Narangi Keema

This month the Brain and I celebrated 6 years of togetherness. Well celebrated is a little strong of a word. We noted the passing of time. See we're not shmoopy traditionally romantic people. I can honestly say I've never gazed into the Brain's eyes for any long period of time, despite the fact that he has the most beautiful blue eyes and really long lashes. We don't hold hands very often and if we do it tends to be something of a silly moment. That's just how we are.

(3 weeks after we met)

Don't get me wrong. We are very compatible and live a life full of love and laughter, but we're not traditional. Did I ever tell you we met on the Internet? Indeed. I met his requirement of being a Catholic without any children and he met my requirement of being bald. Yes. I like bald men. A lot.

This is us about 8 months later (when I already knew there was no going back.) Aren't we cute? That's one fine looking bald man...

So yeah, sometimes I like things a little different than the next person. For example, I have always had a certain soft spot for a bald man. I think I get it from my mother who thinks Danny DeVito is a wildly sexy man. I'm not even making that up.

Given some ground lamb and a craving for Indian food most people make Ground Lamb with Peas (or Mutter Kheema). It's delicious. But I had just gone to the library and checked out From Curries to Kebabs, recipes from the Indian Spice Train by Madhur Jaffrey. In this very interesting cookbook is a recipe called Narangi Keema, which is short for Hyderabadi Ground Lamb with Orange. It's a really unusual, really delicious dish. I didn't alter it too much from the original recipe. The only difference is that at the end of the recipe she says to add the garam masala, but doesn't include it in the ingredients list. and the unit of measurement is missing from the coriander leaves. It just says 1. 1 what? 1 bushel? 1 tsp? 1 cup? Yes, it's the standard how to annoy a math geek moment. But anyway, this was really different and tasty way to try a new Indian ground lamb recipe.

Narangi Keema
from From Curries to Kebabs with alterations previously noted.

1 large orange
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt

3 Tbsp peanut oil
2 medium onions, sliced into fine half rings
2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
2 Tbsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, crushed to a pulp
4 Tbsp plain yogurt
2 pounds ground lamb
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tsp salt

3 serrano peppers, sliced into very fine rounds
1 cup lightly packed cilantro, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala

To prepare the orange, peel off the orange rind, making sure to leave the white pith behind. Cut the rind into very fine, 1 inch long julienne strips. Combine the turmeric and salt with 6 cups of water in a pan and bring to a boil. Pour half into a measuring cup and reserve. Add the rind to the boiling liquid in the pan and boil rapidly for 1 minute. Empty the pan through a sieve set over a sink. Pour the reserved turmeric water back into the pan and bring back to a boil. Put the rind back into the pan and boil again for 1 minute, then strain again through a sieve set over the sink. Rinse the rind under cold running water and set aside.

To prepare the lamb, pour the oil into a large, nonstick, lidded pan set over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, stir in the onions and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, or until a dark caramel color. Add the cumin and coriander and stir for 30 seconds. Add the ginger and garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the yogurt 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting for the previous tablespoon to be absorbed before adding another. Put in the lamb, turmeric, and cayenne. Stir and cook for 5 minutes, breaking up all the lumps in the meat. Add the orange juice, rind, and salt. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently for 40 minutes. Add the chilies, cilantro, mint, and garam masala. Stir to combine. Cover and continue to cook for 10 more minutes. Serve.

Egg Tomato Curry

It's snowing outside. It's been snowing for several days. Okay, maybe just two whole days, but it feels like longer. It's the perfect kind of weather to snuggle under an afghan, drink a steamy mug of hot chocolate and eat something robust and hearty like beef stew and homemade bread with thick slabs of butter. Real butter, not margarine.

But it's January. Which means one of two things. 1) You have New Year's resolutions and are avoiding things like snuggling all day under an afghan (you need to get moving!) and thick slabs of butter. Or 2) You are sick and tired of rich foods and butter and chocolate (hard to believe THAT happened!) and instead are desperately craving something with a vegetable in it. Or maybe you feel like you can only afford to eat Ramen Noodles (BLECCH!) after looking at the credit card bill. Ah January. What a month.

