Vegetarian Kheema

Kheema is a ground beef curry dish that originated in the Punjab region.  The preparation of the dish is fairly straight forward ... ground lamb meat or beef is sauteed with curry powder and a range of spices added.   As the dish nears completion, some potatoes, tomatoes and peas are added.  Once the cooking is done, it can be served with some rice.  

However, Clare does not eat ground meat (and, with all the news stories about ground beef, I am a little hesitant myself) and she does not like peas.  So, I decided to modify a traditional Pakistani Kima recipe to make it vegetarian.  Out with the ground beef, in with the red kidney beans.  Out with the peas, in with the chickpeas.  Everything pretty much stayed the same.  In the end, the dish would probably be unrecognizable to the average Pakistani.  A sort of anti-Kheema. 

Still, the dish was very good.  The use of the curry powder -- along with the cinnamon, garlic, ginger and turmeric -- made this a very aromatic dish.  I would make this again, but I think I will first make the traditional, beef Kheema first.

VEGETARIAN KHEEMA

Recipe adapted from Whole New Mom

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2-3 tablespoons of oil

1 cup of onions, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 can of red kidney beans

1 1/2 tablespoons of curry powder

2 1/4 teaspoons of salt

1/8 teaspoon of black pepper

1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of ginger

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

1 can of whole tomatoes

3 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced

1 can of chickpeas or 3/4 cup of peas

Directions:

1.  Saute the vegetables.  Heat the oil in a large pan.  Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion softens and the garlic begins to brown.  

2.  Add the beans, tomatoes, and spices.  Add the red kidney beans, tomatoes, and all of the spices.  Continue to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring to mix the ingredients.

3.  Add potatoes and chickpeas.  Add the diced potatoes and chickpeas (or peas).  Bring to a simmering boil, reduce the heat and cover the pan.  Simmer for at least twenty-five minutes or until the potatoes are done.

ENJOY!

Curried Pumpkin Apple Soup

My Mom is a great cook who, along with my Dad, make some really great meals.  Recently, my Mom has been talking about this recipe for Curried Pumpkin Apple Soup.  She has made the soup and really loved it.  She loved it so much that, when my parents recently visited Clare and me, she brought the recipe with every intention of making it for us.  And we were glad she did.

The recipe from Taste of Home's Heartwarming Soups.  The ingredients suggest fall ... pumpkins, apples, leeks, onions.  The curry provides a good spice flavor and, if you want to be adventurous, you can try different curry powders, which could increase the heat or spice flavor.  My mother used some of the sweet curry powder that we have in our spice drawer.  When all is said and done, the soup was exactly as described in the magazine: "[s]weet apples and spicy curry combine in a rich soup that is absolutely perfect for fall."

What makes it perfect is that it was cooked by my Mom!

CURRIED PUMPKIN APPLE SOUP

Recipe from Jane Shapton, printed in Taste of Home,
Heartwarming Soups at 11

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 medium Golden Delicious apples, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium leek (white portion only) chopped

2 tablespoons of butter

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 to 3 teaspoons curry powder

1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Salt to taste

Directions:

1.  Saute and boil the ingredients.  In a large saucepan, saute the apples, onion and leek in butter until tender.  Add garlic and curry; cook 1 minute longer.  Add pumpkin and broth; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Stir in cream, heat through (do not boil).

2.  Blend the ingredients.  Remove from heat; cool slightly.  In a blender, process soup in batches, until smooth.  Season with salt.

ENJOY!

Chef Bolek's Catfish "Curry"

My experience with curries comes primarily from eating them, not cooking them.  I love Indian curries and one of my personal culinary goals is to learn how to make various types of curries and to learn the differences between the curries of the different regions of India, as well as learn the differences between curries of India and other countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia.

For this particular recipe, I drew from my limited experience in making Lamb Korma.  I bascially borrowed the spice ingredients, with a few tweaks.  I made this dish for my beautiful Angel, who does not eat meat.  This led to the first change ... I made it with catfish instead of lamb.  The Lamb Korma recipe I made called for two masalas ... a curry masala and a garam masala.  For the second change, I used the garam masala, but used a sweet curry powder (with fenugreek and turmeric powders) instead of the curry masala.  The third change was the addition of some vegetables, like eggplants and bell peppers.  Finally, I decided to use Sanaam chiles, which are chiles from India, to provide a little heat to the dish.

Overall, this dish turned out well, but it falls short of being a curry.  It is more like a "Chef Bolek-ized" curry. Still, I have to start somewhere.  And this was a tasty starting point.

