Thursday, November 6, 2008

Indian patties and curry (with persimmon)

Yes, I have found another use for the 50 some-odd persimmons I bought last week --- its as a sauce thickener (and slight sweetener). I was have been contemplating this for many days and finally, yesterday, decided to chance disaster and mix persimmon with tomatos as a base for an Indian curry. I dare say it went off without a hitch. I also found use for much of the 1.5 kilogram brick of goat cheese I got at the cheese shop for a measly 6$. Stay tuned and you too will learn how to cobble together a meal out of stuff you bought on impulse without thinking.
That premise of dinner last night was that my cousin Johanna (who was very helpful in the kitchen) was visiting (I got tickets to the Daily Show and she was coming with) and we had decided to have my other cousin and my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner. Cooking didn't commence until like 8. The menu was to be Indian vegi and cheese patties, rice, and a thick curry sauce. Think Malia Kofta... but don't think that too much.
Highlights of the evening were:
1. Tricking everyone into thinking that they were drinking Johnny Walker Blue Label and listening to their high praise (it was really old Canadian club in a Johnny Blue bottle).
2. Realizing that despite trying to make Indian patties, I was really just making Indian Latkas (no potato, but they really look the part).
3. The success of Persimmon as a thickening/creamening agent.
4. The use of a significant portion of my goat cheese.

Wow, as I write about the evening I realize that what I am saying is pretty boring. So rather than blabbing more, here's the recipes.

Indian Patties. (I'll try to make this a recipe for 4 or 5)
1 can chickpeas
2 carrots
1 zucchini
1 cup goat cheese
1 cup crushed cashews
some flour
1 long hot pepper
1 or 2 eggs (depending on size)
1 small onion
4 cloves garlic
Curry mixture (red pepper powder, cumin/ coriander, tumeric, or curry powder)
Drain and was chickpeas. Add to large glass bowl, with the cheese and eggs and cashews. Peel and julienne carrots, zuchinni and pepper into almost thick pieces (the thinner the better). Mix in with diced onion and well crushed/chopped garlic. Spice with indian spices and salt/pepper. Then add in a few spoonfuls of flour to thicken up the mixture. Let sit for a little. Take you favorite cast iron skillet and cover bottom with oil. Heat and then (just wait until Hannukah's post) shape into latka like patties (maybe 2-3 inches in diameter) and place into the pan. Let these get browned before flipping and repeating. Occasionally add more oil, and when cooked place them on paper bags for draining. Yum.

Curry sauce (also with 4-5 people)
2 Persimmons, ripe (if you don't have these, no big deal... it just makes it a nicer, creamier consistency)
1/2 cup goat cheese
1- 1.5 large can of whole tomatoes
1 cup peas
1 cup cauliflower
2 carrots
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
bayleaves
dried whole red pepper
crushed cardamom
garma masala
tumeric
mustard seeds
Heat oil in a deep pan. Add bay leaves and dried whole red pepper and let sizzle for 30 seconds. Add mustard seeds, sizzle another 30 seconds, then add powdered spices and crushed cardamom. After about 15 seconds add medium sized pieces of chopped onion and garlic and hot pepper. Cook for a few minutes until onions start to get a little translucent, but not browned. Add in vegis and cook until they get a little tender. Meanwhile take 1 can of tomatoes and the two persimmons and blend in a blender to a slurry. Pour into the pan and add any additional tomato. Cook for 10 minutes or so then add in goat cheese and mix until smooth. Add salt and pepper and any additional spice to taste.

Rice
Cook Indian rice.

Eat.

5 comments:

Julia Oldham said...

The Blue Label Canadian Club *was* really good. It's like how tea tastes better in fine china cups.

SP31415 said...

Your husband had a some what crazy idea this summer that if blind folded, we couldn't tell the difference between red and white wine. Of course, the only red wine we had was horrible kosher wine, and instead of white wine we had a really nice bottle of rose I got in the Okinagan lakes area of BC. His theory was tested and failed --- though he claimed it was simply a result of the nasty kosher wine. Further research is needed.

Kari said...

was this the bottle of blue that i got you senior year??

SP31415 said...

yes.. the very same bottle. For years now I have been fooling people with replacement liquor.

Julia Oldham said...

Ha! Eric has told me about that red/white theory too. But yeah, it sounds like maybe the experiment you guys ran should be done again. Maybe several more times. I volunteer to help.