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Mar. 25th, 2009 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickWe are still in the realm of fucking deadly jalapeno peppers. I am not sure if Weis changed suppliers or if there's some kind of drought condition where formerly wimpy jalapenos buck up into fucking deadly territory or what, but these peppers, they are hot.
Tonight's effort was Unripe Mango with Pigeon Peas, p. 434 in the book. You faithful (noncommenting) readers have probably noticed a dearth of meat-based recipes from the curry book. (sound of crickets chirping) This is not because the book doesn't have any meat recipes. It has lots. I don't feel the need for meat-based curry, myself, so don't make those recipes. Also, for as much as I like meat, it's expensive as hell. For it to be a sensible all-the-time grocery purchase, I'd have to like it a hell of a lot more.
One of these days, I'm going to repurpose some of the lamb curries to beef because I have free beef that needs eating. However, that day is not today. Today was for unripe mangoes.
1 cup skinned split toovar dal
1 medium unripe mango, peeled, seeded, chopped
2 Tbsp Ghee
1 t cumin seeds
1 t cumin, ground
6 cardamom pods, green
1 small onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
8 to 10 fresh green chiles (I used three. THREE, damn it.)
3 slices fresh ginger, julienne
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 teasp salt (I used 1)
1 teasp. ground coriander
1/2 teasp. ground turmeric.
Rinse dal, put in pan with 3 cups water. Cook ten min. Add another cup water and chopped mango. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fully soft -- about another 15 to 20 min. Meanwhile, heat up ghee in frying pan, add cumin seeds and cardamom pods, cook 30 sec, add onion/chiles/ginger. Stir-fry until onion starts to brown. Add ground spices, salt, cilantro. Cook another minute or so. Remove from heat. Here, it says in the book to puree the dal/mango stuff. I didn't feel so moved and therefore omitted that step. I'm okay with lumpy, myself. You want to puree, go ahead. Deglaze onion pan and add to dal/mango pan. Cook another five to ten minutes so that flavors mingle well.
Holy fuck, is this hot. I understand that it is supposed to be hot. Had I added as many jalapenos as the recipe suggests, I would not be able to eat this. I wouldn't even be able to eat it over rice. (I do not generally eat my curries over rice. I do not eat much rice or bread or potatoes these days -- it's not low-carb like Atkins, more of a low carb like shitload of calories in a very small, nonfilling space that plays merry hell with my blood sugar and makes me hungry again in two hours. I eat my curries straight up. Lentils, for some reason, do not do to me what white flour, white rice, and white potatoes do.)
Aside from the hot, I'm a fan. It's slightly sweet and tangy as all hell, kind of a nice balance of things going on there. I think I'll like it tomorrow, too, which is good because I have several days of this to eat.
Tonight's effort was Unripe Mango with Pigeon Peas, p. 434 in the book. You faithful (noncommenting) readers have probably noticed a dearth of meat-based recipes from the curry book. (sound of crickets chirping) This is not because the book doesn't have any meat recipes. It has lots. I don't feel the need for meat-based curry, myself, so don't make those recipes. Also, for as much as I like meat, it's expensive as hell. For it to be a sensible all-the-time grocery purchase, I'd have to like it a hell of a lot more.
One of these days, I'm going to repurpose some of the lamb curries to beef because I have free beef that needs eating. However, that day is not today. Today was for unripe mangoes.
1 cup skinned split toovar dal
1 medium unripe mango, peeled, seeded, chopped
2 Tbsp Ghee
1 t cumin seeds
1 t cumin, ground
6 cardamom pods, green
1 small onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
8 to 10 fresh green chiles (I used three. THREE, damn it.)
3 slices fresh ginger, julienne
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 teasp salt (I used 1)
1 teasp. ground coriander
1/2 teasp. ground turmeric.
Rinse dal, put in pan with 3 cups water. Cook ten min. Add another cup water and chopped mango. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fully soft -- about another 15 to 20 min. Meanwhile, heat up ghee in frying pan, add cumin seeds and cardamom pods, cook 30 sec, add onion/chiles/ginger. Stir-fry until onion starts to brown. Add ground spices, salt, cilantro. Cook another minute or so. Remove from heat. Here, it says in the book to puree the dal/mango stuff. I didn't feel so moved and therefore omitted that step. I'm okay with lumpy, myself. You want to puree, go ahead. Deglaze onion pan and add to dal/mango pan. Cook another five to ten minutes so that flavors mingle well.
Holy fuck, is this hot. I understand that it is supposed to be hot. Had I added as many jalapenos as the recipe suggests, I would not be able to eat this. I wouldn't even be able to eat it over rice. (I do not generally eat my curries over rice. I do not eat much rice or bread or potatoes these days -- it's not low-carb like Atkins, more of a low carb like shitload of calories in a very small, nonfilling space that plays merry hell with my blood sugar and makes me hungry again in two hours. I eat my curries straight up. Lentils, for some reason, do not do to me what white flour, white rice, and white potatoes do.)
Aside from the hot, I'm a fan. It's slightly sweet and tangy as all hell, kind of a nice balance of things going on there. I think I'll like it tomorrow, too, which is good because I have several days of this to eat.
