Curry inspired by The domestic Goddess
By Peter G • Apr 14th, 2007 • Category: Recipes
I whipped up this little number recently, when I had the pleasure of looking after Jamie and Lee’s very cool warehouse style apartment in Alexandria. The lucky buggers subscribe to Foxtel. So what does a foodie do? He watches Lifestyle Food! I tell you I was hooked. A whole channel dedicated to food shows from all over the world. It was an interesting experience. Some of the shows were funny. (Think two Fat Ladies!!!). Some were just too much. (Think over the top American bbq cooks!!!). I could go on but that could take forever.
One day I was scanning the viewing guide when the “domestic goddess”, Nigella Lawson appeared. Hmmm….What does one say about this femme fatale of the culinary world? The show was called “nigella’s summer” or something like that. It followed Nigella’s summer cooking adventures by the sea. It was a series dedicated to “no fuss” cooking in your summer beach house. Well, that’s all fine and dandy especially when you have a big network sponsoring your holiday and a team of cooks prepping everything away from the camera’s lens. She giggled alot, and ate home made strawberry ice cream while the suns rays shined on her full lips. On another occassion she made home made summer lemonade and twirled around in a flowy summer dress, while the camera again focused on her lips, seductively sipping this home made lemonade. Where was the cooking in all of this?….Anyway, moving on.
She did however inspire me to make a curry. I know this sounds quite bizarre, considering how much time was spent by the camera crew filming her full lips! She made a kerala curry and explained it was a southern Indian cuury dish that was finished off with coconut cream. Quite spicy yet “quite luscious”…wink wink! She used fish fillets in hers but I had some chuck steak lying around and used that. I have to admit that curries are not really my forte. I somehow miss something from the finished product. This one didn’t turn out too bad and I quite like the idea of the coconut added in at the end.
There’s no real set recipe for this. It was basically a “whatever’s lying around the kitchen” affair. I heated some peanut oil and added a sliced onion and freshly chopped chilli. Then I proceeded to add a variety of spices which included ground fennel, cumin, turmeric, cinammon, coriander, ginger and some whole cloves. To pep it up a little I also added some Keens Curry powder. I added my chopped up chuck steak and sauteed it with all the spices. I continued by adding about a cup of chicken stock with some water and a half a can of chopped tomatoes. I let this simmer for ages as the chuck steak requires gentle heating for about 2-3 hours. Towards the end I finished it off by adding a can of chickpeas, a packet of baby spinach and half a can of coconut cream. I let it rest for about 15 mins before I served it with some basmati rice garnished with coriander leaves and a wedge of lime. Not bad if I say so myself. The coconut definetly adds that extra dimension. And I just love squeezing the lime over it. Plenty left over and straight into the freezer for those nights I can’t be bothered cooking. A dish the “domestic goddess” herself would be proud of. (Licking of lips not included…).
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Peter G is a passionate foodie of Greek descent living in Australia. You'll usually find him cooking up a storm in the kitchen and photographing all his exploits.
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