Quick Indian Cooking

Ever lose your cool over a bag of something spicy?

I’m talking about those little bags of whole and powdered masalas that add up to the wonder that is Indian cuisine.

Just when I think I couldn’t possibly buy another new spice, a recipe stumps me with the need for yet another obscure one. Like methi (fenugreek) seeds. Or anardana (pomegranate) seeds.

I proceed to dry roast and grind half a teaspoon. Knowing full well that the remaining 225 gm will languish in the kitchen cupboard.

The only moment I spare it a thought, or a curse, is when I swing open the cupboard door in a rush and the darned bag loses its balance and its contents spill all over me and the kitchen floor.

By the time I find another recipe that needs the wretched spice, it is so anemic that I might as well not bother.

Of course, this can only be worse if you live in a place where Indian spices are hard to come by and fairly anemic to begin with!

All hail the minimalist recipes. The ones that require no fancy ingredients and can be cooked when over-sized bags of fancy Indian spices are running in short supply.

This one is a real trooper – gosht aur palak, or pork with spinach.

A hearty, winter warmer, it is a one pot stew using a few staple masalas only. Give everything a good stir and pressure cook if you can for added speed.

A spicy treat that gaurantees a chilled out evening.

This recipe feeds 2:

400 gm pork fillet, cubed

200 gm spinach (I used defrosted frozen sort)

1 medium tomato, chopped fine

2 bay leaves

4 fat cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 tbsp chopped ginger

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp whole cumin

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp garam masala

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp butter

In a pressure cooker bas, bring the oil to heat over a high flame. When it is hot add, in order, the bay leaves, cumin, onion and garlic.

Fry for five minutes until the whole lot starts going caramel brown. Then add the tomato, chilli and turmeric powders and fry for two minutes until the tomato disintegrates.

Stir in the pork pieces and brown for a few minutes until it is white and sealed on all sides. Then add the spinach, the ginger, garam masala, half a pint of hot water and pressure cook for 20 minutes after the first whistle.

To finish, stir in salt and the butter. Sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve with a fancy pulao. I made Asha’s coconut rice. Recipe to follow.

If you don’t want to use a pressure cooker, use a large pan, lower the heat when the spinach has gone in and cook on a medium heat for at least an hour until the pork is super tender.

PS = As this is a totally non-fuss, grinder -free way to get thick gravy I am sending it to Sra‘s Grindless Gravies event.

Thanks so much for your thoughts, wishes and patience while I have been away. It was hard to say a final farewell to mum, my hubby’s mommy and fellow passionate foodie.

She was a great lady – founder of the Peru Children’s Trust, mother of three crazy boys and devoted Christian. Also very funny.

My memories of her will always make me giggle. The times she taught and me how to cut veggies properly so her little boy got his nutrients, her brave attempts to teach me proper English dishes like crumbles and pies and most of all, the kitchen banter that accompanied it all.

There was this one time she noticed the abyssmal absence of jacket potatoes from my cooking repertoire:

Mum: “Do you know what a jacket potato is?”

Me: “Yes, but I don’t know how to make it.”

Mum: “But they are delicious and very healthy.”

Me: “What’s a jacket potato when I can have a vindaloo?”

Mum: “True.”

So, I have vowed to cook more English food and make sure my future daughter-in-laws are indoctrinated fully in the cuisine too. But in her memory, here’s a pork vindaloo. Delicious, with or without the jacket potato.

This recipe serves 2-3:

500 gms boneless pork, diced into large chunks

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

Half tsp turmeric powder

Half tsp garam masala powder

1 bay leaf

Half tsp sugar

Salt to taste

3 tbsp oil

Grind into paste:

4 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

Half tsp mustard seeds

Half tsp fenugreek seeds

3-5 dry whole red chillies (as much as you can stomach)

2 cardamoms

2 cloves

2 whole black peppercorns

Quarter cup white vinegar

Mix the pork with the paste and leave to marinade overnight or for as long as possible. Heat the oil and when hot, add the sugar and the bay leaf. When the sugar caramelises, add the onions and fry on a high heat stirring constantly until they turn brown (about 10 minutes).

Now add the turmeric and the pork with its marinade. Fry on a high heat until the pork is sealed evenly. Lower the flame to a medium heat, cover the pot and boil gently until the pork is tender and the onions are melted into a thick gravy. The pork shouldcook in its juices – only add water if the meat is getting stuckto the bottom of the pot.

Mix in the garam masala and serve hot, with rotis. This dish should be dry, sweet, sour and very spicy.