Beef baked with yoghurt and black pepper

Well the Indian tour is over as of last night- we watched the final game with yet another meal courtesy of my Indian week- this baked beef with the wonderful beetroot recipe that I'll post separately. We were happy to see India win- Australia have been such bad sports this season...and of course this series of meals has put us in a distinctly subcontinental frame of mind.

PS I know my food styling skills need alot of work- this definitely tastes better than my crummy photo would have you believe!

Serves 4

Ingredients

6 tbsp of vegetable oil

900g stewing beef cubed

2 small onions, peeled and finely chopped

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/2 tsp of cayenne

1tbs of paprika

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

300ml natural yoghurt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 F/ gas 4)

Put the oil in a flameproof casserole-type pan (preferably one with a lid) and set over medium - high heat.

Brown the meat in batches. Put the brown meat in a separate bowl

Put onions and garlic in the same pan and turn the heat down to medium. Stir and fry this mixture till it has browned.

Return the meat to the pan.

Add the ginger, cayenne, paprika, salt and black pepper- give it a quick stir to coat the meat and onions nicely with the spices.

Add the yoghurt. Bring to a simmer.

Cover tightly with foil and then the lid and bake in the oven for 90 minutes.

Stir gently and serve.

This is quite a dry dish, so goes well with a saucy vegetable dish (was great with the Beetroot with Onions) or nice moist rice. A dab of yoghurt works well- if you're feeling like it, whip up a quick Raita.

My first Rogan Josh

I've always wanted to make this as it's one of my favourite dishes at Indian restaurants. Again armed with the Madhur Jaffrey classic "Indian Cooking" I had a go and was surprised how simple this was. The only messy bit (assuming you get your butcher to cube the lamb) was making the paste.

Rogan Josh
Serves 4
Ingredients
5 cm (2 inches) knob of ginger peeled and coarsely chopped
8 cloves garlic, peeled
4 tbsp + 300 (10 fl oz) water
10 tbsp vegetable oil
900g cubed lamb

10 cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
6 cloves
10 peppercorns
2.5 cm (inch) cinnamon stick

200g onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp. paprika
¼ to 1 tsp of cayenne pepper (depending how hot you like it- I use a full tsp)
1 ¼ tsp salt
6 tbsp natural yoghurt
¼ tsp garam masala
Freshly ground black pepper

Use a barmix to blend the ginger garlic and 4 tbsps of water into a smooth paste.
Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan over medium-high heat.
Brown the meat in batches and set aside.
Put the cardamom pods, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon into the oil and stir.
Add the onions- stir fry for around 5 minutes or until the onions are a medium brown colour.
Put in the garlic-ginger paste and stir for 30 secs.
Then add the coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne and salt. Stir and fry for another 30 seconds.
Add the meat with all the juices, mix well so its coated with the paste in the pan. Now add in 1 tbsp of yoghurt- mix well- and gradually add the rest of the yoghurt. Stir and fry for around 3 minutes.
Now add 300 ml water- bring to the boil, scraping all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan into the sauce.
Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for an hour- stirring every 10 minutes.
If there is still liquid left after an hour, turn to high and boil off as desired- the sauce should be nice and thick.
Spoon off the fat.
Sprinkle with garam masala and black pepper and mix them in before serving.
Ideal with rice.

Food social networking site- Group Recipes

Oh my goodness,

now there's social networking for foodies:

http://www.grouprecipes.com/

You can set up your own page, add all your recipes with pictures and look at other people. Recipes are easy to search- but I guess it would just take time to work out which users you could trust! Mostly populated by Anericans by the look- and no offense, but I find my tastebuds are different to US ones and I have had some disappointments from American recipes in the past.
Anyway, a curiosity if nothing else!
Their blurb:

• Create your own food page
• Have "Roger" the Recipe Robot (aka Food Prediction Algorithm) learn about your tastes and predict recipes you will like or dislike
• Show off your personal creations and get feedback as well as honors
• Meet other foodies (aka food lovers) and see what kind of foods they are into
• Share & Discover great places to eat in your home town
• Stem the flow of boredom by using the "Recipe Stumbler" to explore recipes related to your favorite foods. (This is a great feature if you're stuck in the office all day and need to waste as much time as possible.)
• Explore food by taste, mood, photo, ingredients, uniqueness, rating, and your compatibility
• Organize your recipe collection with the Recipe Manager
• Join/Create a Group of like-minded foodies
• Experiment and collaborate on a dish with other members

Potatoes with ginger and garlic

Potatoes crusted with a delicious, spicy garlic and ginger paste. Really yummy! The potatoes I used were a little starchy, so they fell apart a bit when I was trying to fry them- if I were to make it again I would definitely try and get a low starch potato (red-skinned ideal) so it holds together a bit more.
You'll need a large non-stick or cast iron frying pan

Ingredients
650g potatoes
Piece of fresh ginger around 5 x 2.5 x 5 cm- peeled and coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp water
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Boil the potatoes in their jackets. Drain and let them cool completely.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2.5cm dice.
Put the ginger, garlic, water, turmeric, salt and cayenne into a blender (or use a barmix) and blend until you have a paste.

Put the oil in a large frying pan and set over medium heat. When hot, put in the fennel seeds. Let them sizzle for a few seconds. Now put in the ginger-garlic paste. Stir and fry for 2 minutes.
Put in the potatoes. Stir and fry over medium-high heat for 5 - 7 minutes or until the potatoes have a nice golden-brown crust on them.

Green beans with ginger and green coriander- courtesy of Madhur Jaffrey

These are deliciously fresh and tangy! As a side dish to any roast meat would be great. Once you've cut the beans and ginger very easy to throw together.

