A Cracking Curry

I am a little curried out at the moment.  My slow-cooker lends itself so happily to curries, that I think I might have almost overdosed recently and so when I saw that the Sweet Heat Challenge, over at  Food, Foot-ball and a Baby  this month, was "Lets Rock Indian", my first thought was actually, "Lets not."  But then I needed something really super-easy for dinner that I could chuck in the slow-cooker and forget and I remembered this really delicious chicken dish that I found in Anjum Anand's "Indian Food Made Easy" and I had been vowing to make again.  This is a very authentic, traditional curry which appears to derive from Kerala, in South West India where Black Peppercorns are thought to originate from. 

What I love about this recipe is that the main spice is black pepper and I often forget what a fantastic ingredient it is.  Although I throw it into almost everything I cook, I often overlook it's fragrant, almost floral perfume.  It has a hint of citrus and manages to be really over-powering but incredibly delicate at the same time. However, like any spice I suppose, black pepper looses its aroma really quickly and it seems the finer ground it is, the quicker it looses its fragrance.  So when the recipe says course ground, I recommend that the consistancy you are aiming for is more cracked than ground.  If you can't be bothered to hand crack your pepper then make sure you just pulse it in a coffee grinder, shaking it well between each pulse and do not over-grind.

Chicken with Peppercorns and Shredded Ginger
I have upped the ginger in this recipe, just because I love it and adapted it for the slow-cooker but you can just cook it on the stove top if you like.  Reduce the cooking time to two hours, as slow as possible.

Marinade
9 or 10 large cloves of garlic, peeled
20g fresh ginger, peeled
1 tsp garam masala
1 chicken stock cube, dissolved in 3 tbsp hot water

Other ingredients
1 kg chicken joints, skinned with all visable fat removed
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1-2 green chilli, to taste
20g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tbsp ground coriander
salt, to taste
200ml water
1 tbsp coarse ground or crushed black peppercorns
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp lemon juice
1 large handful of fresh chopped coriander

Blend the garlic, ginger, garam masala and stock together to make a paste with a hand blender. Then cover the chicken with it and leave in the fridge for at least an hour. I leave it over-night. Heat oil in pan and add the onion and sauté for 6-8 minutes until brown. Add the chilli, ginger, ground coriander and salt, leave to cook for about a minute. Add the chicken to the pan and brown each side. Pour in the water and pepper, bring to the boil then tip the whole lot into the slow-cooker.  Cook for 3 hours on slow.  Tip the whole lot into a large saucepan and turn up the heat and leave for 3-4 minutes to reduce the sauce. Stir in the garam masala, lemon juice and coriander and serve.

A Christmas Curry

I seem to have overindulged on Christmas Cooking Specials this year.  Thankfully, I have always managed to miss them before, too busy dealing with the kids and Christmas and cooking, I suppose.  Yesterday, however I watched what seemed like several hours of Jamie cooking his Christmas eve, day and boxing meals.  And then tonight I somehow managed to watch another three, almost in a row.  Starting with Nigella, moving on the Nigel Slater and finishing with Kirsty.  I think I have seen enough Christmas cooking to put me off the meal for the rest of the year and there is still two days to go the actual event.  


I do find all these programs strangely addictive but Jamie just seems a bit too spoilt now, in his vast mansion in Essex, surrounded by stunning countryside and his beautiful walled garden and a kitchen twice the size of mine, in lean-to in one of his many out-houses.  I know it is not the season to feel jealous, but I do!  In fact, as the program drew to an end and he was cooking up something in one of his many  greenhouses, scattered around his estate, for the first time ever I simply couldn't take any more, turned it off and went to bed.  


As for Nigella, I have missed most of her previous programs so I can't be sure but I got a feeling that she has been re-housed.  I'm sure her previous set could have passed for a stunning town house in Belgravia but she seems to have down-marketed, to a still very large terraced house in possibly Kilburn.  I don't know who lives there, but I am sure she certainly doesn't.   I wondered whether this was a recognition from BBC 2, that endlessly watching programs about super-rich "chefs" is just getting a bit sickening.  


Of course that is the trouble with these lifestyle cookery programs.  We buy into the whole perfect dream and believe that if we make Nigella's Chilli Jam, our lives will somehow be transformed into her perfect one; that we too will be cabbing round the West End, looking beautiful and drinking Expresso in Italian coffee shops, after a late boozy night out at yet another glamorous party, before effortlessly entertaining for some influential and impotant friends at home, instead of the reality which is being stuck at home, watching T.V.


