Duck curry - Kerala Style

In India Chicken is about the only poultry you can lay your hands on without much scouting. Chicken is boring. I will go as far as saying that chicken should be downgraded to the status of a tubor. Managed to lay my hands on a duckling yesterday. Really. Only about 400 grams. The size of a partridge. And how happy it made me. I ate Braised Duck while I was in China last month. And would you believe it, I sat there thinking, as I stuffed my face with the worth-while foul, how it would taste curried. So I decided to find out with my little duckling.

This is a 'nadan' Kerala recipe. Nadan means local - if you are thinking of using the word to impress a Mallu, don't do it. You will never figure out how to pronounce it. It took me about 10 minutes just to get a Keralite to understand what I was saying. - It basically implies that it's a very simple one, nothing fancy. And it's true to the name. Though I want to shoot myself for describing it like this, it is like a very simple chicken curry. Barring the use of coconut oil. And nothing else will do! For that 'Nadan' taste it's got to be coconut oil. That's what the recipe said, and that is what I did.

Skin the duck and if your's is as small as mine - I am referring to the duck - cut it into four pieces. The neck into two. Coat in plenty of salt and turmeric and set aside.

In a kadhai fry one sliced onion and add some ginger, garlic and half a dozen peppercorns when brown. Three times as much ginger as garlic. In 5, add a paste of chili powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Some salt too. Once the paste is cooked whack in a sprig of curry leaves and the duck after rinsing and draining. Cook on medium till oil seperates and then simmer till tender. Add hot water as required. Season. Garnish with fried potatoes. Easy as. And you wouldn't believe the taste.

Chicken Liver and Pork Terrine, Pickled Red Cabbage

Chicken Liver and Pork Terrine

It doesn't get much meatier than this really. Chicken livers and pork. And bacon. The pork, lean. Undercut of pig. Mince 1:1 of pork and chicken livers. Mince as you like. You can make it extra fine if you want. But I like it a little chunky. For that rustic feel. Season well. The iron from the livers can do with a good dose of salt to bring out the flavour. Whack in some:

• chopped fresh parsley
• ground ginger
• cinnamon

And that's it. Mix well. No measures here. Be sensible. Put the meat putty in a bacon lined bread tin. Smoked bacon if you have. Oven, 170 degrees for about an hour and a half. Till the juices from the middle run clear. Or if you have a meat thermometer, 160 degrees in the centre. Turn the terrine out onto a plate and put in a fridge till cold. If you try to cut it while it's hot, its all going to break apart.

I pickled some red cabbage to go with this. Pickled in a mixture of white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar. Thought the sharpness would cut through the rich terrine quite well. And it did. Also some fig jam. Can't really go wrong with pork and a bit of sweet. Great for a brunch.

Curry in a hurry

Here's a quick chicken curry for those days when you feel like cooking something that isn't overly complicated. I am not a big fan of the curry powders that come in little packets, but I have to admit that I have used them in the past. But no more! If you are medically fit to hold a knife - do not have Parkinson's - you can do this one with no bother whatsoever.

1)

Throw some curd onto 6 pieces of chicken. With bone preferably.

2)

In a little bit of water soak what you see. If you can't identify the contents and roughly count then please abort at this stage. Wash the chicken and put it back where it came from. Quitely.

3) 

Fry 2 small onions till they are brown and set aside.

4) 

Fry another 3 small onions (very finely chopped) till golden brown and then add garlic and ginger paste. About 2 tablespoons of each. Cook for 5-6 minutes. Keep stirring.

5) 

Lay on the chicken. Leave the excess curd in the bowl. One and a little tablespoons of coriander powder, half a table spoon of turmeric and one table spoon of red chili powder. Heaped? Why not. I'd recommend going heavy handed on the spice. Put in the browned onions from step 1.

6)

Mix like your life depends on it.

7)

Put in the soaked spices with the water, turn the flame to medium and cover. If you have an electric hob, abort at this stage. Bin the contents of the pan and jump out the nearest window. Your life is worthless and no body loves you.

If you have a gas hob, stir occasionally. Put a little salt to get the water in the chicken on its way. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

8)

Add some warm water, the remaining curd and one decent sized tomato (chopped) and cover. Simmer till tender. adjust seasoning. A little fresh coriander goes a very long way.

9)

Eat left-overs cold, with white bread, for breakfast.

Coca-cola chicken

Yes, you heard right! A friend from the Guangdong province cooked this one evening and completely took me by surprise. Guangdong is where Cantonese food comes from, for those of you food geographers. And then come to think of it, coca-cola has got to be the perfect ingredient to get a sweet, sticky base. And balance that sweet with the salty of soy sauce and you are on to something!

This recipe works with any part of the chicken, and is superb with wings. Skin left on if you are not fussed about your weight. Wouldn't use breast meat myself, but do as you please.

