More South Indian Curry Recipes

About a month ago, I wrote about a "South Indian Lamb Curry." I guess I have been leaning towards South Indian dishes of late, and this Madras style curry is not a lot different than the previous one, but there are some differences. The South Indian Lamb Curry recipe calls for a can of tomato paste, which makes the resultant curry brightly colored. This Madras Style Lamb Curry uses either fresh chopped tomatoes or a can of petite diced tomatoes, making it paler in color, and also uses tamarind, giving a sour note to the dish.

Madras Lamb Curry

Southern India, particularly the southernmost tip, encompasses the states of Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Madras, now called Chennai, is located in the northern part of Tamil Nadu. Anything from South India is likely to be very hot. Chili heat makes one sweat, helpful in the torrid heat. Of course, how much chili (fresh or dried or powder) is used is all dependent on who makes the recipe. When I make any Indian recipe, heat is totally optional. It is entirely possible to have all the Indian flavors without burning your entire mouth, esophagus and stomach. In this same vein, I created my own Madras Curry Powder, but again, left out all but the smallest bit of chili-heat. Feel free to add as much ground chili as you prefer.

Madras Curry Powder

Makes about ⅓ cup

2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoons white poppy seeds
2 small whole dried red chilies (remove seeds for less heat)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns (preferably Tellicherry)
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2-inches cassia cinnamon stick, broken
6 whole cloves
½ star anise
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½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger powder

Heat a dry skillet on medium to medium high heat. Add in one spice at a time, stirring quickly and constantly, until the spice releases its fragrance and darkens slightly. Do not burn! Once the spice is ready, pour it into a shallow plate to cool and proceed with the next spice. Be careful with the dried chili, as it may cause irritation to breathing as it heats. Have an extractor fan on. Or, simply replace the whole dried chilies with ¼ teaspoon (or more) of your preferred hot chili such as cayenne or Kashmiri chili powder at the end of the process along with the last two ingredients. Once all the spices are toasted and cooled, grind them to a fine powder in a spice grinder, in batches if needed, and then stir together along with the garlic and ginger powders. Store in a glass jar in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months.

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Most south Indian recipes I have seen have some mixture of most of these spices in the Madras Curry Powder. Some have more of one thing, or less of another. Some have something not listed in my recipe and some have less things than are in my recipe. But some mixture of this is in most recipes for curries in the south. After that, there are some variances, as noted above, and this recipe for Madras Lamb Curry uses chopped tomatoes (which up in the frigid north means tasteless grocery store tomatoes, so I prefer to use a can of chopped tomatoes instead, with their juices), and tamarind. Tamarind is a very common ingredient in south India, and if not tamarind, then possibly amchur (dried green mango powder). The sourness that come from tamarind and mango powder is a flavor also highlighted in Kerala, where often vinegar is used to this effect. 

To Use Tamarind Pods

Tamarind Pods

If you have access to tamarind pods, they do keep for a long time. Use about 3 or 4, depending on size, for a recipe. Crack the brittle outer pod and peel it away. Remove the long, stringy fibers. Soak the sticky inner parts in about a cup or less of warm water for about 30 minutes or more. As the fruit softens, using very clean hands, begin squishing the fruit until most of it has softened in the water. The fruit will have a series of black, shiny seeds inside; these will need to be expelled and discarded. Once the fruit is all reduced to lumpy, stringy bits, set a strainer over a bowl and pour the tamarind, fibers and all, into the strainer. Press the solids against the strainer with a spoon, pressing until you have extracted as much as possible from the pods, then discard the remaining fibrous bits. This may make more than you need for a recipe. If there are leftovers, use it to make a refreshing beverage, adding some of it to water and stirring in sugar to taste.

Back to my recipe, southern Indian recipes often call for mustard oil to be used, though other oils are perfectly acceptable. I think mustard oil, because it must be heated to smoking to make it easier to eat/digest, and diffuses into the air, is the ingredient that really leaves hair and clothing reeking of that very typically "Indian food" scent. I do use it occasionally, but not always, and in this recipe I chose to use coconut oil. Use what works best for you.