As for Nigel Slater, I can't believe, in this day and age that the BBC can't be a little more honest about his lifestyle.  Why are there these awful shots of, clearly, someone else's family inserted into the program every fiveteen minutes.  Can't you have Christmas if you are gay.  Are you not allowed to celebrate if you don't have a wife and kids.


Anyway, as I said, I now feel so inundated by this Christmas cooking overkill that I decided to make something a bit different.  A Christmas curry.  This is not as mad as it may seem.  With it's blend of delicious spices; ginger, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, chilli and bay, it really is as seasonal as mulled wine.  It is infact a classic Massaman Thai curry and very delicious.  

Massaman Curry
This recipe comes for Rick Steins Far Eastern Odyssey which I have adapted for the slow-cooker but can just as easily be made in a casserole.

1.5kg blade or chuck steak (cut into 5cm chunks)

2 tins coconut milk

2 cinnamon sticks

300g waxy new potatoes (such as Charlotte)

8 shallots

1 quantity Thai massaman curry paste

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp Tamarind

1 tbsp palm sugar

75g roasted peanuts

Handful of Thai sweet basil leaves (optional)

Cut the potatoes into even size chunks. Peel the shallots.  Leave them whole, if they are not too large. Fry the beef  in a frying pan in small batches in vegetable oil, until brown on all sides. Drain of excess oil and tip into the slow cooker.  Add the shallots and potatoes to the slow-cooker. Pour off any excess oil from the frying pan add the curry paste and briefly fry.  Add the coconut milk and bring to the boil. As soon as it is boiling, remove and pour over the meat in the slow-cooker. Add the Tamarind, palm sugar, fish sauce and cinnamon sticks.  Cover and cook for 10 hours on slow or 6 hours on high. If you do not have a slow-cooker, cook slowly on the stove top.  Make sure you have a heavy bottomed saucepan and that you check often to make sure that it does not catch.  When meltingly tender, stir in the peanuts, scatter over the basil if using and serve.

Massaman curry paste
15 dried red chillies
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tbsp cumin seeds, ground
1 stick cinnamon, ground
1 tbsp cardamom seeds
3 cloves, ground
5 peppercorns, ground
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
2 tbsp Tamarind
1 heaped tsp shrimp paste
1 - 2 sticks lemongrass, chopped
1 large knob of ginger, chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce

Soak the chillies in water for 10 minutes and then de- seed.  Dry-fry the dry spices in a wok to release the flavours and then grind to a powder in a coffee grinder. Add all the other ingredients and grind or blitz to a fine paste with a hand blender.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 months.

Sweet Heat is being hosted by Lemon Clouds and Lemon Drops this month with a Christmas Theme.  I thought this spicy Christmas curry was worth an entry.

Still Slow-cooking

I am excited to say that Russel and I seem to be getting on better everyday.  I think this really is the beginning of a deep and meaningful relationship. We have just had the most fantastic Beef Randang, the only trouble is that I am so full now that it is really difficult to think about it.  I think it is always best to food-blog hungry!  I was worried when I saw the recipe that it was going to be over coconutty and sweet but with the balance of the spice and the sourness of the tamarind and lime, it all mellowed into a totally deliciousness and it was super easy to make.  The original recipe I found did seem to involve a lot of pounding, first to tenderise the meat and then to grind the spices, in a pestle and mortar, but I am a modern girl who is short on time, so my method involves such new found tecnology as a hand-blender and a coffee grinder, both of which it suddenly occurs to me, I have failed yet to name.  With the aid of these devices, this recipe took me no time at all to prepare and get into my slow-cooker.  Naturally, I let Russel do the rest of the work.

Beef Rendang
If you do not have a slow-cooker, just cook slowly on the stove top for 2-3 hours.

1 onion, or 4 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped 
1 really generous knob of fresh ginger 
8 cloves of garlic, peeled 
2 lemongrass stalk, tough outer layer removed and roughly chopped 
1 tsp turmeric 
2 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 tbsp sunflower oil 
2 cinnamon stick 
2 tsp cardamom seeds, ground finely
1 kg braising steak, cut into 2cm/1inch cubes 
6 kaffir lime leaves 
1 lime juiced
2 tins 400ml/14fl oz coconut milk 
2 tbsp of tamarind, seeds removed and sieved
½ a coconut, grated
1 bunch of Coriander

For the Rendang paste whiz up  the onion, ginger, galangal, garlic, lemongrass, turmeric and chillies into a food processor. I used a hand blender. Blend to form a smooth purée. Add one of the tablespoons of oil if necessary. Heat a wok and add the oil. Season the beef with salt and cook in small batches. Fry until golden brown.  Add the paste, stir well and fry for a few minutes more. Add the cardamom and the cinnamon sticks broken in half and pour over the coconut milk and tamarind purée and bring to a gentle simmer, add the kaffir lime leaves.  Season with salt.  Tip into the slow-cooker and cook for 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high.  The meat should be really tender and the sauce really reduced and rich. 