For the sauce/syrup:

• 3 tablespoons of coca-cola to one of soy sauce. I use light, but dark will do too.
• sliced ginger
• sliced garlic
• sliced spring onions
• sliced chillies

I added some dried red chillies for a deeper, smokier heat. And it gives me great pleasure to report that that was a winner.

Let the aromatics infuse and in the mean time fry off the chicken wings till cooked. I used olive oil. But I think that a little bit of added sesame oil would go down a treat adding that unmistakable woody, oriental fragrance.

Once the wings are cooked put in the syrup and stir occasionally till all the liquid has evaporated and the chicken is coated in a sticky goo. The goo is bloody awesome! Next time I'd leave it a little runny to eat with sticky rice. You just know it's going to be good. I served it with some home-grown, wilted, Pok Choi.

Tandoori chicken

My favourite chicken dish has got to be Tandoori chicken. It’s a great starter, a side dish and a meal in itself, if like me you like to order the whole bird and work at it till the bones are polished clean. I have a problem with not being served the neck piece when ordering the whole bird. A big problem. With some gnawing there is some great meat to be had from the neck. My piece of choice is the leg though. I find breast meat bland.

Tandoori chicken was reserved for when I went out, until I got this recipe from my granduncle – a super cook. He’s one of those people who just have a knack for food. He normally cooks his chicken in a baking tray, in the oven, to save time and effort. But that would not do. Tandoori chicken has to be char-grilled. So I put together a make shift barbecue. The one I used to use got left outside while I was away for a year and rusted and rotted away over the monsoon. Good excuse to get a new one made.

To make the marinade you need:

• hung curd 
• onion paste
• garlic paste
• ginger paste
• garam masala, be careful with this one.
• finely chopped green chili
• some red chili powder
• and some honey. The garam masala and the chili will give you a back of the throat, harsh, spiciness. The honey rounds that off for you.
• Salt 

The trick to getting this marinade right is to taste, taste and taste. Taste some before you put the honey in and you'll see what I am talking about. 

I also put in a little bit of red food colouring. Tandoori chicken has to be red (ish). A good quality Kashmiri chili powder will give you the colour you need. But I had none and resorted to cheating. 

Mix all the above ingredients together and marinade the chicken for a few hours. Cut slits on the chicken to aide the process.

Make the marinade and cut slits on the chicken legs

Marinade the chicken

The effort spent getting a coal fire going really pays off

Don't let the black bits put you off. They are welcome.

Serve with onion, tomato and coriander salad.

 

Frying pan paella

As I sat in front of my computer in the office yesterday afternoon a sudden rice craving set in. I haven't been eating as much rice as I used to. Potatoes, bread and pasta have become staple carbs. Then on the tube home I had an epiphany - Paella. The last paella I made was on the 30th of April 2006. Yes, I remember the date - because it was my birthday and I had some friend's over for dinner. But that paella was a half day affair. I had gone to town with the ingredients. Squid, king prawns, green-lipped mussels, octopus, the works. All cooked in a paella pan carried to the UK all the way from Spain. It was quite the event. I wasn't about to put in all that effort at 7 pm, after a long day's work, so a frying pan version had to be thought up. One that could be put together from stuff I could buy on the way home.

I used:

• 300 grams long-grain rice, about one mug full
• One finely sliced onion
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• about 100 grams of chorizo
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• paprika to taste
• 300 grams of chicken breast. Since everyone seems to be making austerity cuts I decided to make a non-seafood version.
• 1 litre of chicken stock. I used 2 jellied Knorr stock pots. Let's just say that mine was a pretty boldly seasoned. 1.5 stock pots would have been just fine.
• half a cup of peas and some flat leaf parsley I had lying in the fridge to garnish.

1. in some olive oil fry the onions without browning, after about 3-4 minutes, add the chorizo. Once the chorizo starts releasing juices add in the chicken
2. as the chicken seals, add the garlic and turmeric followed by the washed rice.
3. stir the rice to coat it in all the juices and then add hot chicken stock
4. bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring regularly
5. add the peas right in the end and give it one last stir. Bob's your uncle.

I recommend that you let the paella stand for a bit to allow the last bit of water to get soaked up in the rice. Watching the paella cook is like watching something come to life. As the rice starts to emerge from the stock and all those flavours get really concentrated it starts looking a lot more appetising. I have to make a proper one, will masses of seafood, soon.

  

The star of this one was the chorizo. The chorizo is a giving sausage. I have been using it quite often lately. It makes a great addition in any tomato based pasta sauce. The fat and spices it releases gives a real boost of flavour. I used some to make the base for meat balls last month and the sausage did extremely well. Not to mention, that it is so easily consumed sitting in the sun with some cheese, rocket and bread. Next year eh?