bring myself to eat rice. I assume it was a textural issue because I can’t imagine there being anything about the taste of rice that I could dislike. To this day, one of the very few foods that I am unable to go near is rice pudding (I’m actually shuddering just thinking about it), but thankfully, I now have no such problems with the savoury stuff.
My tolerance to chillies has grown as well, to the point where I have even dared to cook a vindaloo at home (and very nice it was too). So, the world of Indian cuisine has become my own personal oyster.
We are (un)lucky enough to have a fantastic Indian takeaway a 30 second jog away. If you’re ever in York (and not dieting) can I recommend the Gate of India? Situated in the back room of a pub, it is not the most prepossessing of locations, but the food is absolutely delicious – and I always try to leave some on my plate to eat cold the next morning.
But curries are incredibly easy to make at home as long as you have a reasonably well stocked spice cupboard. This one, by Madhur Jaffrey on the BBC website, is incredibly quick and has the added bonus of not using a pre-bought curry paste, so you can justifiably feel smug and domestic goddessey about producing it. The addition of cherry tomatoes at the end is our own and probably completely unauthentic - so feel free to leave them out – although I like the little pops of sweetness throughout the curry. I have a feeling some spinach stirred through just at the end, wilted in the residual heat, would also be rather good.
Ingredients
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp paprika
½ tsp ground turmeric
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed to a pulp
2.5cm/1in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated to a pulp
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
397g/14oz can reduced fat coconut milk, well shaken (or stirred)
¾tsp salt or to taste
1 tbsp tamarind paste
450g/1lb peeled and deveined, meduim sized uncooked prawns (shrimps)
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
Serves 4, 6 pro points per portion
In a bowl, combine 300ml/10fl oz/1¼ cups water with the cayenne pepper, paprika, turmeric, garlic and ginger. Mix well. Grind the coriander seeds and cumin seeds in a clean and add to mixture.
Put the spice mixture into a pan and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. The sauce should reduce and thicken. Add the coconut milk, salt, tamarind paste and bring to a simmer. Add the prawns (shrimp) and simmer, stirring now and then, until they turn opaque and are just cooked through. Just before serving, stir through the cherry tomatoes.
This sounds lovely! Yet again I feel envious of your tea!!! Curry is one of my favourites too :)
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