Meanwhile toast the coconut flakes in a dry pan. Keep a close eye on this, as it will burn really quickly. It should be a lovely deep brown colour when ready. Blend to a powder in a coffee grinder. When the Rendang is ready stir into the mixture making sure it is well mixed in. Add the lime juice and check the seasoning.  It should be deliciously spicy, sweet and sour.

A hint of Halloween

Please, don't anybody else mention Halloween.  My kids have not shut-up about it since we got back from holiday - in July.  As the next major event on their social diary's and being one that offers all pluses and no minus's, Halloween scores highly.  The combination of dressing up, staying up late and eating vast amounts of sweets is pretty much even more exciting than Christmas.  And the shops this year seem to be even more heaving with Halloween tat and gore than ever.

My son Daniel's birthday is on 28th October, so it is only natural I suppose that he should choose a Halloween themed party.  He has also demanded not one but six carved pumpkins.  Obviously, Pumpkins and Squashes are at their best right now, having spent the whole summer soaking up as much sunshine as they possibly can, now they seem to reflect the sun with their deep orange hue. Their flavour is quite bland so they lend themselves beautifully to aromatic Thai flavours.  

My recipe for Thai green curry with Butternut Squash is the perfect dish to serve up for the adults after a hard evening "trick or treating."  The kids usually feel too sick to eat anything, having stuffed themselves on sweets!  Butternut Squash works best in this recipe as it has a firmer texture than pumpkin.  Home-made green curry paste is really easy to make and so much better that anything you will ever buy ready-made in the shops. It is well worth the effort.

There are some great Thai shops in London.  I often pop in to stock up on coconut milk, Tamarind, thick wide Thai rice noodles, Nam Pla (fish sauce), palm sugar, dried shitake mushrooms, sweet chilli sauce and shrimp paste. All of these ingredients keep really well so it is well worth the trip. Even the lime leaves and Galangal freeze well.  I love to loose myself in these shops.  They usually have a lovely array of fresh produce - baskets of limes, bunches of coriander, lemon grass, shallots, ginger, Pak Choi, Bok Choi and beautiful pea aubergines. Also look out for sweet, Thai or Holy basil which tastes really fresh, like a cross between normal basil and mint. It really gives an authentic Thai taste to your food especially in a green curry.  It is like a short holiday to Thailand.  Anything to get away from Halloween.

Thai green curry with Butternut Squash

You can add all sorts of vegetables to this curry such as bean sprouts, sugar snap peas, broccoli, mange tout and mushrooms.

Serves 4

1 large butternut squash
2 shallots (pealed)
3 cloves garlic (pealed)
1 large piece of fresh ginger (pealed)                                                                    
2 sticks lemon grass sliced thinly
5 lime leaves
2 fresh green chillis (seeds removed)
1 large bunch coarsely chopped coriander leaves and stems
1 small bunch of Thai Basil
Vegetable oil
1/2 pint vegetable or chicken stock
1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
Nam Pla (fish sauce)

Trim off the stem and blossom end of the squash.   Halve lengthwise and scoop out and discard the seeds and fibres. Remove the peel and cut into large chunks about 1 inch pieces.  Toss lightly in vegetable oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a medium oven until golden brown and soft, about half an hour.  Do not over-cook.  You want the chunks to retain their shape.

Now make the green curry paste. In a liquidiser or with a hand blender, puree the shallots, garlic, ginger, chillis, lemon grass the lime leaves and most of the coriander.  Whiz until really smooth.  Add a little water if necessary.  You should have a bright green paste.

Lightly fry the paste in a wok or large pan for a minute or two in a little oil to release flavours.  Add the stock and bring to a gentle boil.  Add the chunks of cooked squash and any other lightly cooked vegetables and then coconut milk.  At this stage try not to boil again as this will kill the flavour of the coconut.  Remove from heat and season with first Nam Pla (which is very salty), further salt if necessary, freshly squeezed lime juice and the remaining coriander.  Adjust seasoning.  It should be a fragrant combination of sweet, sour and spicy.  Serve with Thai rice or noodles.

