[CH] Chiles and colds
Virginia Anderson (assembly1@waitrose.com)
Thu, 26 Jul 2001 11:30:45 +0100
Hi all,
Just getting over the worst of a streaming summer cold/bronchitis, which has
been eased somewhat by 1) a beef madras, made extra hot (my extra hot!) by
my husband (see below - as this was in a recent discussion someone might
like this, as the ingredients are available anywhere), 2) salsa and chips,
the salsa made with masses of pickled jalapenos and the first of my ancho
crop, part-roasted, and 3) everything else sprinkled with Calvin's.
Calvin's powder (a sample of which was sent to me by that angel of the North
in BC, who should be made a national treasure if Chile Heads achieves
nationhood) really cuts through a cold when nothing else will. It's great
on pretty much anything (didn't have any PB, but can imagine how it would be
good), but the best lunch was leftover spaghetti Bolognese sauce (rather dry
and meaty) piled on toast with shredded Cheddar cheese and then the
Calvin's. Yum. Calvin's powder is required in this house from now on.
As to the madras, husband Chris said that he made this exactly according to
instructions. Home-made stock or either low-salt stock cubes or tomato
paste would make this ideal.
Gosht madras
Khalid Aziz, The Encyclopedia of Indian Cooking (London: Park Lane Press,
1983), p. 39.
500g/1 lb. braising beef
1 lemon [or lime; we get lime-like lemons from the Indian markets]
2 t. salt [C left this out]
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 dried red chillies [take yer pick - we used cayennes]
50 g/ 2 oz. ghee or 60 ml./ 2 fl. oz. cooking oil
2 t. ground coriander
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. ground turmeric
1 t. ground ginger
2 t. black pepper
100 g./ 4 oz. tomato puree [paste]
300 g./ 1/2 pt. [Americans: this is 10 oz.] beef stock
2 t. garam masala
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hr., 30 mins. [depending on toughness of beef; I'd give
American stewing beef 2 hours, British shin or Mexican market beef 3 hours
or more]
Cut the beef into 2.5 cm/ 1-in. cubes and squeeze over the lemon juice.
Then sprinkle on the salt [this will tenderise the beef if you let it sit
for a bit]. Peel the onion and garlic, chop them very finely and mix
together with the whole dried chillies, so that the chillies break up and
are well dispersed in the chopped onion and garlic [either break up very
well or use more for colds].
Heat the ghee or cooking oil in a heavy saucepan and fry the onion, garlic
and chilli mixture for 2 minutes. Then add the coriander, cumin, turmeric,
ground ginger and black pepper. stir in well and cook for a further 2-3
minutes.
Add the beef, together with any remaining lemon juice, and turn the beef so
that it is well coated with the spices. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes.
Stir in the tomato puree and add the beef stock, bring to the boil and
simmer gently, with the saucepan covered, for 30-40 minutes until the beef
begins to become tender. Sprinkle in the garam masala and cook for a
further 10 minutes. The gravy should not by this stage be quite thick, if
it is not, increase the heat, remove the lid from the saucepan and boil off
any excess moisture until the gravy thickens.
The spelling is Aziz's. I made curries weekly using this recipe when I was
in college in New York in the 1980s (alternating with chili, enchiladas, and
my eternal salsa), but as the base for a mixed vegetable and meat stew, so
until now I had never tried it as the author intended. Good with chile-lime
pickle (Pataks as Mary-Anne suggests, or Geeta's as I've got currently),
fried potatoes or rice (with curry leaves and whole spices) and saag bhaji.
Cheers,
Virginia
--
Virginia Anderson
Leicester, UK
<vanderson@experimentalmusic.co.uk>
Experimental Music Catalogue: <http://www.experimentalmusic.co.uk>
...experimental music since 1969....