Ghoulash on a Stormy Night

I am writing this on a Monday morning, rather begrudgingly, I usually do all my writing over the weekend, but this one was super hectic and all I managed to do was a cook a couple of decent meals for the family and finally go to a canteen style restaurant I have been dying to eat at. The weather has been dull and miserable, with an occasional smattering of rain, very annoying. The clouds need to open up and pour or shut their faces and glide by, the piddle like pitter patter is useless and depressing! Though it makes for perfect ‘food craving’ season… the rains make me want soul food as much as winters do. So instead of moping about the grim situation outside, I decided to brighten things inside. Saturday was going to be bright food day; I personally love colours in my food, that’s what attracts me to Pan Asian cuisine, the al dente bits of coloured peppers, the greens, the salmon pink of the meats and the white of spring onions. These days with the opinions on MSG, I really feel like my Asian recipes don’t taste as good, may well be a psychological thing but I cook Asian food much less now.

One given when it comes to soul food is at least one dish of red meat. My family also has a special affinity to tomatoes and they definitely need rice. So I decided to make Shirazi style ‘desi’ Ghoulash. This dish is more like an Iranian chicken curry I once had, tomato base, light chicken and very wholesome. But since I tend to use bacon sometimes and make a curry out it, I like to call is a Ghoulash (apologies to Hungarians, foodies massacre each other’s foods all the time, it’s for the greater good at the end of the day!). I don’t use boneless meats, by principle! Only if it’s a must in recipes do I succumb, I do a lot of my Chinese stir fry’s with smaller cuts of chicken, rather than going boneless. I feel bones add a lot of flavour and natural moisture and fat to the dish. So I make this recipe with meat on the bone, you can try boneless; a lot of people feel it works better. I serve this with potato wedges (from scratch) and herbed rice.

Shirazi Style Desi Ghoulash

½ kg Mutton
2 tbsp oil
2 white onions, minced or pureed
4 large tomatoes cubed
4-6 garlic pods crushed
2-3 tbsp tomato puree
1 bayleaf
2-3 cloves
2-3 tsp crushed pepper
½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt
1 cup Water for gravy

Brown the onions and garlic in oil, add the bayleaf and cloves. Fry for a minute or so and add the mutton. Toss it up on high for a minute, turn down the heat, add the cumin and chilli powder and salt, stir and cover. Use a heavy bottomed pan or a pressure cooker, so you can cook the meat for 25-30 minutes on low. After about 15 minutes of cooking, add the tomato cubes and the puree. Stir and keep covered, only stir 2-3 times in the 30 minutes. Top with the pepper powder, add half cup water and pressure cook if you need the meat to flower (I realize how gross that sounds but what I mean is, the meat opens up and softens, doesn’t remain tight and compact!). Check the salt before you serve, if you feel the gravy is too tangy, feel free to add a tsp or two of sugar, its cuts the tang and brings out the pepper.

From Scratch Potato Wedges

4 large potatoes
Oil for deep frying
Masala Mix:
1 tsp. Oregano/Italian seasoning
½ tsp garlic salt or celery salt
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp salt.

Cut the potatoes in wedges, deep fry till soft and brown. Toss in the masala mix and serve hot.

Herb Rice:

1 large bowl of cooked white rice
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsbp very fine celery leaf

Heat the butter, throw in the rice, herbs and celery, toss on high heat for 3-4 minutes and serve right away.

So this is the meal we had the other day, it was superfluous if I may say so. The rain was beating hard in the balcony, we almost wished it were lashing on the window, to add to the ‘dak bungalow’ rainy effect that this food had already created. This is one dish I love to combine with a nice spicy rum or a fruity red wine, the pepper and tomato combo is perfect for some with dinner drinking!

My Meen Moily

I had been working from home for years with an occasional visit to an actual office, so I managed to catch a lot of 4 pm cooking shows. I saw one with model/chef/author Padma Lakshmi, in Kerala, she was cooking by the coast with a chef from a local 5 star hotel. I personally love outdoor cooking and really wish I could do it more often. Now that we live in a condo, I am waiting for our next fishing trip or beach BBQ in Kuwait where Andy’s parents live (great country for quality meats and fantastic seafood). The chef was making beachside fish curry. I don’t remember taking down the recipe but I remember being riveted. I was so desperate to try it that I took a rickshaw over 5 kms away (that’s far enough when a human being is pedalling you places) to the local fish market (?), more like alley. I bought a kilo of ‘surmai’ fillets and went straight home with the loot. I feel my version of this curry is very wintery and soup like wholesome. I also love how aromatic it turns out if I keep it simple and I can really taste the fish. I find this curry so simple to do now, that’s a quick fix comfort food staple in our home.

½ kilo ‘surmai’, ‘betki’, red snapper or any other boneless fish you like. It needs to cook in the curry without being fried, so choose a fish that will hold.

Fish marinade:
½ tsp Turmeric
1 tsp salt
Juice from ½ lemon

3 tbsp cooking oil
2 large onions, sliced thin
1 large tomato, cubed, into fours
4-6 pods of garlic, smashed
1 tsp minced ginger
8-10 curry leaves
3-4 slit green chillies
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp sugar
½ lemon squeezed

2-3 cups of coconut milk (if you are using a powder than make one cup thick and one cup thin. If you are using the real thing, then use the first squeeze last … if you are using cans or tetrapacks then anything goes!)

Salt

Marinate the fish and keep it aside, marinate for just about 10-15 mins. Heat oil, always put onions in hot (not smoking) oil or they will absorb all the oil and not let anything else fry. Throw in the ginger, garlic and curry leaves, toss it around gently, I hate smashing the onions, I like them evenly brown and un-crispy. I also don’t like to fry the curry leaves unless they are for tempering, for curries I like them to be fresh and chewable. Once the onions are brownish, add the dry masala powders, the turmeric, the chilli powder, coriander and cumin powder, but hold the tsp of ‘garam masala’. Make the coconut milk mix, I prefer for it to be warm, so give it a spin in the micro if you are using from a can or pack. Keep half a cup of the coconut milk separate, if you made fresh or from the powder, then this is the portion that’s thick, creamy coconut milk. Boil the curry on low for 3-4 minutes, you will see the oil separate on the sides. Slip in the fish pieces and turn gently in the curry, no need to mix this like crazy, just leave it, as long as the pieces are all submerged in the curry, you’re good! Cook for 2-3 minutes or so and add the tomato cubes and slit green chillies. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, finish with sugar, salt, lemon juice and garam masala. Serve with white rice and papads.

Oh, it kills me that the show’s host is a fit and fine woman, even today after a baby, she looks the same. Though I can imagine her love for food … Andy is like that, he can eat anything and get away with it, no weight gain and no IBS! I secretly hope my metabolism catches up with him or I will just end up being the chubby and fun wife of the cool and svelte photog! But deep inside I hugely admire women like Padma Lakshmi, they wear their vice like a medal and I suppose when you are underweight then it’s easier to go around saying “I am secretly a pig!”, hell its almost endearing. Like the other day when I read an interview with a local stand-up, where he said he loved women that could really eat, he would hang out with a woman that ate 2 naans and butter chicken and all that stuff! Believe me if she really was the type to let herself go, he wouldn’t last more than 6 months with her! So walk the talk baby, let’s see you with a voluptuous woman, for that matter let’s just see you with a woman first!