Waiter...There's An Omelette In My Curry...

My mother-in-law is guilty of it.
My grandmother is probably guilty of it.
My mother is guilty of it. But will probably deny being in such dire straits.
I am in esteemed company. Of opening your fridge on a Friday night and staring at a carton of eggs, half an onion, a tomato (on a good day), some left over rice and nothing else. And three pairs of hungry eyes watching you from across the room.

The universal solution for a South Indian home would be to whip up a spicy "omelette" (eggs cooked with onions and green chilli) and serve it up with the left over rice and some yogurt.

Until I was browsing through Kerala Syrian Christian Favourites, a cookbook I picked up whilst on holiday in India last year, where the very smart authoress Thressi John Kottukappally took this meagre offering one step further, and douses the omelette in a  simple and spicy tomato and coconut milk sauce. Talk about kicking it up a notch!

Now omelette and rice, which may be the most embarrassing offering that housewives in India have coughed up, now gets a deluxe make-over and becomes a "curry" honorable of placement in the middle of the table, and served to guests.

Every dish deserves its day =).

Omelette Curry (adapted from Kerala Syrian Christian Favourites Thressi John Kottukapally and Salim Pushpanath)
For Egg Omelette
5 eggs
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 green chillies, finely diced
1/2 tsp Salt
~1 Tbsp oil

For Gravy
1 small tin coconut milk (6 oz) or substitute regular milk
1 medium onion, finely sliced
2 Roma tomatoes (medium) size cubed
1/2 Tbsp ginger, crushed
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 sprigs curry leaves
4 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chilly powder (add more if you want to make the curry HOT!)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 Tbsp oil
Salt to taste

1. Make Omelettes - Beat eggs with onions, green chillies and salt.
2. Heat a non-stick frying pan, add a little oil. Pour 1/3 egg mixture and spread around pan. Flip over to cook both sides. Fold over, slice into three sections and reserve on a plate.
3. Continue with the rest of the egg mixture in the same way as above.
4. Make Gravy - Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let them crackle.
5. Add ginger and garlic, saute slightly, then add onion.
6. When onions have turned slightly brown, add tomatoes and curry leaves. Cook till tomatoes become like pulp and most water has evaporated.
7. Mix all the spice powders listed with a little bit of water to make a paste. Add the paste to the tomato-onion mixture and fry. Add salt to taste.
8. Reduce heat to a minimum, add the coconut milk and mix well to incorporate all the spices. Thin out the mixture if you want more gravy with water or milk. Add the omelette pieces and cook for a minute.
9. Do not let the curry boil, else the coconut milk will separate. Remove from heat and serve.

Thai Red Chicken Curry

I sometimes get a little fanatical when it comes to new cuisines. I'll go all out in an attempt to conquer it and force feed it to my family, despite their lame attempts to escape. My latest obsession has been Thai food. With its luxurious fragrances and medley of spices all blended in fragrant coconut milk, it seemed an unattainable goal for me since all its ingredients seemed way too foreign for my grasp. Galangal? Kaffir Lime leaves? Lemongrass? Shrimp paste? Uh uh, honey, ain't none of this stuff deep in the heart of Texas...

Speaking of which, Thailand has now racheted itself up on my bucket list of places to visit. If anything, I'd like to go there to buy those ingredients and bring 'em back home!
(pics courtesy of National Geographic) Enter the local Asian store where I trotted off in search of the above. Unfortunately, they didn't have any of the ingredients fresh, but I did find some bottled, dried and jarred varieties. (P.S. If anyone out there lurking by this post knows where to get these ingredients FRESH in Houston, do drop me a line!). And then I bumped into the vegetable stocking guy.

"Uhm, excuse me, do you have any kaffir lime leaves?"
"What?"
"Kaffir lime leaves"
"Lemon?
"No K-A-F-F-I-R LIME. Leaf"
"Why you want the leaf? I got beautiful key lime, green lime, ..."
*silence*

I tried this recipe from a little cookbook called "Thai Cooking" (quel surprise!) by Carol Bowen. I had to play around with the spices and add a little of my own because it did not really result in the fiery red color I was expecting.

Secondly, I also tried making this dish with just the jarred red curry paste that you get in all the grocery stores. And it PALED in comparison to when you make the recipe below with the authentic ingredients. Well, the authentic jarred ingredients. So head off to your local Asian store (Whole Foods had the same jarred ingredients), and try out this curry. It's lip-smacking good and pretty close to what you get served at a Thai joint.

I served this along with some cashew beef, chicken satay and pad thai noodles for a "Thai-Themed" dinner I hosted for my niece who is off to Thailand to volunteer there. And if you assumed a little girl can go off to Thailand on her own, well, an interesting fact is that my husband is the youngest of 8 children, so his older siblings have children that are older than him. And subsequently me. Yes, I have nieces and nephews who tower over me, are older, and still have to respectfully call me AUNTY.
Bend your head around that one...