CHEF BOLEK'S CATFISH "CURRY"

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
1 pound of catfish, cut into even sized pieces
1 small eggplant or 1/2 of a large eggplant, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 large shallot, diced
1 cup of bell peppers, diced or thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
1 teaspoon of garam masala powder
1 teaspoon of sweet curry powder
1/4 teaspoon of fenugreek powder
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder
2 dry Sanaam chiles, ground into a powder
1 teaspoon of minced ginger
2 cups of water
3 tablespoons of non-fat yogurt

Directions: 

1.  Saute the vegetables.  Heat the vegetable oil in a deep skillet.  Add the onions and the shallots, sauteing the vegetables for about ten minutes.  Add the garlic and continue to saute for a minute.  Add the bell peppers and the eggplant, along with the garam masala and sweet curry powders.  Continue to saute for about eight minutes.

2.  Add the tomato and liquid.  Add the tomato and 1 cup of water.  Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for eight minutes.  Add the remaining cup of water, cover, and simmer for twenty minutes.

3.  Add the fish.  Add the catfish and continue to simmer for about five minutes or until the catfish is cooked.  Remove from the heat and stir in the yogurt.

ENJOY!

Roasted Red Chili Seafood Stir Fry with Lime Jasmine Rice

I planned on making a red curry one night except I inadvertently bought a jar of roasted red chili paste rather than the red curry paste.  So, I improvised and the curry turned into a stir-fry.  I used the roasted red chili paste in this dish and combined it with some sweet curry powder.  The end result is rather tasty.

This is a mixed seafood stir fry so, really, anything goes.  Having made a lot of fish recently, I decided that I would stick to other seafood, such as scallops, squid and shrimp.  The key to this dish, which is the key to any mixed seafood dish, is timing.  Scallops take longer than squid.  Both scallops and squid take longer than shrimp.  The size of the seafood can further change all of the cooking times.  The times in this recipe are approximate.  Cooking seafood is best done with your eyes, watching the seafood go from their "translucent" state to opaque.  When you see that start to happen, add the next seafood. 

ROASTED RED CHILI SEAFOOD STIR FRY WITH LIME JASMINE RICE

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2-3

Ingredients (for the rice):
1 cup of jasmine rice
2 limes
Zest from one of the limes
2 cups of water

Ingredients for the stir fry:
1/2 pound of cleaned squid
1/2 pound of 16-20 count shrimp, shelled and deveined
4-6 sea scallops
2 shallots, sliced thinly
1 green pepper, sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic, diced
3 teaspoons of roasted red chili paste
2 teaspoons of sweet curry powder
4 tablespoons of canola oil
1 heirloom tomato, sliced into quarters or eighths

Directions:

1.  Make the rice.  Pour the rice in the bowl.  Take one lime and squeeze the juice over the rice, making sure that the rice absorbs the lime.  Heat the water on high.  Once the water begins to boil, add the rice and juice from the second lime.  Reduce the heat and cook until the rice absorbs the water.

2.  Cook the vegetables.  Heat the oil in a wok on medium high.  Add the shallots, green pepper and garlic.  Add two of the teaspoons of roasted red chili paste and one teaspoon of sweet curry powder.  Saute for five to seven minutes until the vegetables are well cooked.

3.  Cook the scallops and squid.  Move the vegetables to the side of the wok, but keep the oil on the other side.  Turn up the heat a little. Add the scallops and cook until the scallops begin to become opaque and browned on the bottom, which should take four to five minutes.   Flip the scallops and then add the squid.  Add 1/2 teaspoon of the red chili paste and 1/2 teaspoon of the sweet curry powder.  Stir to mix the paste and powder amongst the scallops and squid.  Continue to cook the scallops and squid, stirring and flipping the squid to make sure that it is cooked on all sides. 

4.  Add shrimp and tomatoes.  When the squid becomes opaque, which should be about another five to six minutes, add the shrimp and heirloom tomatoes.  Add 1/2 teaspoon of the red chili paste and 1/2 teaspoon of the sweet curry powder.  Stir to mix the paste and powder amongst the seafood ingredients.    Add 1/2 teaspoon of the red chili paste and 1/2 teaspoon of the sweet curry powder.  Continue to cook until the shrimp becomes opaque.  Stir all of the vegetables with the seafood.

5.  Plate the dish. Plate the rice in the center and spoon the seafood over the rice.  You could also place the rice to one side and spoon the seafood on the other side.  Garnish with the lime zest.

For a dish that I created on the fly, this turned out fairly well. The roasted red chili paste and the sweet curry powder blended well together.  The different seafood worked well together as well.  I liked the green pepper in the dish, but I think other vegetables may also work well.  I would suggest a crisp white wine, such as a Riesling or Pinot Grigio for this dish.

ENJOY!