Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Mince and Aubergine curry (Keema Brinjal)

Ideally made quite late on when you really should be going to bed
rather than cooking a big extravaganza.

Take 2 aubergines (fairly small to medium size), chop into big bite
sized cubes and salt to degorge.
Fry your lamb mince (500g) until slightly browned. Leave in a sieve to drain.
Puree a knob of ginger, 6 cloves garlic and 1 onion.

In a pan, heat some oil and throw in about 10 peppercorns and about 8
cardomon pods, and 1 bay leaf. Sizzle for a short while. Add the puree
and cook until it's starting to stick. Then add 2 cans of tomatoes and
the mince, and some cinnamon sticks. Fry off the aubergine pieces
(rinsed of salt) and add to the pot. Throw in a small bell chilli,
with a cut in it. (it doesn't turn out hot enough though. Better make
it about 4 next time, or add the chillies to the puree). Put a lid on
and leave over a low heat for a while (20 mins or so) to cook the
aubergine. Maybe simmer for a while to reduce slightly.

Deep fry some thinly sliced onion (rings?) until very brown and
crispy. Add at the last minute, with Garam Masala if you have it (I
had run out).

Very nice at half past eleven.

Improvements:
1) Make some garam masala first.
2) Put many more chillies in, unless you're serving it to your grandma
(or your girlfriend.)
3) Add some cumin seeds in the oil at the start. I couldn't find the
cumin seeds. Oh well. Or something else to give it a little bit more
bitterness (maybe Fenugreek) would have helped.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Pumpkin coronary

Take a small pumpkin. Slice the top off. Scoop out all the crap. Fill
with 1/3 grated gruyere, 1/3 double cream, a knob of butter, pepper
and nutmeg. Replace the lid and bake at 180 C until the pumpkin is
tender and the filling is hot enough.

Scoop it out into bowls. Eat. Then go for a run to burn off some of
that tasty cholesterol.