A feast from the Subcontinent

I've made it sort of a goal of mine to cook at least one big, ostensibly elaborate - but in fact quite simple, dinner each week during the summer. I seem to have a lot of time on my hands, and what better way to spend that time than cooking!

So today when I woke up on the holiday Monday, I decided I needed to make a good dinner. I had Indian food in my head because I haven't had it in ages. So I flipped through couple of books, and got some ideas.

I decided on 3 main dishes; two meat, and one vegetable.

I'd make Pork Vindaloo: pork shoulder braised in a dark sauce flavoured primarily with cinnamon, as well as coriander seed, cardamom, cloves, cayenne pepper, garlic, ginger, mustard seed, and thinned with white vinegar.

I'd also make what I'll call a Cardamom Coconut Red Chicken Curry. This dish might be reminiscent of Tikka Masala or Butter Chicken, but the spice composition is somewhat different, and I think it is tastier and superior to the two former dishes.

Lastly, I made a curried cauliflower dish with some homemade curry powder that I'd made on a previous occasion.

To go along with these dishes, I made a raita (yogurt sauce/dip), basmati rice, and I got some naan bread, as well as pappdams. Then I made a Lassi Meethi for dessert. Here is what you'll need to do this one!

Pork Vinadloo



Meat: A few pounds of pork shoulder, cut into chunks

Herb/Spice: garlic, ginger, cinnamon, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, ground cloves, mustard seed/powder, cardamom, salt, black pepper, vinegar



Garnish/Fixins: Chopped cilantro

What to do:

1. Toss a couple tablespoons of a neutral oil into a medium saucepan over medium heat, and all the ingredients except the pork, vinegar, and cilantro

2. After about a minute of cooking the spices in the oil, at the pork and raise the heat to medium high. Cook for about a minute

3. Add the vinegar, and a bit of water to cover the meat.

4. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for about an hour and a half - longer if you want.



5. When the pork it tender, check the sauce - adjust thickness as desired (I like to reduce it enough that it sticks to the meat well).



6. Serve topped with chopped cilantro

Cardamom Coconut Red Chicken Curry

Meat: Some chicken pieces - preferably dark meat on the bone - I used four whole legs

Veg: a can of tomatoes, fresh chilies (jalapeno or Thai, or anything you can find), onion

Herb/Spice: Cardamom, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, salt and pepper, a can of coconut milk, butter

Garnish/Fixins: Chopped Cilantro



What to do:

1. Melt some butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, and throw in 2 onions, sliced - cook until soft.

2. When the onions are soft, add a couple tablespoons each of garlic and ginger (both minced), as well as a couple fresh chilies (seeded, stemmed, and chopped finely) - cook for a minute.

3. Add the can of tomatoes, liquid and all, and break up the tomatoes with whatever you are stirring with - Let simmer for 10 minutes

4. Add the coconut milk, followed by the chicken (I suggest taking the skin off if there is any; but left on the bone) - Bring to a strong simmer and let cook for at least an hour.



5. [Optional] After about an hour, I decided to remove the chicken from the sauce and take the chicken off the bone. You don't have to do this if you don't want to.

6. [Optional] Also, while the chicken was out, I added a dollop of butter, and pureed the sauce with a stick blender to bring it to a really nice velvety texture. Return the chicken to the sauce.



7. Add a handful of chopped cilantro, and stir. Also, taste and adjust the seasonings - add more of all the spices if you want to add a bit more depth of flavour. It will probably need a bit of salt.

7. Serve topped with chopped cilantro

Curried Cauliflower

Veg: head of cauliflower, trimmed and left whole

Herb/Spice: curry powder, neutral oil, lemon juice, cumin

What to do:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the cauliflower, and cook for about 10 minutes or until its tender.

2. If you are doing this an hour or two ahead, just remove it from the water and let it cool. If not, throw it into a bowl with ice water to cool it down right away. When its cool, break it into small pieces.

3. Add about 3 tablespoons of oil to a large non-stick fry pan and put to medium heat; then add the curry powder. Stir until the curry powder turns a dark. But be careful not to burn it!

4. Add the cauliflower and toss in the oil and curry powder, and add some salt and pepper. Cook until the cauliflower is coated, heated, and turning a nice brown colour.

5. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Garnish with more curry powder, some cumin (seeds if you have them), cayenne pepper (if you want to make it a bit spicy), and the juice of half a lemon. Serve!

Raita

*This is one variation on many that you could make

What you'll need:



Plain Yogurt (I like the Mediterranean style - its thicker and I think it works better)
Cucumber - grated
Cumin
Mustard Powder
Sugar
Salt.

Stir all together in a bowl. Adjusting all the seasonings to taste. It is supposed to be a cooling condiment to go with some of the hotter dishes.



Lassi Meethi

Alright, here is a bonus thing I made for dessert. Lassi is a thick yogurt based drink that can be made either savoury or sweet. Here, since it was for dessert, it was obviously sweet.

What you need:

A cup or so of plain yogurt,
A cup or so of ice cubes
A bit of cold water
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Cardamom - 1 tsp or more to taste

Blend everything together in a blender, adjusting water, ice, yogurt for desired thickness, and other ingredients for desired flavour. They are incredible.


There you have it! A holiday weekend-ending Indian fest. This all turned out very well tonight, and we demolished the food. Luckily I made a lot of everything so I'll have something to bring to work for lunch everyday this week, albeit a very shortened week!