Because there was a -1 billion degree windchill outside, the Focus does not have heated seats, and I needed to eat something quick and warm and delicious and healthy (and fairly cheap), I told my sister Super G, while driving home from work on Sunday that I would be making Egg Curry for dinner that night. Super G regularly follows my blog and informed me that she didn't think I'd ever posted a recipe for that and she Google searched to be sure. I told her that was ridiculous because I must have posted an egg curry recipe before. It's my go to quick, easy, delicious, cheap, and healthy recipe. Super G insisted I hadn't because she is curious about trying it.

I'm embarrassed to say Super G is correct. I have somehow neglected to post a recipe for egg curry. This is even more embarrassing because I have two different egg curry recipes that I've used in the past. Ooops. Deepest apologies. This is without a doubt super comforting food for me and although it took a moment of courage to get over the idea of hard boiled eggs in tomato sauce, it has squarely landed in the rotation as a meal I cook often. So without further ado, Here's the recipe...

Egg-Tomato Curry

adapted from Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking (don't judge, it's a really good cookbook)

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 medium onion

2 medium cloves garlic

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp turmeric

2 (15oz) cans of petite diced tomatoes

1 cup water

4 large hard boiled eggs, cut in half

2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Quarter the onion and process in the food processor with the garlic until very finely chopped. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for several minutes until all liquid has evaporated and onions start to turn brown (about 5 minutes).

Stir in sugar, salt, cumin, coriander, cayenne, and turmeric. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes stirring constantly. Stir in tomatoes and water. Simmer uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes.

Gently stir in eggs and simmer for another 1 to 2 minutes to warm eggs. Remove from heat. Gently stir in cilantro.

I'm adopted!

Now, before I have 120 relatives calling me, I am obviously not really adopted. I am the spitting image of my dad. But in the food blogging world, I have been adopted by the lovely Cynthia at Tastes Like Home. Cynthia is from Guyana and living in Barbados. She has beautiful photos on her blog of all her delicious looking food and will share recipes if you email her. Although I am going to email her and get some recipes for her delicious looking food, I am not going to post about those recipes because they are her recipes and she's writing a book. But I definitely encourage you to look around on her blog and if one of her recipes tickles your fancy, email her and ask her for it. She also has a weekly column that she writes and every time I read it I learn something new. I am really happy to be paired with her in the Adopt a Blogger program started by Dine and Dash!

So OK, I'm not Caribbean, although the Brain and I did honeymoon there. And I don't think I have a snowball's chance in Hell of finding things like fresh sardines up here in Nowhere, Ohio. Where it is currently so cold that it's spitting snow. Little tiny mean snowflakes. Not even enough to cover the ground and make things look pretty. Just a few at a time. Enough so you know it's snowing, but not enough to get excited about. So what could I blog about that would at all make anyone think of the Caribbean?

Well, I made an eggplant, Garam Masala, lentil, and zucchini curry. What? You say. Curry is not Caribbean! But it is. Sort of. Believe it or not, my former sister-in-law, M, is also from Guyana. And she's half Indian. There is apparently a large population of Eastern Indians in Guyana (43% according to Wikipedia). And one of my current sister-in-laws, S, is from Trinidad and she eats curry all the time. And when the Brain and I were in St. Martin, on the Dutch side, I had a chicken curry for lunch with bananas in it. Holy cow was it delicious! So curry it is!

This did start as a recipe I found on Cooking Light, but really I strayed from it so much, it's hardly anywhere close. I liked it over whole wheat couscous. The Brain thought it was tasty too. The nice thing is that this recipe makes a large pot. Leftovers are really good too because the flavors blend nicely overnight.

Vegetable and Lentil Curry

2 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp Garam Masala

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large eggplant, peeled and chopped

1 cup dried lentils

4 cups water

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 bay leaves

2 cups chopped zucchini (1 large or 2 medium)

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and Garam Masala. Saute 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, garlic and eggplant. Saute for 7 minutes or until eggplant is tender.

Add lentils, water, salt, and bay leaves to pan. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in zucchini and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 7 minutes or until zucchini is just tender. Discard bay leaves.