*Reposted to include fresh basil leaves, and cook's note on not heating coconut milk on high heat*Thai Red Chicken Curry (adapted from Carol Bowen's "Thai Cooking")
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
2-3 garlic gloves, crushed
14 fl oz or 1 3/4 cups coconut milk
6 chicken breast fillets, skinned and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 Tbsp fish sauce
sliced red chillies, fresh Thai basil leaves and chopped coriander to garnish

Red Curry Paste:
8 dried red chillies (deseed for less heat)
1 heaped Tbsp galangal or ginger, chopped
3 stalks lemongrass chopped (I used 2 heaped Tbsp jarred lemongrass)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp shrimp paste (this stuff smells like death, so I used less then the orig recipe)
1 kaffir lime leaf, chopped (I subst. zest and juice of a key lime)
1 heaped tsp coriander powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin powder
1 tsp paprika (optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
5-6 fresh Thai basil leaves, roughly chopped (optional)1 tsp each salt and black pepper powder (adjust as you see fit, both fish sauce and chicken stock can be salty!)

1. Assemble ingredients for red curry paste, place in blender and process till smooth (may need to add a little water or lime juice)
2. Heat the oil in a large wok or non-stick pan. Add garlic and cook till it turns golden.
3. Stir in curry paste and cook for 10-15 seconds or till raw smell disappears. Gradually add in coconut milk, stirring constantly (mixture may look curdled).
4. Add in chicken pieces and turn in sauce to coat. Cook gently for about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in stock and fish sauce, mixing well. Cook for a further 2 minutes or till chicken cooks through. Cook's Note - cooking this dish on high heat can cause the coconut milk to separate out into oil and cream, beware! It may took longer to cook on a medium flame, but will be more worth the effort!6. Add chopped coriander and red chillies, let sauce reduce a bit or to your preference. I found reducing the sauce down gave the meat more flavor. Serve with plain white rice.

Malai Kofta - Cheese/Paneer Dumplings in Gravy

On one of my daily travails around the internet, I discovered Maria's blog which is a delightful collection of recipes and South Asian delicacies. There was an interesting 2-in-1 recipe she had for paneer balls, which could be served up as an appetizer, and then an elegant creamy curry that then utilized said dumplings again. This I had to try, especially since I was giddy from having some freshly made paneer ready to go.

Ooops, Paneer. Gots to have some to make this recipe.

But before you all get your bloomers in a twist and blow off this recipe, the Indian version of cottage cheese is surpisingly easy to make at home - and so now that I have mastered the feat of making my own paneer, I don't recommend using the store bought paneer cubes that you see languishing in Asian grocery store freezers. Unless there is someone (emphasis on the ONE in someone) out there who can prove me otherwise, store bought paneer has always tasted like a subtle mixture of chalk and cardboard. And since I have eaten both earnestly in my heady youth, I can attest to that review strongly.


Step 1 - Paneer Dumplings (adapted from Maria's Menu blog)

Ingredients
1 cup crumbled Paneer (cottage cheese)
2 medium Potatoes (boiled & mashed)
Crushed pepper - 1 heaped tsp
Red Chilli flakes - 1 heaped tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Cornflour - 1-2 tablespoon
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying

1. Mix potatoes and paneer together in a bowl. I like to do this when the potatoes are still warm so that the paneer cheese gets to melt slightly
2. Add all the seasonings and salt - adjust to taste.
3. Add cornflour and mix thoroughly - this is to help bind the mixture.
4. Form small balls or patties.
5. Fry lightly in hot oil. I chose not to deep fry, but ended up browning the dumplings a little.


At this stage, you may end up scoffing up the paneer balls as they are tasty little treats in of themsleves. Try them with a chilli sauce or dip.


Step 2. Gravy for the Malai Kofta Curry (reproduced entirely from Marias Menu blog)


2 medium onions - sliced
Tomato puree - made from 2,3 tomatoes
Gingergarlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
Garam masala - 2 teaspoon
Cream - 1 cup


1.Cook sliced onions in 2 cups water. Make sure you have the vent fan going, this is going to "smell" a little...
2.Once the onions have cooked (they will look blanched and lighter in color), drain the water completely and grind the onions into a smooth paste.
3.Heat oil in a pan and saute onion paste.
4.After 5 minutes add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2,3 minutes.
5.Add all the spice powders and stir for 5 minutes or until the oil starts forming a layer on top.
6.Add tomato puree and once the puree is mixed well in the gravy add the cream.
7.After 5 minutes, remove from heat. Spread prepared koftas in a plate and pour the gravy over it.

This is best served with a mixed fried rice or Indian bread like Naan or Paratha.