A Rainy Day Chickpea and Spinach Curry

I think spring got it all wrong this year.

March was beautiful, soft, sunny and warm. Which we totally deserved after the big freeze of February.
So I figured the worst of it was over.

Well, April has had other ideas.


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Sweet Potato, Pea and Spinach Curry

One of the first things I learned to do when we moved to France was translate French recipes.

Each month I picked up copies of Cuisine et Vins de France and French Saveur at the local tabac and with my trusty French dictionary at my side I dutifully studied the names of ingredients and cooking terms, making translation notes in the margins and jotting down measurement conversions.
It's amazing how easy it is to pick up a language when the subject is something you're really interested in!

There's a great series of small, recipe packed cookbooks by Marabout for the very reasonable price of €4,95 each. I've bought two so far, one with Indian and Thai curries and one with recipes for comforting, wintery food called Tout Chaud.

I've made a few recipes from each book and one of the best so far was an aromatic, homey vegetarian curry. It is some serious comfort food! Low in calories and high in flavor and vitamins - I swear it makes you feel stronger after you've eaten it a plate of it.

The original calls for the addition of canned chickpeas, which I didn't have in the cupboard, so the recipe has been adapted to what I had on hand. Add them if you like, but this version is also fantastic!

Sweet Potato, Pea and Spinach Curry
serves 4

• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon mild curry powder
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  
• 1 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, crushed with their juice
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 ounces fresh baby spinach, washed
  
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 cup frozen baby peas
• plain yogurt (optional)
  

1. Warm the oil in a deep pan with a lid and sauté the onions over low heat until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
2. Sprinkle the curry powder, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, turmeric and salt over the onions and cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring, until fragrant.
3. Add the sweet potato, canned tomatoes, brown sugar and water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pot and cook for 15-20 minutes over low heat, until the sweet potatoes are cooked through.
   
4. Add the spinach and baby peas and cook for another 2 minutes, until spinach is wilted and the peas are warmed through.
5. Taste and correct for salt and add more cayenne if you like it really spicy.
   
6. Serve with steamed basmati rice and a dollop of the optional plain yogurt.
   

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Tapas

There's a group of eight of us that get together every so often to cook and eat and enjoy each other's company. It started as a once a month curry night and has evolved into a whenever-we-can-get-our-schedules-coordinated ethnic night. Thus far, we've had the original Indian curry night, a fabulous Turkish evening, a Mexican night with killer Margaritas and a super, spicy Thai supper.
For our next get together, the first we've had since December (yes it is strangely difficult to get eight people together for dinner) we're making a big assortment of Spanish tapas. And I think (and hope) that someone is making a big pitcher of sangria to enjoy with them!

My contribution includes a chickpea salad, a vegetable coca (like a tart) and patatas bravas.

Chickpea Salad
recipe taken from Euroresidentes.com

• 1/2 kg chickpeas
• hard boiled eggs
• 4 red peppers (pimientos del piquillo)
• small bunch of spring onions
• 1 small clove of garlic
• 1 large tomato
• fresh parsley
• extra virgin olive oil
• white wine vinegar
• salt and pepper
• 50g cured ham

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas (if using dried chickpeas soak overnight and then boil the next day in a pressure cooker for 10 mins or boil for 1 hour 10 mins in a pan)
2. Prepare the tomato by blanching it and removing the skin and pips following this cut it into small cubes and place in a bowl
3. Add the red peppers to the tomato (if you can´t find the spanish pimientos del piquillo you will need to roast the red peppers for about 20 mins and then remove the skin and cut into strips)
4. Cut the cured ham into small squares and add to the bowl.
   