Madras Lamb Curry

Madras Lamb Curry with Masala Potatoes

Makes 4 servings

1½ pounds lamb stew meat, in small, ¾-inch cubes
¼ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup water
4 tablespoons Madras Curry Powder (see recipe above)
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2 green chilies, more or less as needed for heat preference
4 cloves garlic
1-inch ginger, minced or grated
1 - 2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
1 large onion, chopped
10 - 12 curry leaves 
1 (15-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons tamarind puree (see above), (OR
½ teaspoons tamarind concentrated paste, mixed into water)
1 Tej Patta (Indian "Bay" leaf)
 
Stir together in a mixing bowl the yogurt and water, then stir in the meat (beef may be used if lamb is not available). Stir in the Madras Curry Powder to coat evenly, and set aside while preparing the remaining ingredients.
 
Mince very finely the garlic and ginger, then add in the green chilies, minced finely (remove seeds if less heat is preferred). Set aside.
 
Heat the oil in a large skillet. When the oil is very hot, add in the mustard seeds and allow them to begin spluttering, then add in the chopped onion and the curry leaves. Saute these ingredients until the onion is well softened, then add in the reserved ginger, garlic, chili mixture. Stir, cooking for a few minutes until very fragrant. Add in the whole can of tomatoes with juices, the tamarind puree or diluted concentrate, the tej patta leaf and then pour in the meat with its marinade and stir together until evenly blended. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the meat is tender, about 40 to 60 minutes, checking for liquids and stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the pan. Serve garnished with cilantro leaves.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Making a Lamb Curry

It's been about 2½ weeks since I wrote. An unexpected trip came up, and unfortunately, the time and place I had intended to write had no wi-fi hookup. Then I was with my sisters and families and while I had an absolute ball seeing family again, there was no time at all left over to write a blog. But shopping - ahhhh. We Shopped. Capital "S".

I am home now, and just before we left on this trip I had received delivery of a whole, butchered lamb, much to my joy. Lamb here is extremely expensive, if one can even find it, so when I was at the Farmers' Market just over a month back, I was overjoyed to see a sign saying "Ask Me About Lamb!" I went to the woman and asked! She said they raise sheep and were looking to get into the market a bit more widely around here. I was overjoyed to tell her right there and then that I wanted a lamb. As I said, it was delivered just before our trip, so I had not had an opportunity to use it before we left. As soon as we got back I remedied that right away.

My husband and I love lamb, and one of my most favorite ways to make it is in something Indian. I had made Keema Matar (ground lamb with peas) in past, but since living up here, I have only been able to make it with beef hamburger meat. Our dinner was so delightful. Yesterday I wanted to try out the stew meat. In these parts they call it "chislic", and it is used most often to either fry or stew and often is served with toothpicks as an appetizer. Marie said she used hers most often to make her curries. I was a little dismayed to find out just how much fat was on these bits and pieces of meat. To use it as chislic would have been fine, as frying the meat would render a large portion of the fat away. To use in a curry type dish (without browning the meat), this was just far too much fat for my taste. I easily trimmed off ½ pound of fat from the 1½ pound package of chislic meat. Oh well.

Lamb Korma with rice and Chapatis

My Korma Konundrum

There is a recipe that is in all of my Indian cookbooks (about 6 or so), called Korma. Usually made with lamb, this dish has a sauce that is very pale and in some cases, bland. Surprising, when you think about Indian cooking to have a recipe come out so bland. I have tried various iterations of the recipe from many of these books and have never been quite satisfied. It is one thing to have a nice, light sauce with lots of flavor. I love my Chicken and Dumplings with its creamy-white sauce and great flavor. The Korma has mostly been, well, meh. I sat down yesterday with all my books laid open to the page with this recipe, to try and piece together what, exactly makes Korma. I created a recipe based on my findings. I am not Indian, though I just love all the flavors and spices. How much of what I did is genuinely authentic, I have no clue. All I can say for sure is that the result was most excellent.

From my study of all the recipes in all these books, there are some things that stand out as common parts of this recipe. One is the particular masala used. Masala is a mixture of spices; nothing more. In the case of a Korma, in every book these spices were at minimum coriander, cumin, cinnamon and cardamom. I added a tiny bit of cloves and a small tej patta leaf, both found in one particular recipe. Another thing that is common to all the recipes is the use of plain yogurt for a marinade. A third thing common to all the recipes is the use of nuts to thicken the sauce. Most common (and according to one book's explanation, most authentic) is almonds, though cashews can be used. A fourth thing is that the sauce is created from pureeing together onions and garlic (at minimum), with the possible additions of fresh ginger root and green chiles to your tolerance lever. Some add in dried red chiles also. I do not mind some slightly hotter dishes, but my husband is a South Dakota boy, born and bred, and he jokes that ketchup is the hottest he can stand. 

