Mumbai vegan curry

This was a recipe we picked up after a mass cycle through Tallinn a few years ago. It is very tasty and quite simple to make. And, of course, offers a bunch of your five a day.

Should serve 2

Ingredients:
Half a medium aubergine/brinjal/eggplant
Mustard seeds
Lime leaves
1 Onion
Curry leaves (if available, not essential though)
Dried coriander
Chillies, to taste
100ml coconut milk
1 medium tomato
Vegetable stock, as needed (probably good to make half a litre and then play it by ear, but you probably won't need more than about 200ml)
100g chickpeas

Slice the aubergine up, season it, and roast in the oven. In a medium-sized pot, roast the mustard seeds and lime leaves for a minute or so, and then fry with the onion. Add the chilli and remaining spices. Add in the coconut milk, tomato, and stock, then bring to the boil and simmer. Once the sauce has thickened somewhat, add in the chickpeas and aubergine. Cook until ready and then serve with rice and fresh coriander on top.

One-pot Thai chicken noodle soup

Mostly courtesy of Carlsbad Cravings. Do be careful with the spice. It is very nice, though - very recommend.

Ingredients:
500g chicken fillet, sliced to make very thin fillets
2-3 onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
2-4 tbsp Thai red curry paste (to taste)
2cm piece fresh ginger, minced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 chillies, minced (optional)
1l chicken stock
2 400ml tins coconut milk
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
5-6 lime leaves
1 tsp basil or Provencal mix
Pepper to taste
250 g mushrooms, sliced
2 red peppers, sliced
150 g rice noodles, broken up into manageable pieces
handful roughly chopped coriander, plus extra to serve
juice of 2-3 limes, plus extra to serve

Brown the chicken in a big soup pot and then remove and put on a plate. Add in the onions and carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the curry paste, ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for 2-3 minutes. Return the chicken to the pot, then add the stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, lime leaves, basil and pepper. Bring to the boil then simmer for around 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender enough to shred. Remove the chicken from the pot and leave to cool until it can be shredded. In the meantime, add the mushrooms and peppers, bring to the boil again, add the (uncooked) noodles to the pot and simmer for around 4 minutes. Add the chicken, coriander and lime juice. Mix and serve with bread and wine on the side.

Vegan(ish) lentil curry

A slight adaptation of something I found at the Hungry Hutch. Definitely worth a look:

Ingredients:

2 cups lentils, washed
2 red peppers, cut up into chunks
1 medium-sized sweet potato, peeled and diced
Onion, peeled and diced
Garlic to taste, minced
Chilli to taste, chopped finely
About a tablespoon of chilli powder/garam masala
About a tablespoon of turmeric
900 ml chicken or vegetable stock
2 tomatoes
400 ml coconut milk
Salt and pepper to season
Basmati rice, coriander, and plain yoghurt to serve

Fry the sweet potato for about 3-5 min in a fair-sized pot (3-5 litres minimum), then add spices, onions, peppers, garlic, and chillies and cook for another 5 min or so. Add the tomatoes, mix well and cook for another 2 min, then add stock and coconut milk. Add lentils, bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, and then let simmer for 40-45 minutes. Serve over rice, with coriander and yoghurt if desired.

Jungle Curry

This stuff is all a matter of personal taste - as hot or mild as you want. The first time I had it, I was caught short in the middle of a class the next day. Not the most pleasant experience of my life. The meal was fantastic though. Here's my take on the subject. Not quite as good as the original, but it does the trick.

Should serve 3-4 people, depending on quantities

200g of chicken or pork (original recipe stated that it should be wild meat. If you can get some boar or metsasealiha, then all the better. Otherwise, chicken on the bone works nicely)
Vegetables, primarily brinjals, cherry tomatoes, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms
Coriander, Thai basil, and chillies

Curry paste:

1/2 an onion or equivalent in shallots
1 1/2 inches or so of galangal or ginger (about 3-4 tbsp, fresher is obviously better. If you use dried stuff, soak it then mash it up using a pestle and mortar)
1 tbsp green peppercorns (not blue ones)
2 tbsp lemongrass (fresher is better, and if dried, see above)
a lot of garlic, to taste basically
Lime leaves, again, to taste
Lime zest
Lime juice (just, use lime. Somewhere. Anywhere)
Coriander root
2 1/2 to 3 tbsp fish sauce (although you might want to add this to the pan, not the sauce. Up to you. Try either way)
1/2-1 tsp of shrimp paste
A few chillies, dried or otherwise (to taste)
A 400ml tin of coconut milk

Blend all the stuff for the paste in a food processor. Brown the chicken in a wok, add the vegetables and cook for a bit, then add the paste. Close to the end, add the coriander et al, and serve over rice.

