Lamb, aubergine and cardamom curry

A few months ago I visited the spice shops in Petone and picked up lots of whole spices, including cardamom pods. Cardamom seems to be enjoying a revival at the moment and I feel like I'm constantly coming across new recipes - both savoury and sweet - that call for a few of the little green pods. Or perhaps it's just because I now have them in the pantry.

This delicious curry has a few pods thrown in but if you don't have any you could use ground cardamom. Just a little though - a quarter teaspoon or so - as you want the cardamom flavour to be subtle. It's a difficult flavour to describe - I've heard it described as "medicinal" and "camphorus" which I think sounds awful but really it's not... it's aromatic and ever-so-slightly aniseed-y and together with the other spices in this curry it's just perfect.

The curry and accompanying bean recipes are based on a recipes from last August/September's Dish magazine. I've simplified the curry, added aubergine, and used diced lamb instead of chops. I've never been a chop fan. So much work for so little meat. The original recipe is also garnished with golden brown onions - something I've never been able to make without burning and I don't really like anyway so left them out. Enjoy!

The curry

400g diced lamb

2 small aubergine, diced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 onions, sliced

1 teaspoon salt

3 whole cardamom pods, lightly crushed

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

1/2 cup cream

spice paste - blend in food processor to a smooth paste:

1/2 cup raw cashews

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons ginger, chopped

1 teaspoon each ground cumin, coriander, garam marsala, chilli & tumeric

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 can chopped tomatoes

to garnish...

fresh coriander

1/2 cup roasted cashews

Heat a large casserole over a medium heat and add the oil, onions and salt. Cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the spice paste and cook for another few minutes stirring frequently. Add the diced lamb to the pan and stir to coat in spices.

Add the cardamom, cinnamon stick, water and cream. Combine well, cover and simmer over a low heat for 1 hour. Stir from time-to-time. Uncover and add the diced aubergine. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, uncovered until the lamb and aubergine are both very tender and the sauce is nicely reduced.

Serve in bowls with rice, a scatter of fresh coriander and cashews and these colourful beans...

Green beans with coconut & chilli

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon yellow or black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seed

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 red chilli, seeded and finely sliced

400g green beans, topped, tailed & diagonally sliced

1/4 cup long thread coconut

water

salt

Heat the oil is a large sauté pan over a medium to low heat. Add the onion and cook until soft - about 10 minutes. Add the spices, chilli and garlic. Cook for about five minutes, stirring. Add the coconut, beans, water and salt. Toss everything together and cook until the water has evaporated (add extra water if needed) and the beans are tender but crisp.

a few of our favourite things...

Libby: I usually like to buy vegetables a few times a week depending on what I feel like eating but this week I'll be using up the huge array of veges from the mixed box delivered by Epicurean Supplies on Friday (via a daily deal voucher). I was impressed by the selection - lots of salad leaves and other leafy greens, chioggia and red beetroot, carrots, capsicums, cucumbers, bok choy and a great mix of herbs - and most importantly, all lovely and fresh. 

Becs: Daisy and I are up in Wellington for a few days, so we paid a visit to the City Market on Sunday morning.  Libby and I loved the beautifully packaged honey-based syrups from Bees blessing; she chose an Elderflower and honey cordial while I bought a bottle of the Mulled lemon and honey.  

A winter salad

This salad is for anyone who wants feels like a mid-winter raw vege hit but doesn't want to pay $8 for a squidgy red capsicum and its out-of-season friends. (Yes, capsicums are roughly $8 a piece at the moment, I don't know this because I bought one myself but because I know someone who actually paid $8 for a single capsicum last week.)

I was inspired to make mayonnaise after reading this post here on the Kitchenmaid blog which has lots of fabulous DIY recipes for the kind of things you'd usually buy - bread, tahini, mayo etc. Once I had my mayonnaise made I needed a use for it so added a little smoked paprika and thinned it down with the juice of half a lemon and used it as a dressing for this red cabbage, carrot & spinach salad.

This salad is a lot like one we make with red cabbage, apple & celery with smokey mayo (from Dunedin-based cook/food writer/tour guide Judith Cullen) but with spinach and carrot instead of celery and apple. You could add a julienned green apple to my version below if you want a little sweetness.

I guess it's more a "coleslaw" that a salad but I'm calling it a salad as I can't stand the word coleslaw. Especially when it's mispronounced "coldslaw"! Either way, it just doesn't sound like something I want to eat. But salad, especially this salad, I do want to eat. And have done so for the last two nights.