One thing only differed in one of the recipes. When it came to making this pureed sauce, most books had one pureeing raw onion, garlic and ginger. One book only called for first sauteing the onions golden, adding the garlic and ginger to the pan to make them fragrant and then pureeing this combination into a sauce, along with the blanched almonds. This seemed to make more sense, as I have been looking for more flavor. 

One complaint about the Kormas I have made, aside from lack of flavor, is that the sauce always seems to be enough for 2 or 3 recipes worth of meat. If the almonds are supposed to thicken the sauce, there is just no way to thicken this much runny liquid, and the cooking time would have to double in order to cook out some of the liquid. By first sauteing the onions, garlic and ginger, and then pureeing with the almonds, the mixture was so thick I had to add far more than the ½ cup of water I had allotted to this task. Beef or lamb stock could (and perhaps should) be substituted for the water, but I hadn't enough time to accomplish the making of a stock beforehand. Water it was, then.

Blanching Almonds

Peeling Blanched Almonds

Blanching almonds is an easy enough task. It can be a bit time-consuming, depending on how many almonds need to be used. When blanching and peeling a pound of them for making almond paste, it is time consuming indeed. For the purposes of this small recipe it was a snap. It is best to use whole, raw almonds, when blanching and peeling. Place the almonds into a saucepan and just cover with water. Bring the pan to a boil, remove from heat and let rest for a minute. Drain and rinse with cold water, then hold an almond in one hand and pinch the skin (which is now very loose) at the thicker end. The white almond will start to pop out of the pointed end. Once in a while, one almond will be contrary and pop out the blunt end, but not often. Do this with each almond, until they are all done.

If using for a sauce such as this Korma, they are now ready to use. If looking to process into a powder that will be stored, they will first need to be dried completely, so as not to rot.

Lamb Korma

Serves 2 to 3

Lamb Korma with rice and chapatis

LAMB MARINADE:
1 pound lamb stew meat, in small chunks
½ cup plain yogurt
½ teaspoon saffron threads
1 tablespoon rosewater (or plain water, if rosewater is not available)
1 teaspoon salt

SAUCE:
1 tablespoon ghee or cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 - 3 green chilies (serrano, jalapeno)
½ cup almonds, blanched and peeled
½ - ¾ cup water or stock

MASALA:
1½ teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1-inch true cinnamon stick, crumbled
¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds (or remove the seeds from two green pods)
2 whole cloves
1 small tej patta (Indian Bay leaf), veins removed, crumbled

Make the marinade: Stir together the saffron threads with the rosewater or plain water and set aside for a few minutes while preparing the meat. In a bowl large enough to hold the meat and yogurt, mix together the yogurt with the saffron and its soaking liquid and the salt. Add in the meat and toss to coat completely with the marinade. Cover the container and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
 

Sauteed onion mixture in blender  |  blanched almonds added     |     mixture pureed with water     |     finished sauce

Make the sauce: Set the almonds to blanch as described above. Heat a skillet and add in the ghee or oil with the onions and saute, stirring very often until the onions begin to turn golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. While onions are sauteing, prepare the green chilies. If you love the heat, remove the stems and chop them whole. For less heat, remove seeds and membranes also before chopping. Add in the garlic, ginger and chilies and saute for another 3 to 5 minutes, until the ginger and garlic become very fragrant. Pour the sauteed mixture into a blender. Add in the blanched and peeled almonds and some of the water or stock and blend until smooth, adding more water by small amounts, only as needed. If done earlier in the day, or even a day before, place this pureed mixture into a container with a lid and refrigerate until needed.

Masala Spices

Make the Masala: Heat a dry skillet over medium heat until quite hot. Add in all the whole spices and stir constantly and shake the pan often until the spices are very fragrant and lightly toasted, about 1 or 2 minutes, depending on how hot the pan. Pour the toasted spices at once onto a plate to cool. Leaving them in the pan will overcook or burn them. Once cooled, grind them in a small spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Set aside until needed.

Make the Korma: In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon more ghee or oil. Add in the sauce and the Masala mixture and stir well to combine. Add in the meat with its marinade and stir well. Cover and cook the mixture over low heat for about 45 minutes or an hour. Serve the Korma with rice. Chapatis make a nice accompaniment - recipe in next blog!

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Potato Pea Curry Quick and Easy

Last evening I was really late getting into the kitchen to make dinner. I had some pork chops I was planning to grill, with the idea of just slathering them with some barbecue sauce at the end of the grill time. I looked in the fridge; no barbecue sauce. Drat.

