A question raised at the weekend, and answered thusly:
Beef kofte (twice-minced meatballs) in a spicy yogurt-tomato sauce with rice pilau and chilli torshi (sour pickles - which @dduane says looks like a Facehugger...) Not too hot, just enough to say HELLO THERE in a loud and cheerful way.
In case it did turn out too hot, @dduane made 4-vanilla ice cream (vanilla extract, vanilla paste, fresh vanilla bean and vanilla Irish whiskey) garnished with shaved bitter chocolate.
Recipe for the curry is under the cut.
Kofta curry
For the meatballs:
500 g minced meat, lamb or beef
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoonful black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoonful ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
oil or ghee for frying
(1 beaten egg – optional)
For the sauce:
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons tomato purée
1 tin chopped tomatoes
500 ml beef stock.
Juice of one lemon
4 tablespoons yoghurt
(Freshly chopped mint or leaf coriander – optional)
(1) food processor method: Put all the meatball ingredients (except the egg - not required) into a processor and whizz into a smooth paste then, with wet hands to avoid stickiness, form the mixture into golf-ball size meatballs. Fry gently until brown on all sides. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
(2) manual method: knead all the ingredients together, including the egg as a binder, then form meatballs, fry and set aside as before.
Add more oil or ghee to the pan if required, and fry the onion and garlic until soft and golden. Add the spices, and fry for a further five minutes. Add the tomato purée and chopped tomatoes and fry for a further five minutes. Add the beef stock and lemon juice, boil up once, stir well, then reduce heat and add the meatballs. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally and taking care not to break up the meatballs.Just before serving, stir in the yogurt.
Plate up with plain or pilau rice.
(Optional garnishes: more yoghurt drizzled over the meatballs; if using lamb, sprinkle with fresh chopped mint; if using beef, sprinkle with fresh chopped coriander.)
What I’m NOT going to eat! ☝️cooking Uzbek style pilaf for my husband — do this dish when we get a whole leg of lamb which is too much to eat for the two of us. So I cut the leg in two, roasting the upper half for dinner (as in my yesterday dinner log) and so with the shank I cook the pilaf like this: the shank + 2 onions + 2 carrots + cumin and other spices - a brief fry then slow roast for hours. Part 2 (normally do it next day): shred the meat off the bone and do the magic with the rice (the way Uzbek pilaf is done, google it). P.S. Neither me nor Max are uzbeks - just really like the dish ;-)
Riso pilaf con zucca e salsiccia _ Ingredienti per 4 persone:
200 gr di salsiccia, 100 gr di bacon a fette (o pancetta affumicata), 300 gr di riso basmati, 300 gr di zucca, 1 cipolla piccola, 9 dl di brodo di carne, 20 gr di burro, 1 cucchiaio d'olio d'oliva, sale, pepe, qualche foglia di salvia.
FATE COSI :
Versate l'olio d'oliva in una padella piuttosto grande a bordi alti (oppure una casseruola con le stesse caratteristiche) e scaldate a fuoco medio. Fatevi dorare le fette di bacon tagliate a pezzi e la salsiccia spellata e disfatta a bocconcini. Lasciate dorare bene il tutto e spingete le fette di bacon sul lato. Aggiungete il burro, abbassate la fiamma e fate appassire la cipolla affettata. Quando la cipolla inizia a dorare, mescolate il tutto e versate il riso. Unite la zucca tagliata a bastoncini e 2 o 3 foglie di salvia a striscioline.
Coprite con il brodo caldo e aggiungete poco pepe e un cucchiaino di sale. Coprite e lasciate cuocere a fuoco moderato per circa 12 minuti, senza mescolare. Verso la fine della cottura, controllate che il riso non si asciughi troppo e aggiungete eventualmente qualche cucchiaiata di brodo caldo. Quando il riso è cotto e ha assorbito tutto il brodo, controllate il condimento e mescolate delicatamente. Servite su piatti caldi, eventualmente con una macinata di pepe nero.
Chicken and carrot pilaf Ukrainians love pilaf and call it ‘plov’. Here is the Ukrainian version for this great dish. This one-pot chicken pilaf with carrot and onion has a very easy recipe and will become a good solution for your family dinner. The pilaf is so dainty that your relatives will be mad about it. Only imagine - fluffy, fragrant rice, browned carrot, juicy onion, tender meat. Who can resist the temptation? This Ukrainian pilaf is recommended to serve with either pickled or fresh vegetables. One more advantage of this dish is that it reheats well. So, you can serve the pilaf the next day and save your time on preparing a new dish. Ingredients: 2 big carrots 1 bulb onion 1,5 cup of rice 300 g (10,5 oz) chicken vegetable oil (for frying) black ground pepper – to taste salt – to taste Cooking Wash chicken and cut it into medium pieces. Rinse, peel, and grate carrots. Peel a bulb onion and chop it finely. Pour vegetable oil in a multi-cooker and preheat for a couple of...↴ http://ukrainian-recipes.com/chicken-pilaf-with-carrot-and-onion.html
2 tbs - vegetable oil
1 tsp - cumin seeds
1 large cinnamon sticks
4 green cardamom pods , coarsely crushed
2 black cardamom pods , coarsely crushed
2-3 bay leaves
8-10 black peppercorns
1 medium sized onion , finely chopped
4-5 cloves
8-10 almonds / cashewnuts
1 tsp lemon juice
100 gm of oyster mushrooms ,cleaned and chopped ( if you have dried mushrooms then take half amount and soak them in water for around 15- 20 minutes )
3-4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
Salt to taste
2-3 handful of basmati rice ( wash and soak them while carrying out other steps )
300 ml water
Procedure
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add all the whole and dried spices to it and cook them for around 30 -60 seconds.
2. Now add onions and nuts (almonds / cashewnuts ) . cook untill onion is cooked , turns to pinkish colour.
3. Now add mushrooms , garlic and salt , cook for around 3 minutes on high flame.
4. Drain the soaked rice and add them to pan along with 300 ml water and bring this to boil.
5. Then cook it with lid on for around 10 minutes.
6. Check whether our rice grain have been cooked or not , if not , then cover it and cook till rice grain are completly tendered.
7. If any excess water is left then evaporate it. Add lemon juice to it and check for seasoning while stirring ( very tenderly as we do not want rice grains to break ).
8. Our oyster mushroom pilaff is ready to serve.
