The Best Curry of Your Life ???

I'm always trawling the internet looking for new and interesting recipes. I think I found this curry when I googles "the best curry". It's a recipe from April Bloomfield's  cookbook "A Girl And Her Pig".

I've been wanting to make it for months now and as my son is away on yet another camp, this time for Maths, I decided to give it a go, as Ron and I love curry and Andy doesn't. It was the name that really got me and because of that I decided to follow the recipe EXACTLY. That is not my usual style as I always give recipes my own personal touch and even though I was itching to add some coconut cream and red lentils, I decided not to and see whether this is indeed the "best curry of my life". The only thing I did do was half all the ingredients as I was cooking a smaller quantity. I also used beef rather than lamb as I find lamb too fatty, although I do love lamb curry. Gotta watch the cholesterol levels.

My opinion? This is a very interesting curry, certainly fusion as it is neither one nor the other. It is basically an Indian curry but has aspects of other cuisines such as Thai (kaffir lime leaves) and Persian (citrus peel). But it works. This is indeed a delicious curry and Ron and I really enjoyed it. I will make it again, next time with lamb which I'm sure will add depth to the flavours. The citrus peel is quite strong and it's that which gives it it's uniqueness. I can certainly recommend it as a very successful recipe. The best curry of my life? No not really. I've had better, but certainly one of the best.

We had it with brown basmati rice and some roti's left over from the vegetable curry from the night before. Mrs Balls Chutney, South Africa's famous and much loved chutney and Pakco Hot Mixed Vegetable Pickles (atchar) completed the meal.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted
• ½ tablespoon fenugreek seeds, toasted
• 5 cloves
• 1 star anise
• 2 cardamom pods
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• ½ tablespoon red chilli flakes
• 1 pinch of grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• small cinnamon stick
• ¼ cup finely grated ginger root
• 1½ cups of tinned chopped tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon salt
• coriander stems- about 1 tablespoon chopped
• coriander leaves - about a handful also chopped
• Orange peel, pith removed, a 6cm strip
• Lemon peel, pith remove, a 6cm strip
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup of pineapple juice. Regular commercial from a box is fine.
• 500 g cubed beef.

METHOD

• combine all the spices and dry toast them in a pan on medium heat. When you can smell the fragrance of the spices, transfer them to a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder, and grind to a fine powder.

• Heat a large Dutch oven or other heavy oven proof pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil just begins to smoke, add the onion and cook until it is a light brown. Now add the garlic slices and continue cooking until the onions are dark brown and the garlic a pale caramel. This takes about 10/15 mins.

• Add the ground spice mixture as well as the cinnamon stick and ginger and continue to stir and cook for about 3 minutes.
• Stir in the tomatoes and salt. Keep stirring until the mixture is quite dry and most of the liquid has evaporated. About 15 minutes.
• Stir in the coriander stems, citrus peel and all the juice. (lemon, orange and pineapple).
• Remove from the heat and set to one side.
• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Season the meat with salt and pepper.
• In a large pan brown the pieces of meat in a little oil. Do not put them all in at once otherwise they will just boil in their juices. In order to brown them the pan must be quite hot and they must have room so that all the moisture can evaporate and doesn't just stay in the pan and cause the meat to boil rather than brown.
• Transfer the meat as it browns to the pot and when it is all done, mix around until the meat is well coated with the curry sauce.

• Cover the pot and put it in the oven for about 1½ hours. It should now be ready to serve.