Something to look forward to...

The kids are back at school and I just have to face it.  Summer is over. Or as more accurately described it to Hugh, the other half, yesterday; "The months June, July and August - formally known as Summer."  I have heard some desperately trying to fool themselves that we may have a miraculous sunny September and that this is somehow going to make up for another wash-out summer.  Lets face it.  It's not going to happen.

I need something to cheer myself up between now and Christmas.  Something to look forward to.  I put this to Hugh, suggestively, even though I know that we are currently completely broke.  I saw him stop and think.  Had I hit a note? Finally he replied. "How about we have an Indian takeaway one night".  Indian takeaway!  I had more in mind a sneaky late sunny week in India.  Alright maybe not India. How about Lanzarote?  Sadly not to be.  The truth of it is that we need to start saving now if we want to have a summer holiday next year. 

Still, maybe a curry was the very thing to cheer me up.  I had a glut of peppers in the fridge so I knocked up a Chicken Jalfrezi and I really had forgotten how quick and easy making a good curry is.  It was fresh, aromatic, spicy and vibrant.  So much better that anything you are going to get in your average Indian restaurant.  "God that was good", exclaimed Hugh, "We certainly won't be getting any takeaways anymore".  Great! So now I don't even have that to look forwards to.

Chicken Jalfrezi 

2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 Red peppers, seeds removed and sliced
2 Fresh Green Finger Chillis, thinly sliced (more if you want)
6 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
4 Breasts of  free-range or organic chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
1 teaspoons ground turmeric
3 teaspoons ground cumin 
1 teaspoons ground coriander 
1 large knob of fresh ginger, grated
Handful of green Cardamon Seeds, crushed, seeds removed and then roughly ground
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (400g) tin whole plum tomatoes, roughly chopped 
Small bunch of freshly chopped coriander

Heat the ghee or oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken which has been seasoned with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.  Fry, until golden brown on all sides.  Remove with a slotted spoon and add the onions to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften and then add the peppers. Cook for a further 10 minutes or so.  Next add the garlic and ginger.  Stir well and then add your spices apart from the cardamon. Fry for a few minutes more and add the chicken back.  Next add the tinned tomatoes and some salt to taste.  Allow to cook uncovered for about 20 minutes.  The idea is to thicken the sauce, cook the chicken through and allow the spices to mellow and  integrate.  It doesn't need hours on the stove.  Once the spices have lost their harshness and become melodious, add the cardamon and fresh coriander.  Cook for a few minutes more.  Serve with plenty of steaming basmati rice.

Monsoon Madness

It was pouring this morning. Another English Summer July day.  It was like a Monsoon.  Maybe that is why I got the strongest craving for a curry.  And not just any curry, but it had to be an Aubergine curry.  I am not sure why.  In fact I am not sure that I have ever even eaten an Aubergine Curry before, or Brinjal Bhaji as it is more authentically known, but I knew that I wanted to.  This recipe has Tamarind in it which gives it a delicious sour flavour with combines brilliantly with the sweetness and richness of the Aubergine. 

Tamarind is easy to get hold of from most Indian shops but if you are having any problems getting hold of any spices, then I really recommend Seasoned Pioneers. They have such a fantastic selection of seasonings from all over the world and will send them out to you anywhere in Europe, for very little postage. All their spices come in sealable foil bags and although I am usually the sort to mix up my own spice blends, I was so excited by their range that along with Chipolte Chilli, which I have been searching for forever, I have ordered a few, ready mixed blends and I will be letting you know how I get on in the very near future.



Aubergines are at their best just now, shiny and fat and delicious.  There is something slightly dark and mysterious about them.  Native to India, they turn up in dishes from all over the world and work particularly well when char-grilled, either sliced or whole, as they absorb the smoky flavours, which gives dishes such as Moutabal its fantastic flavour.  Aubergines also feature in Japanese recipes, such as Aubergines Baked with Miso and the little baby ones known as pea aubergines are a main feature of Thai Curries.

They are notorious, however, for soaking up oil and I almost wrote them off at one stage, as I was so concerned how fattening they might be.  All the recipes that I was cooking seemed to require frying. Dishes such as Ratatouille or a number of Italian dishes which require them to be cooked "al Funghetto" or "in the style of mushrooms", i.e. fried in loads of olive oil.  It is only when I discovered that there was another way, that I came to love the aubergine again.



