Tag: main course
Khumb Matar Malai
Khumb Matar Malai (Mushroom Curry with Cardamom, Cashews, and Peas)
Cooking Indian cuisine is not for beginners. The more I delve into regional Indian cooking, the more I’ve learned the complexity of how to properly prepare these dishes. Their cuisine has significantly more ingredients than any other ethnicity I’m finding. Some of the ingredients are fairly expensive(nuts, saffron, etc.) There is a very specific order in which you add the ingredients. If you don’t the recipe won’t turn out right. But…The end results have been nothing but amazing, and this recipe is nothing short of that.Mushrooms aren’t typically used in a lot of Indian cuisine. Khumb Matar Malai translates to mushroom curry with cardamom, cashews, and peas. What you get out of this curry is a creamy mushroom gravy thickened with a cashew paste and aromtically spiced with cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and Kashmiri chili powder. This dish is vegetarian, but can be made vegan by substituting non-dairy yogurt and almond or cashew milk. Serve with steamed basmati rice and paratha.
Equipment
- Spice Grinder or mortar and pestle
- Food processor or immersion blender
Ingredients
Spice Powder
- 4 whole cloves
- 1” cinnamon stick
- 5 green cardamom seeds
Khumb Matar Malai
- 8 oz button mushrooms sliced
- 1/3 cup cashews soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
- 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 small white onion finely chopped
- 1 birds eye green chili finely chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup frozen peas
Garnish
- 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Soak cashews in hot water for 20 minutes.
- Purée the cashews in a blender along with the Greek yogurt and 1/4 cup of the water the cashews soaked in until a smooth paste is formed. Set aside.
- In the same blender, add the onions and purée into a paste. Set aside.
- Grind the cloves, cinnamon stick, and cardamom seeds in a spice grinder. Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium. Sauté the green chili for 1 minute.
- Add in the onion paste. Sauté for 8 minutes.
- Add in the ginger garlic paste. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the Kashmiri chili powder and spice powder. Sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add in the cashew yogurt paste. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the milk. Simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add in the mushrooms, sugar, and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes, covered.
- Add in the green peas and continue simmering for 5 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Shrimp Sambal
Shrimp Sambal
Sambal is a spicy paste made out of chilies, shallots, and Malaysian shrimp paste. It is sautéed in cooking oil until aromatic. Large shrimp are added to the paste and quickly sautéed. Diluted tamarind concentrate is added, creating a spicy, tart sauce. Shrimp Sambal only takes 10 minutes to make. Spicy, spicy, spicy. This will clear you out.
Equipment
- Food processor or immersion blender
Ingredients
Spice Paste
- 10 dried arbol chilies seeded
- 10 small shallots
- 1 tbsp belecan shrimp paste
Shrimp Sambal
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 lbs 16-20ct shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate mixed with 1/2 cup water
- 3 kaffir lime leaves julienned
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Using a food processor or immersion blender, blend the spice paste ingredients together until it forms a paste.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the spice paste for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the shrimp. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in the water and tamarind concentrate. Bring to a boil. Add in the lime leaves, sugar and salt. Turn off the heat and serve.
Sweet and Sour Pork
Sweet and Sour Pork
This is an authentic recipe for real sweet and sour pork. When you eat sweet and sour pork at a Chinese American restaurant, you will get heavily battered and deep fried greasy large cubes of pork in an overly sugary sauce. Real Chinese sweet and sour pork is cut into strips, lightly coated in cornstarch, and stir fried. It is still crispy with a fraction of the grease and calories. It is then tossed in a corn syrup free sweet and sour sauce. I like the real deal significantly better. Plus, the pork only takes 20 minutes to prep and cook from start to finish. You can do the same process with chicken or shrimp if you aren’t a fan of pork. If you aren’t a fan of pork, get off of my website.
Ingredients
Pork Marinade
- 1 lb pork sirloin cut into strips
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
Sauce
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
Stir Fry
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 green onions chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
Instructions
- Mix together all of the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Marinate the pork in vegetable oil, egg, and salt for 15 minutes.
- Add the cornstarch to the pork, making sure all of the pieces are evenly coated.
- Heat up the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Add in the pork pieces, making sure to not overcrowd the pan. Cook for 3 minutes a side.
- Remove the pork from the pan and drain grease on paper towel.
- There should be at least a tbsp of oil left in the pan. Add the green onion and garlic, cooking for 30 seconds.
- Add the sauce to the pan. Whisk until it thickens, no more than 2 minutes.
- Add the pork back into the pan. Turn off the heat. Make sure that the pork is evenly coated in the sauce.