My next idea was to just use my marinade for Pork with Indian Spices. This marinade is so very delicious on pork, chicken or turkey, though I had never used it on pork chops before. Still, same difference so I proceeded. The marinade is tried and true and best of all, quick. I mixed up the marinade in a zip-top bag, placed the pork chops into the marinade and tossed it around a bit to coat. And then I was left with what to make for a side dish. My husband is very fond of potatoes. We have been eating potatoes all sorts of ways lately, including some new takes on potato salads. None of these were quick enough to get done in a reasonable amount of time for dinner when I was already running late.
 

Pork Chops in Indian Spices and Potato Pea Curry

Making Potato Pea Curry

Then I got that light bulb flashing on again. Since I was making Indian flavored pork, I would make Potato Pea Curry. I have made this a few times in past and it doesn't take very long. While the pork chops marinated, I started making the Potato Pea Curry. This curry by all rights should really have chopped fresh tomatoes in it, with a little tomato juice as the sauce, but my husband has an extreme distaste for fresh tomatoes. He absolutely loves almost any tomato based sauce; just nothing fresh. I use a can of tomato sauce which works well, giving the nice tomato base flavor and no despised chunks.

Obviously this curry has potatoes and peas in it, hence the name. Just FYI, "Aloo" is potato and "Mattar" means peas in Indian, so this can be called an Aloo Mattar Curry. Other Indian spices that flavor this dish are the ubiquitous coriander and cumin seeds. I know they may not be in every single Indian dish, but they certainly seem to be a set of main spice staples. Heat can be modified to taste. I used a little ancho chile powder and one jalapeno with seeds and membranes removed. Were Mario Batali to make this curry, I could imagine him using a goodly pinch of red pepper flakes and throwing in 2 or 3 sliced whole Serranos. Make the heat level to your taste. 

Potato Pea Curry (Aloo Mattar Curry)

Other ingredients in this curry are onions, garlic and fresh ginger. Garlic and ginger are another two staples that go into most Indian dishes I have encountered. They are generally minced together finely, in more or less equal amounts. The last most important part of this dish is a good amount of cilantro. I use a large handful, chopped coarsely, but if this is objectionable, just use less, to taste.  I do not add turmeric to this curry, though it is certainly fine to use. I did add in a small bit of true cinnamon quill and 2 whole cloves. I highly recommend having a small coffee grinder to use only for spice grinding, if you do not already have one. The use of whole spices, freshly ground, makes a world of difference to the flavors in a dish. Though I really love black pepper, I left it out of this dish because of the heat coming from the ancho powder and the jalapeno. I tolerate a lot more heat than does my husband, so in deference to his taste buds, I try to keep the heat at a very tolerable level. I can always add in more pepper or cayenne to my taste at the table. 

Potato Pea Curry (Aloo Mattar Curry)

Serves about 6

Potato Pea Curry (Aloo Mattar Curry)

2.5 pounds potatoes, peeled, cubed
1 tablespoon salt, for potato cooking water
1 1/2 cups frozen baby peas (about 6 ounces)
1 - 2 tablespoons oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 to 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced with
1 large knob fresh ginger, size of a walnut
1 jalapeno, minced finely
1 1/2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1/2 inch true cinnamon quill
2 whole cloves
1 teaspoon pure ancho chilie powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (14.5 - 15 ounces) tomato sauce
large handful of cilantro, coarsely chopped

Place the cubed potatoes in a saucepan with water to just cover and bring to a boil. Once the pot boils, add the tablespoon of salt. I keep coarse sea salt for this purpose. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Drain and set them aside. Add in the frozen peas while the potatoes are hot and they will quickly come up to temperature.

While the potatoes are boiling, set a large skillet to heat. Once hot, add the oil and then the onions, stirring often until the potatoes are softened, translucent and beginning to color. During this time, place the whole spices into a spice grinder and once fine, mix in the ancho powder and salt and set aside. Mince together the garlic and ginger, and then the jalapeno. Once the onion is softened, add in the garlic, ginger and jalapeno and toss until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add in the spices and toss well to combine, another 30 seconds. Add the can of tomato sauce and bring to boil. lower heat and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour this sauce over the potatoes and peas along with the chopped cilantro and stir well. Serve immediately.

Once the sauce had come together for the curry, I lit the grill. I got the pork chops on the grill a few minutes later. These were not thick chops, so they didn't take long on the grill. The whole dinner, from conception to table was 1 hour. Not bad.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.