Simply cut your aubergine into large chunks (about 1" squared) and toss them in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and lay out on flat trays, with plenty of room between pieces and roast in a medium/hot oven until golden brown, crisp on the outside, melting soft on the inside and delicious. So now this is how I make Ratatouille or Imam Bayeldi or Capanata.  And for Melanzane Parmigiana and Moussaka which used to involve flouring and frying the Aubergine slices in loads of olive oil,now I just brush them with oil and char-grill them instead.  All the flavour, half the fat!  Got to be a good thing.

Brinjal Bhaji (Aubergine Curry)

4 Aubergines

2 tsp of Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp Ground Turmeric
Small handful of Curry leaves
2 tsp Mustard Seeds
3 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1 large onion, finely chopped5 cloves of Garlic, peeled and very finely chopped
2" Fresh Ginger,peeled and very finely chopped or grated 
1 Fresh red Chilli, very finely chopped
1 tin of whole plum tomatoes (400g)
1 tin chickpeas, drained
20 g of tamarind paste or pulp
1 bunch of Fresh chopped corriander
Oil
Salt
Yoghurt to serve


Chop up your aubergine into 1" chunks and toss with a little oil, some salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Spread out on some baking trays with plenty of room and roast in a medium/hot oven until golden brown all over.


Take a Wok or large heavy bottomed saucepan and heat with some oil.  Add mustard seeds. When they start to pop add the cumin, ground coriander and turmeric, fenugreek and curry leaves. Then add chopped onions, ginger, garlic and chilli.  Fry on medium flame until really soft.  Add the tomatoes and break up untill really mixed through.  Add the aubergines and a little salt to taste. Then add tamarind.  (If using pulp soak for 15 minutes in boiling hot water.   Then strain to remove the seeds.)   Add the chickpeas.


Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes to allow the flavours to combine and mellow. Finally add the freshly chopped corriander and serve with freshly cooked basmati rice.  Add a dollop of yoghurt if you like.

The Real Roti

Yet again I find myself craving for another delicacy which I took for granted when it was on my doorstep, when I lived, it seems like a lifetime ago, in Shepherds Bush.  Quashie’s Roti Hut, which I believe is unfortunately now closed, was a regular haunt of mine, for the fantastic goat or Channa (Chickpea) Rotis.  An establishment of irregular hours, you could always tell when it was finally open, by the masses of cars pulled up outside, their doors open, music playing and the hoards gathering,  vaguely threatening outside.  All hoods and bling.  I always felt a bit intimidated queuing, as a certain ethnic minority, and the wait always seemed long. Often it was, but it worth it when you finally got your flaky Roti, each layer sandy, dusty with  cornmeal, inside steaming hot, spicy curry.  Delicious. 

Luckily, even if Quashie’s has now gone, you can still buy fresh goat at Shepherd’s Bush Market.  In fact you can buy it at most good Halal butchers so to recreate the Goat Curry was easy, as was the Chickpea Curry, and both recipes are very tasty. The Rotis skins, as they are called,  proved far more difficult and the first  recipe I give is for a Paratha Roti.  It is fantastically flaky but it is slightly difficult to roll and is better used as a bread to serve with your curry. I am not exactly sure that it is exactly the right roti for wrapping but as much as I search I can’t find a better one. So, I give an alternative method which is rolled raw and then cooked.  I was very sceptical about this method, but it really works and you get a delicious flaky crust.

When researching Rotis, I found it fascinating that a recipe from East India or Sri Lanka could be so identical to one from Trinidad, when geographically they are so far apart. With just the Indian Ocean, Africa and the South Atlantic Ocean separating them, it seems amazing that they could have the same dish on the menu.  It would appear that East Indian contract labourers brought the recipe to the Caribbean and parts of South America as early as the 1840’s and it had become very much ingrained in their current cultures.  In fact it would seem that most food in Trinidad and Tobago has been influenced by East Indian cookery, although it has now transgressed somewhat from the original, to find its own identity. 