5. Dress with extra virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar over and season with salt and pepper
6. Add the chickpeas to the salad mixture
7. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve

Vegetable Coca
recipe taken from Tienda.com
serves 4

for the dough:

• ¾ cup water, hand hot
• a pinch of sugar
• 1½ teaspoon dried yeast
• 9 oz strong plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lard

for the topping

• 9 oz chard or spinach, shredded
• 9 oz spinach, shredded
• ½ bunch spring onions, cut into 4 inch pieces
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp pimentón
• salt
• 1 tomato, skinned, seeded, and chopped

1. Mix 1/2 cup of the water, the sugar, and the yeast and leave for about 10 minutes until a frothy head forms.
2. Mix the flour, salt, yeast mixture, oil, and lard, and add just enough of the remaining water to mix to a soft, pliable dough.
3. Knead well for about 10 minutes, then place in an oiled plastic bag and leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, put the chard and spinach in a saucepan with a small amount of salted water, bring to a boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Let sit for 3 minutes then drain, squeezing out the excess water.
5. Add the spring onions, parsley, garlic, and oil. Season with paprika and salt and blend well.
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and curl up the edges to make a border.
8. Place on a greased baking tray and spread the vegetables over the dough, sprinkle with tomato, season with salt, and bake for 30 to 50 minutes.

From Spain on a Plate by María José Sevilla

I'll be making a few changes to the above recipe. For one, I don't have chard so will use only spinach and I'm replacing the lard with the equivalent amount of olive oil.



I'm still hunting for the perfect patatas bravas recipe. Pin It

Lunch

We spent the weekend having long lunches with friends. Definitely the best way to spend a lazy holiday weekend here in France.


Saturday was a curry extravaganza by the sea which left us feeling very satisfied and needing a nap. Strangely enough, we were able to garner the energy to go wine tasting in the late afternoon...

Sunday's lunch featured gigot d'agneau, roasted potatoes and cauliflower gratin followed by a fabulous apple and frangipane tart, kind of like this. John and Huw are wonderful cooks and we always know to expect delicious food, wonderful company and a fun afternoon when we're invited to John's house.


Today we're drinking lots of water and eating salad. Pin It

Curaloo? Vindurry?

This weekend ten of us are gathering at a friends house for a curry lunch and my contribution will be our favorite lamb curry. Well, it's not really a curry. It's kind of a mélange between a curry and a vindaloo.
A Curaloo? A Curdalry? A Vindurry? What ever you want to call it, it's delicious!

This is an easy recipe, but it needs up to a couple of hours to cook slowly so the lamb is melt-in-your-mouth tender.

• 1 inch piece minced or grated ginger
• 5 cloves minced garlic
• 5 minced green chili's
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 kilo or 2 lb. lamb shoulder, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3 sliced medium yellow onions
• 4 chopped medium tomatoes
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup neutral tasting oil, I use grapeseed but canola, sunflower or corn are also good
• salt to taste
• water
• chopped fresh cilantro (coriander for my British friends)

1. Mix and mash the first 7 ingredients together to make a kind of paste.
2. Heat the oil in a pan with a lid on medium and fry the sliced onions until golden.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for 5 minutes.
4. Add the paste and fry for another 5 minutes.
5. Put the lamb in the pan, pour the vinegar over, stir well to combine and cook for 10 minutes.
6. Add salt to taste and enough water to just cover.
7. Cover the pan and simmer until the lamb is tender and the juices thicken, about 1 to 2 hours. I know there's a big difference between 1 hour and 2 hours, but it depends on the lamb. One time I made this it took just an hour and another time it took a lot longer.
   
8. Garnish with chopped cilantro and enjoy.
   

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Curry From the Caribbean

Long before I was making Indian or Thai curries, I often made this rich pork curry from the Caribbean. Colombo is a Creole curry from Martinique and Guadeloupe. Its origins lie with the Sri Lankans, who were taken to the French West Indies to work on the sugar plantations and brought curry powder with them. On the islands, "Colombo'' is now a general term for a curried meat or seafood stew.

