Hot-sweet vegetable curry

This recipe was a sort of off-the-cuff, make-it-up-as-you-go-along creation – and it tasted really nice. It wasn’t so much sweet as it was hot, because I used a Scotch bonnet pepper, and hot is how I like things... but the sweetness was there, all the same.

And that, it would appear, is all I have to say about it. I've been trying to come up with some kind of spin to eke out this post, but I believe I've run out of imagination. I need a ghost-writer with a sense of humour and endless creativity. Any takers?
Recipe for: Hot-sweet vegetable curry

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fingerling or salad potatoes, sliced in 1cm rounds
1/2 cup ripe mango,cubed
1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup green beans, sliced on the diagonal
1/4 cup carrots, sliced in thin sticks
1/4 cup bottlegourd, sliced in thin sticks

1/2 cup onions, chopped fine
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp Kitchen King masala (or your favourite garam masala)
Green chillies to taste
5-6 cashewnuts
2 tbsp oil
A generous handful of chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Toss the sliced potatoes with 1 tbsp oil and roast in the oven at 180C/350F, stirring them after 15 minutes, until they are golden and cooked - about 30 minutes or so. Reserve.

2. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan and add the ginger and cinnamon powder.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes, or till they start to break up.

4. Add the chopped mangoes and the chillies, if using. Cook them on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until they become soft.

Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.

Once it's cool, puree along with the cashewnuts and reserve.
5. Now heat the remaining 1/2 tbsp oil and fry the chopped onions.

6. When the onions are soft and pale brown, add the sliced carrots, beans and bottlegourd.

Add one cup water, cover the pan and let the vegetables cook till just done.
7. Stir in one cup milk and bring the mixture to a gentle boil on medium heat.

8. Add the pureed tomato-mango mixture and mix it in along with the Kitchen King masala powder..

9. Bring to a gentle boil, then add the oven-fried potatoes and stir them in.

10. Let the curry simmer for 6-7 minutes on medium heat. I like the gravy to be fairly thick, but if you prefer it more runny, add water or milk as required and simmer for a few minutes longer. Add salt to taste. Then garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.


RECIPE: HOT-SWEET VEGETABLE CURRY
Ingredients:

1/2 cup fingerling or salad potatoes, sliced in 1cm rounds
1/2 cup ripe mango,cubed
1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup green beans, sliced on the diagonal
1/4 cup carrots, sliced in thin sticks
1/4 cup bottlegourd, sliced in thin sticks
1/2 cup onions, chopped fine
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp Kitchen King masala (or your favourite garam masala)
Green chillies to taste
5-6 cashewnuts
2 tbsp oil
A generous handful of chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Toss the sliced potatoes with 1 tbsp oil and roast in the oven at 180C/350F, stirring them after 15 minutes, until they are golden and cooked - about 30 minutes or so. Reserve.
2. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan and add the ginger and cinnamon powder.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes, or till they start to break up.
4. Add the chopped mangoes and the chillies, if using. Cook them on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until they become soft.
Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.
Once it's cool, puree along with the cashewnuts and reserve.
5. Now heat the remaining 1/2 tbsp oil and fry the chopped onions.
6. When the onions are soft and pale brown, add the sliced carrots, beans and bottlegourd.
Add one cup water, cover the pan and let the vegetables cook till just done.
7. Stir in one cup milk and bring the mixture to a gentle boil on medium heat.
8. Add the pureed tomato-mango mixture and mix it in along with the Kitchen King masala powder..
9. Bring to a gentle boil, then add the oven-fried potatoes and stir them in.
10. Let the curry simmer for 6-7 minutes on medium heat. I like the gravy to be fairly thick, but if you prefer it more runny, add water or milk as required and simmer for a few minutes longer.Add salt to taste. Then garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.

Raspberry, apple and mango crumble

I never know what to do with raspberries.

I know people make raspberry coulis, raspberry sorbets, raspberry granita and all the other raspberry-based things... but they seem complicated...