Ingredients
550 g fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm pieces
2.5 cm piece of ginger, peeled and cut into fine strips
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
3/4 tsp salt
1 fresh green hot chilli, finely chopped
4 tsp lemon juice
150 ml chicken stock
5 - 6 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

Put the oil in a large frying pan or wok and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the mustard seeds. As soon as the first seeds begin to pop put in the ginger strips. Stir and fry until the ginger starts to brown, a matter of a few seconds.
Put in the green beans and toss once or twice.
Now add the cumin, turmeric, salt and green chilli.
Add the lemon juice and stock. Stir and bring to a simmer.
Cover, turn heat down to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes or until the beans are almost tender. Add the fresh coriander, toss and cover again for a minute. Uncover, toss and boil away all liquid at a higher heat.

Shahjahani Leg of Lamb

My sister-in-law's birthday. 8 mouths to feed. She sort of suggested she might like a curry. What would you do? I raced to the library and got out Madhur Jaffrey's classic "Indian Cookery" and jumped to her suggested menu page. When I saw this leg of lamb recipe I knew this was it- just had to get the lamb from our fantastic halal butcher and start marinating on the Thursday night. But was definitely worth it- it was absolutely delicious! And to accompany it, potatoes, rice and beans (all recipes listed separately- to ease filing issues). Broke all my rules in terms of prep time - that was ok though cause it was a Saturday and I had all afternoon to cook and really enjoyed it! The one ingredient I couldn't get at Coles was the white poppy seeds. Have found a great indian store though at 7 Nicholson Street, East Brunswick- Arora- and if there's something he doesn't have, I'd be surprised- one of those wonderful treasure trove stores- everything you need for Indian cooking- so we swung by there Saturday morning and grabbed the poppy seeds.

Served 8 comfortably
Shahjahani Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
Leg of lamb- around 2.5kg
900 g natural yoghurt
1/2 medium sized onion peeled and coursely chopped
300 g onions peeled and cut in fine rings
5 tbsp peeled coarsely chopped garlic
18cm piece of ginger, coarsely chopped
5 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp garam masala
blanched slivered almonds filled up to the 300 ml mark on a measuring jug (bless Madhur- an odd way of measuring- darn I should have weighed them after- but was about 2 of the packs you buy in the supermarket)
12 dried figs
vegetable oil
6 tbs of white poppy seeds

2 nights prior (or one night will do apparently)
Remove all the fell (parchment like outer skin) and fat from the lamb. Jab it all over with a sharp knife.

Put all the yoghurt in a big bowl or deep tray (big enough to hold your lamb leg). Take around 4 tbsp of the yoghurt and put in the blender, the chopped 1/2 onion, the garlic, ginger, salt, cayenne and garam masala. Blend until you have a smooth paste. Pour the contents into the bowl of yoghurt and mix well. Put the leg of lamb into the yoghurt and rub the marinade into the meat. Cover well and refrigerate for 24 - 48 hours.

31/2 hours prior to serving
Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Take a heavy roasting tin. Put the lamb at the centre and pour the marinade on and around it. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover tightly with aluminium foil and put in the oven. Bake, covered, for 1 1/2 hours.
While the lamb bakes, set a cast-iron frying pan over medium heat. When hot put in the almonds- stir around until they have roasted lightly. Now grind them in a clean coffee-grinder or other spice-grinder. Add the almonds to the lamb sauce after 1 1/2 hours and mix well. Scatter the figs around the leg. Cover again, put the lamb back in the oven and bake for another 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
While the lamb is baking fry the onions. Line a plate with kitchen paper and fry onions in the oil until they start to brown around the edges. Let oil drain on the plate.
Roast the poppy seeds in a heavy based frying pan- aim is for it to be a couple of shades darker. Remove the seeds and allow to cool. Grind as finely as possible in a coffee or spice grinder.
When the lamb is tender, crumble the onions and add them as well as the ground poppy seeds to the lamb sauce. Mix gently. Spoon some of this sauce over the lamb and put back in the oven for 10 minutes.

To serve, I scooped out most of the (divine!) sauce and served separately with the lamb and figs on a plate for the lamb to be carved. Carve the meat at the table.

Coconut and chilli chicken rice paper rolls

These were absolutley divine- and making rice paper rolls for the first time, I thought it would be tricky- but was pretty easy, low mess and low fuss. I did take longer than my 1/2 hour mid week rule- it was really worth it though and I'll definitely be making these again! Hubby just wanted to drink the leftover sauce- was pretty yum!
The idea of poaching chicken in coconut milk, fish sauce and lime juice is pretty transferable- would work nicely using a poached fillet on a bed of rice or green vegetables for example...


Coconut and Chilli chicken rice paper rolls
400 g can coconut milk
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
1 small red chilli, chopped
2 small red chillis, seeded and finely sliced
2 chicken breast fillets
rice paper rounds
1 cup vietnamese mint (I have some in the garden- it is as mad as European mint and has virtually taken over the whole patch!)
1 green onion
2 cups bean sprouts
(+ I added vermicelli noodles- made the rolls easier to roll and made the rolls more filling, but not in Donna's original recipe)

Combine the coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice and chopped chilli in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, add the chicken and cover with a tight fitting lid. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 8 - 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Remove chicken from the pan, reserving the coconut sauce.
Allow the chicken to cool slightly and then shred. Set aside.
Soften a rice paper round in warm water for 30 seconds. Place on a dry clean cloth. Top with mint, green onion, shredded chicken, bean sprouts and sliced chilli. Fold over each end and then roll to enclose the filling (the rice paper rolls I used had a really easy to follow diagram on them). Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Slice rice paper rolls in half and serve with coconut sauce.