The quantity below would make a big bowlful - enough for 6-8 servings - and use the entire amount of mayonnaise. Adjust as necessary to feed the number of people at your table.

Red cabbage, carrot & spinach salad with smokey mayo

1/2 red cabbage, very finely shredded

1 bag baby spinach

2 large carrots, julienned (or grated)

2-4 tablespoons finely chopped mint and/or flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

1 quantity of mayonnaise with 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika & juice of 1/2 a lemon whisked in.

Toss the finely shredded cabbage, spinach & cabbage in a large bowl. Mix though the smokey mayo, just half at first and then add a spoonful at a time until the vegetables are lightly coated. Save a little to dollop on top if you like. Sprinkle over the walnuts and serve.

dinner date - bulgur wheat salad

I've been a rather absentee blogger of late. I had been doing a psychology internship and much of my time over the past couple of months was spent finishing (or starting) assignments and preparing for oral exams. Hence my lack of blogging. Thankfully all went smoothly with my exams and I am now qualified as a Health Psychologist, with two new jobs at North Shore and Middlemore hospitals.

Now that I have reclaimed my weekends and evenings, I'm hoping to try out new recipes and keep up the blogging. Thanks Libby and Becky who have keep the blog ticking along nicely in my absence.

This bulgur wheat salad was not so much a new recipe but rather a freestyle creation made using whatever I found in the cupboard, pantry and garden.


After the above harvest of courgettes and fresh herbs I inspected the pantry and fridge and found a few veges that would roast well (including onions from the garden, potatoes, kumara, red pepper and some rather sad looking mushrooms). These seemed fitting to some sort of salad, so chopped up the veges and coated them with olive oil, some macadamia paste, salt and pepper and roasted them until cooked.

There was a packet of course bulgur wheat in the pantry which I soaked hot water for around 20 minutes until cooked. I stirred through the roast veges along with the fresh herbs and generous amounts of some basil pesto I made earlier in the day. The salad was garnished with sunflower and pumpkin seeds and extra pesto.

This was a delicious throw together kind of meal, with great textures, flavours and colours. The seeds add a lovely crunch and the nutty flavour of the macadamia paste also adds a nice dimension. I really rate bulgur wheat as a base for salads (far more than buckwheat which always tastes to me like it's not quite cooked properly). Although we ate this for dinner it would be a great salad to take to work for lunch.... lucky I made lots so there was leftovers for lunch.

a favourite way with pumpkin

Lois Daish's "Afghan sweet poached pumpkin" from the May 2009 Cuisine magazine is one of my favourite ways of cooking pumpkin. It's one of those fabulous recipes that turns a few very ordinary ingredients into something delicious - something Lois Daish does so well.

The pumpkin simmers gently in a little butter, onion, water, and sugar until tender and the water almost absorbed. (If the pumpkin is cooked before the liquid is absorbed I like to remove the pumpkin, add an extra knob of butter and reduce what's left of the liquid so you're left with a sweet, buttery sauce.) While it's cooking you mix a clove of crushed garlic and a little salt into some plain yoghurt for drizzling on top.

Although delicious as is, on this occasion I sprinkled on some fresh coriander. Toasted walnuts or pumpkin seeds would be an equally delicious addition.

a few of our favourite things

Becs: One upside to winter is comfort food, and I am enjoying the veges the cold weather brings with it. Last week we roasted some red and yellow yams, parsnips and baby carrots with rosemary, black sesame seeds and olive oil, tossing through a little runny honey at the end. Another favourite is jerusalem artichokes, which are lovely peeled, sliced and baked in a gratin with sauteed leeks and cream.

Libby: This Kenwood Chef cake mixer belonged to my Nanny and is currently in my care. Judging by the orange and brown colour scheme (which complements my brown veneer kitchen perfectly), Nanny bought it in 1970s, which makes it 30+ years old! But it's a very solid machine and has plenty of life left in it. I wonder if today's Kenwood mixers will still be going strong in thirty years time?

Miriam: A couple of years ago, Anne Ball and I went halves in a box (of 500) of these bags from Detpak. They are so handy for filling with wee treats and at about 42 cents each, it's quite economical. I didn't think I'd ever get through my share of 250, but I've made quite a dent in them and am now down to my last 50.