An Indian Dinner

We had friends over the other evening for dinner. There are two things they love in the food world, lamb and Indian (as in the subcontinent) flavors. We had a wonderful meal. Two of the dishes Lamb Vindaloo and Potatoes with Cauliflower are well-known standards. The third , Gujarati Cabbage, was a new dish to me. It turned out that they made a superlative trio.Worth adding to your repertoire if, like me and our friends, you enjoy Indian flavors and lamb.

 

I've offered a vindaloo recipe before, but this one is distinguished by being cooked in the slow cooker. The slow cooker is a wonderful invention and can greatly simplify meal preparation. This version is from America's Test Kitchens' Slow Cooker Revolution.

LAMB VINDALOO

1. 3 onions, minced
2. 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3. 3 tablespoons sweet paprika*
4. 8 garlic cloves, minced
5. 2 tablespoons tomato paste
6. 4 teaspons ground cumin
7. 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
8. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
9. 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
10. 1 cup chicken broth plus extra as needed
11. 3 tablespoons Minute tapioca
12. 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
13. 2 bay leaves
14. 1 teaspoon sugar
15. 4 pound boneless lamb should roast, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
16. Salt and pepper
17. 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Heat oil; add onions paprika, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cardamom and cayenne in a bowl, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes, transfer to slow cooker.

Stir in tomatoes with juice, broth, tapioca, vinegar, bay leaves and sugar. Season lamb with salt and pepper and nestle into slow cooker. Cover and cook until lamb is tender, 9 to 12 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.

Let stew settle for 10 minutes, then remove fat from surface. Discard bay leaves. Stir in cilantro, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with Basmati rice.

*If you want to increase the heat in this, use agridulce paprika and just a bit more cayenne.

Raghavan Iyer offers this recipe for

POTATOES WITH CAULIFLOWER (Aloo Gobi)

(6 servings)

1. 1/4 cup vegetable oil
2. 1 teaspoon cumin seed
3. 1 large onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
4. 5 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
5. 2 tablespoons gingerroot, finely chopped
6. 3 medium red potatoes (1 pound), peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
7. 1 medium head cauliflower (2 pounds), separated into flowerets
8. 1/2 cup chopped fresh fenugreek leaves or 1/2 cup chopped watercress leaves
9. 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
10. 1 tablespoon coriander seed, ground
11. 1 teaspoon cumin seed, ground
12. 1 teaspoon salt,
13. 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
14. 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
15. 1 cup water
16. 2 medium tomatoes, chopped ( 1 1/2 cups)

Heat oil in wok or 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cumin seed; sizzle 30 seconds.

Add onion garlic and gingerroot; stiry-fry about 5 minutes or until onion is golden brown. Add potatoes; stir-fry 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients except water and tomatoes; stir-fry 2 minutes. Stir in water. Cover and cook about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in tomatoes. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until tomatoes are hot.

To simplify preparation I made this dish up until "stir in the tomatoes" before company arrived. When it was time to get ready, all I had to do was add the tomatoes and heat the dish.

TIP. It is well worth investing in an electric spice grinder and grinding the amount of spice you need from seed. The flavors are more pungent and the seeds keep longer in your pantry than the already ground spices.

 

This recipe for Gujarati Cabbage was found in the archives of Saveur magazine.

GUJARATI CABBAGE

(serves 6 to 8)

1. 1 green cabbage, cored and shredded
2. Koster salt, to taste
3. 2 tablespoons oil
4. 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
5. 2 teaspoons asafetida
6. 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
7. 10 fresh curry leaves*
8. 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
9. 3 plum tomatoes, chopped
10. 3 Italian frying peppers, seeded and thinly sliced crosswise
11. 1 serrano chile, thinly sliced
12. 5 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro
13. 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
14. 2 tablespoons sugar

Toss cabbage and salt in a bowl. Let wilt for 1 hour. Squeeze excess liquid from cabbage; set aside.

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds, asafetida, cumin, and curry leaves; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add reserved cabbage, turmeric, tomatoes, peppers and serrano; cook, stirring, until cabbage is crisp-tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in cilantro, lime juice ad sugar. Season with salt; cook until flavors are blended, 3 to 5 inutes.

*Fresh curry leaves can be hard to find. If you can't locate any, just omit the ingredient. Fresh leaves can be frozen and then defrosted as needed.

The trick to cooking this dish is to have everything chopped or sliced ahead of time. Pre-measure the spices into small dishes and have them ready to go. Line up the ingredients in the order they will go into the dish and cooking will be a snap.