This pork Colombo curry is another one of my all time favorite recipes. The pork is mouth-wateringly tender and the sauce is tangy and intense. As the pork browns, the sugar caramelizes, creating a harmony between the sugar and the spice that is truly unforgettable. The sweet potato almost completely falls apart during cooking, thickening what at first seems to be a large quantity of chicken stock. Madras curry powder may be substituted if you don't want to make your own poudre de Colombo. (recipe below)
When I asked my husband what word he would use to describe this dish he replied, "sublime.'' I think that says it all.

Pork Colombo

• 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2 inch cubes
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons good quality curry powder, preferably Colombo curry powder (recipe below)
• 5 cups chicken stock
  
• 5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

1. Combine the pork, lime juice and garlic in a bowl and let marinate for an hour.
2. Mix the sugar, allspice and cinnamon together in a bowl.
   
3. Remove the pork from the marinade, letting the excess drip off and mix it with the sugar and spice mixture.
   
4. Heat the oil in a big, heavy pot over medium-high heat. In small batches, brown the pork then remove it to a bowl.
5. Add the onions to the pot and cook until soft, stirring often to make sure they don't stick, about 10 minutes. If the onions begin to stick, add a couple of tablespoons of chicken stock.
   
6. Sprinkle the curry powder over the onions and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
   
7. Put the pork and any juices in the bottom of the bowl back in the pot along with the carrots, green pepper, sweet potato, bay leaves, thyme and chicken stock.
8. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat so the liquid is simmering, partially cover and cook for 30 minutes.
9. Uncover, raise the heat to medium and simmer another 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pork is really tender.
10. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs, if using fresh thyme.
11. Serve with lots of cooked white rice.
12. Serves 6-8
    

Poudre de Colombo

1. Toast 1/4 cup uncooked white rice in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking frequently, until light brown, about 5 minutes. Remove and cool.
   
2. In the same skillet, toast 1/4 cup cumin seeds, 1/4 cup coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds and 1 teaspoon whole cloves until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes.
   
3. Cool the spices, combine with the toasted rice, and grind to a fine powder.
   
4. Stir in 2 teaspoons turmeric.
   
5. Makes about 1 cup.

Stored in an airtight container, the powder will keep for several months.


Here is another good Colombo recipe from Food and Wine magazine that I've made. Pin It

Feeling Like My Old Self

This virus has finally released me from it's bondage. I feel like a human being again, not a tired, crabby, dismal blob. My husband is breathing a huge sigh of relief because I have not been much fun to be around lately!

And I've been cooking again.
Thursday night I made two dishes from Meena's inspiring blog, Hooked on Heat, for my husband's Bridge group. The meal was fabulous! Dahiwali Chicken Curry, Alu-Pyaaz Fry (Fried Potatoes with Onions) and Basmati rice. Merci Meena!
Last night two American friends came by for dinner and I made this wonderful dish. The original recipe didn't call for chili flakes, so feel free to leave them out if you don't want the extra kick. And I doubled the recipe to serve four. The chicken was tangy, moist and perfectly matched with the lemony chickpeas. I started the meal with a spinach salad with warm bacon, shallot dressing.

Spicy Mustard Chicken with Chickpeas
serves 2

1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp red chili flakes
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
400g (13oz) tin chickpeas
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp chopped parsley

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees, or 220C (gas mark 7). Combine the mustard, chili flakes, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and one clove of garlic, and brush the chicken thighs with the mixture. Season well with salt and ground pepper.

2. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the chicken, skin side down. Sear for 3-4 minutes, then turn it over. Remove the pan from the heat and baste the chicken with any remaining marinade. If the pan has a heatproof handle, transfer it to the heated oven; otherwise, transfer the chicken to a baking dish and place in the oven. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and golden.

3. While the chicken is cooking, drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place them with the extra virgin olive oil, remaining garlic and the lemon juice and zest in a saucepan over a gentle heat and warm thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Just before serving, stir in the parsley.
4. Serve the warm chickpeas with the chicken.

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