So I never know what to do with raspberries.

I bought a lovely looking box of these berries the other day, from Tesco. The label said they were an extra sweet, perfectly ripe variety imported from Turkey, and to emphasise their extra sweetness and perfect ripeness, not to mention their importedness, the price on these was extra pumped up as well.

But I bought the raspberries anyway.

Took them home, ate one to check on its sweetness. Admittedly it was larger and sweeter than most of the raspberries I've eaten so far (usually English varieties), but still tart enough to make my tongue attempt to tie itself into a Gordian knot.

So I still didnt know what to do with the raspberries. I asked Pete if he would like them with icecream but he kindly declined and suggested that I "make something" with it.

Hm.

So I said to Pete (just as kindly), FUNNY HOW THAT POSSIBILITY HADNT CROSSED MY MIND!



Then I stomped off gracefully - and possibly daintily, too - to seek inspiration from my baking books. The first page I opened at random had a recipe for apple crumble. EUREKA! A crumble! I went back to the fridge and took out the raspberries and half a mango that was awaiting consumption (and by that, I hasten to add, I mean it was waiting to be eaten, not to waste away from tuberculosis). Anyway, an apple got added along the way... and just like that, I knew what to do with the raspberries.

Recipe for: Raspberry, apple and mango crumble



Ingredients:

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
small pinch salt
1/4 cup oats
3-1/3 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 ripe mango, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup raspberries
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 cup white sugar
2/3 tbsp resh lime juice

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and oats.



Mix the butter in with fingers, until the oat mixture forms clumps. Cover and refrigerate till required.

3. Put the raspberries, apples and mango in a bowl. Add remaining 1 tbsp flour, granulated sugar, and lime juice; toss gently to combine.



4. Transfer fruit to a shallow 6” round or oval gratin dish.



Distribute topping (oat mixture) evenly over the fruit.



5. Bake until topping is golden brown and juices bubble (about 40 minutes).



Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

6. Serve warm with ice cream.

Mangoes with minted sugar

I love flavoured sugar, and vanilla sugar is one of my favourites - the smell of vanilla is just so homely yet heavenly. And today I came across a cooking tip in a baking book which I had borrowed from my mother-in-law. It called for pounding mint with granulated sugar to make minted sugar, which could be sprinkled over fruit such as pineapple. well, I just HAD to try that! (It tastes lovely by itself, too - I couldnt resist trying it out.)

I didnt have any pineapple, but there was this not-quite-ripe mango in my fridge, which I had cut up out of sheer impatience and then regretted the haste, because it was a fair bit more sour than it was sweet, and also not particularly soft in texture.

So I decided to try my newly minted sugar (to coin a phrase, haha) on it. The mango pieces tasted absolutely wonderful sprinkled with the minted sugar, I must say... the sourness almost but not quite negated by the sugar's sweetness, with the freshness of the pounded mint the last thing to register on the tongue.

Then I wondered what it would be like to roast the mango pieces. So I did. They turned out quite nice, and the roasting made the pieces a lot softer. For some reason, it also seemed to take away the sourness. I guess if the mango had been riper and softer, the pieces might have become almost mushy in the oven. But mine were quite hard to start with, so it wasnt a disaster. I waited for the pieces to cool to a mouth-friendly warmth, then sprinkled them with more minted sugar and gobbled 'em ALL up!

I do have to say, though, that though the roasted mangoes tasted nice enough, they're best ripe and unroasted. Especially with mint sugar.

Recipe for: Mangoes with minted sugar

Ingredients:

1 large mango (ripe but not mushy-soft), cut into inch-size pieces (de-skinned if the skin is bitter)
2 tbsp granulated sugar
10-15 large fresh leaves of peppermint, spearmint and/or plain mint (I used a mix of all three)

Method:

Pound the sugar and mint in a mortar-and-pestle until the leaves are well broken up and incorporated with the sugar.

Sprinkle over the cut mango pieces in a bowl, give the pieces a good shake to distribute the mint sugar evenly, and serve.