Here we can post general recipes.

Mate as long as it doesn't give me the ring of fire I'll eat anything.

perceptions_now wrote on Jan 29^th, 2011 at 10:20pm:


Partially, or fully into a rendang?

I don't mind one myself, and think I must be immune to the old ring of fire, because I eat quite allot of spicy food.

Though I do hate it when they serve it with ugly garnishes, as is follows....must they spoil it?

I am quite partial to green eggs and ham.

And don't mind a good rogan-Josh, topped with yoghurt, mango chutney, served with papadums.

No need to fry papadums in Ghee, (what Indians call clarified butter)...(far too fatty)...

Just pop about 8 of them on a large dinner plate, and zap them in the microwave for about 75 seconds.

Done!

My kids love curries served with yoghurt , chutney, and papadums....you can use the papadums as edible utensils.

(My daughter does the papadums, and eats half of them before they get to the table..lol)

And the yoghurt takes the heat off your really hot curries, even your spicier Moroccan variety.

mellie wrote on Jan 30^th, 2011 at 7:22am:


Mellie - I can talk to you about cooking. Everything else tends to cause conflict, and I prefer to make peace, so I won't talk to you on any other subject

I agree about the garnishes.  By the way, I prefer the Indonesian version of Rendang. The Malaysian version uses shrimp paste usually and they (mostly) use curry powder - a nasty remnant of British rule. In Indonesia, it's a special events dish, prepared with love. I sometimes make it with sticky rice (nasi lemak), and the two together are an absolute celebration of over indulgence.

We don't need curry powder. I only use fresh ingredients. I start by blending 5 large garlic cloves, 4 brown shallots, about 3 small stems of lemon grass (citronella) about 2 inches of young ginger root, 4 kaffir lime leaves, a piece of sliced galangal (fresh is good too, but you can buy it in brine),  enough cinnamon bark to make a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and nutmeg (about a level spoon of powder or equivalent). Blend until you get a smooth paste.

Then chop half a red onion finely to make long thin slices, and add to some vegetable oil. Fry until it changes colour slightly then add the paste. When it starts to look dry, add a can of coconut milk (my only non fresh ingredient). You can substitute young frozen coconut that has been blended.

Bring to a simmer then add the meat (or in my case Chinese style vegetarian beef).  http://www.vegieworld.com/ Simmer some more to reduce the volume by about half then add  about a generous tablespoon of chopped red hot chilli (you can substitute sambal oelek or hot chilli paste).  That's a lot of chilli I know. Add a dessert spoon of chopped turmeric root (dried turmeric is ok). Add a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of sugar. Meanwhile, get about a cup of grated fresh coconut (you can use the moist pre-shredded stuff)  and spread it out on a tray under the grill. Watch it carefully until it turns a golden brown all over. A few darker spots will add to the flavour.

Allow the Rendang to simmer slowly until it's quite thick.  Then add the grilled coconut, stirring to coat the pieces of meat.

Serve with steamed rice, or nasi lemak as a special treat.

<<Mellie - I can talk to you about cooking. Everything else tends to cause conflict, and I prefer to make peace, so I won't talk to you on any other subject >>
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See, there's hope for mankind yet, if only the religious would take note lol
happy cooking!

muso wrote on Jan 30^th, 2011 at 7:52am:


Yumo muso, guess what I might be having for dinner tonight!

It sounds as though you have the caramelisation down pat!




And thanks, I really appreciate that recipe.

I have somewhat of an obsession with perfecting the perfect curry...I'm still trying.

mellie wrote on Jan 30^th, 2011 at 8:56am:



I forgot the salt and sugar in that recipe - about a teaspoon of both. I'll change it.

Well, I make curries from scratch. I adore the fragrance of the different spices, and don't mind accidentally chewing on the odd cardamom pod.

Regarding cinnamon, I usually get Vietnamese cinnamon bark (cassia) from the Asian supermarket. It makes a hell of a lot of difference.

I'm off to the big smoke (aka Brisbane). When I get back I'll post a nice South Indian curry dish that I enjoy.  It uses yoghurt instead of coconut milk, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and curry leaves, and it's a milder curry for a change. I usually make a fish curry (Baramundi) but you can substitute chicken.