There is obviously more than one way to skin a cat. This recipe is something I've pieced together, and it is quite tasty, although not overly spicy. Try using extra coconut milk or coconut butter if you are so inclined, for something thicker and creamier. Or add extra ginger to the meat, not the sauce (try strips of ginger). Any way you work it, it works out well.

Enjoy.

Bobotie

For those of you who are not of Seffrican descent, bobotie is/was the official dish of South Africa, much as the croissant is of France and crappy everything is of the UK. This is a relatively easy dish to make, unlike anything from France, and tastes really good, unlike anything from the UK. If you can get your hands on it, it goes best with Mrs HS Balls's chutney. If you can't, make your own, or find some in a supermarket. Can't help you there yet, but when I do, I'll let you know.

2 slices white bread (save up your stale offcuts, they work much better than fresh bread)

2 onions, diced

25g butter

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1kg packet lean minced beef

2 tbsp curry paste

3 cloves

1tsp mixed herbs

1 tbsp allspice (this I got from the original recipe I used. I didn't know what it was, and if you're as ignorant as I was, it's a very common spice in Caribbean cuisine)

2 tbsp peach or mango chutney

3 tbsp raisins

6 bay leaves

300ml (full cream if possible) milk

2 large eggs

Heat oven to 180C. Soak the bread in cold water while doing the other stuff.

Fry the onions in the butter. Add the garlic and beef and brown the beef. Stir in the curry paste, mixed herbs, spices, chutney, raisins and 2 of the bay leaves with 1 tsp salt and plenty of ground black pepper.

Cover and simmer for 10 mins. Squeeze the water from the bread, then beat into the meat mixture until well blended. Tip into an oval ovenproof dish - about 23 x 33cm and about 5-6cm deep. Press the mixture down well and smooth the top.

For the topping, beat the milk and eggs with seasoning, then pour over the meat. Top with the remaining bay leaves and bake for 35-40 mins until the topping is set and starting to turn golden.

The topping is rather very important. If it ain't there, you're doing it wrong.

Serve it with yellow rice: shove 1 1/2 cups of rice into a pot with water according to directions, along with 1/2 a cinnamon stick, 5 tbsp of raisins and 1 tsp of turmeric. If you want to be fancy, put some cardamon in as well.


This is an adaptation of a BBC recipe - who would have known the Brits could make good Saffer food?

Ema Datshi (Bhutanese Chilli Stew)

This is a traditional Bhutanese dish, made from chillies and cheese, with some tomatoes and onions thrown in for good measure. Due to the lack of authentic Bhutanese ingredients in Tallinn, I used some other stuff. Due to its ingredients, it can be hellishly hot, so if you do not like spicy stuff, deseed the chillies. Also, if you do decide to take the seeds out, I strongly recommend wearing gloves. Seeding a quarter kilo of chillies means that the stuff gets under your nails, and it burns for a long time after...

Anyway, here's the recipe. Good, strong, healthy, put hairs on your chest etc. Eat with rice and naan.

Ema Datshi

250g chillies (variety according to taste. The original recipe called for jalapenos, I used rohelised tsilid from the supermarket)
1 1/2 cups of water
1 big onion, diced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 big tomatoes, diced
5 cloves of garlic, finely diced
about 250g feta or some other white cheese (plus extra on the side)
Coriander

Wash and chop up the chillies. Deseed if desired. Put the chillies, onions, water, and oil in a pot. Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered for about 10 min. Add the tomatoes and garlic and simmer for 3 more min. Add the cheese, mix, and simmer for 3 min more. Take off the heat, add the coriander, let sit for a few minutes covered before serving. Serve with rice and naan, and something to take away the burning if needed (raitha, milk, yoghurt etc).

I have also discovered that, with a touch of ginger, and a can (400ml) of beans, the taste is multiplied severalfold. So instead of just having spice, you have taste too!