                         

Roti (Paratha)

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) plain flour

5 ml spoon (1 tsp.) baking powder

5 ml spoon (1 tsp.) salt

50 g (2 oz)  ghee

cold water to bind

250 ml (1/2 pt) ghee

little extra flour

Fine cornmeal

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Rub in ghee with fingertips until fat is in small flakes. Add enough cold water to make a fairly stiff, but not sticky, dough. Knead well until smooth, then cover bowl and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
Knead dough again for 3-4 minutes, then divide into 8 equal balls. Roll out each ball on a lightly floured board into a circle, about 20 cm (8 in) diameter.
Brush each circle all over with ghee, then sprinkle lightly with flour and a little cornmeal. Fold each circle in half, then in half again. Cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Roll out each piece into a circle again, as thin as you can.  Make sure it is evenly thin otherwise parts will not cook. Brush with ghee, then place in a large frying pan or a baking sheet on top of the hob, like I did. Cook on both sides, brushing with ghee again to prevent sticking, for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and clap each roti with both hands until pliable again. Stack on top of each other with fine corn meal in between each one and cover with a towel whilst the other rotis are cooked. It is important to stack them like this to allow them to steam very slightly or they will be to crispy to roll.

I know as a chef I should really be a “bones, fat and all” sort of person, but I am not.  I do not like lumps of gristle or gelatinous fat.  Also, for a roti, you can’t have chunks of bone in it, so for my recipe, I bought leg of goat and asked the butcher to take it off the bone and cut it into small cubes, which he happily did for me. The going price seems to be about £5.99 a kilo.  I also picked up some Curried Goat Seasoning made by Tropical Sun which I had heard is a good brand for Caribean spices.  It is a mix of Coriander, Fenugreek, Cumin, Chilli powder, Garlic, Ginger, Cardamon, Fennel, Turmeric, Black Pepper, Onion, Cinnamon and rubbed Thyme, but obviously you can add whatever combination you like.  I looked at a lot of recipes before adapting this one.  Beware of recipes with Lime Juice in them, as Goat Curry can be quite acidic.  If your curry is slightly acidic add some yoghurt or a little cream to balance it.

Goat Curry

1 kg leg of goat, diced

2 tbsp Goat Curry Seasoning

1 tbsp fresh thyme, very finely chopped

2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil

1 tin of plum tomatoes, chopped

2 onions, finely diced

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

Knob of fresh Ginger, peeled and finely chopped

Water or stock

Handful of coriander

Season the goat with the curry powder, thyme and black pepper and leave to marinate overnight.  Season the meat with salt.  Heat the oil in a pan and cook the goat pieces until golden brown. Do this in  small batches.  Remove the goat with a slotted spoon and add the onions and garlic and some more  oil.  Cook until the onions are soft and just beginning to colour.  Add the tomatoes and then add it to the meat. Cover the meat with water or stock and bring to the boil.  Turn down, cover and cook for a few hours until goat is tender. When ready, remove goat from pan, simmer sauce till reduced by half, then return meat to pan and add a handful of freshly chopped coriander.

Chickpea and Potato Curry

Ingredients
100g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight or 1 tin of chickpeas
2 potatoes, medium-sized
1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 knob of ginger, very finely chopped

1 fresh red chilli, very finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon Garam Marsala

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander
oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
handful of freshly chopped coriander
spinach (optional)

Soak the chickpeas overnight and then cook for an hour in boiling water. Drain, saving some of the water  and set aside.   If using tinned chickpeas, drain. Peel and roughly cube your potatoes.
In a saucepan fry the onions, garlic and chilli in some oil until soft but only lightly coloured. Add the spices and fry very gently for a couple of minutes.  Next add the potatoes, some salt and pepper and cook until the potatoes have taken on the colour of the spices.  Add the chickpeas and cover with liquid.  Either the cooking liquid from the chickpeas, or just some water. Cover and leave to simmer for 45 minutes or so, until the potatoes are cooked.  Check the seasoning.  Add the coriander and if you like, add a big handful of spinach a minute before serving, and stir through to wilt.

Another Roti Recipe (with curry inside)

4 cups flour

9 tbsp ghee plus extra for brushing and cooking

1 tsp salt

1 cup cold water

In a large bowl, combine the flour and ghee with your hands until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the water and knead with your hands until it forms a firm, smooth dough.  If too dry add more water, 1 tbsp at a time and knead again. Wrap in cling-film and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.  Divide the dough into 12 even sized balls.  On a lightly floured surface, with a rolling pin, roll out as thin as possible in a rough circle. Brush with melted ghee. Place a large couple of tablespoons of your curry in the centre of the circle.  Fold over the two side edges first.  Roll out further any areas which now are double thickness, until once again as thin as possible.  Brush with melted ghee and lift over first one flap and then the other to form a cylindrical large spring roll like shape. Fray in a heavy based frying pan in plenty of melted ghee over a medium heat.  Turn until every side is golden brown and crisp.  Don’t forget the ends.