Jhinga Vindaloo (Shrimp Vindaloo)

I had a busy day of moving boxes and furniture today, so I wanted something easy for dinner. I decided to throw together this simple curry and serve it with rice and dal. It worked out quite well! Even if I didn't make it quite to spec. (My shrimp were much smaller than what Iyer calls for and frozen rather than fresh.)

Jhinga Vindaloo

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 10 raw cashews, ground
• 450g large shrimp (32-40 per kilo), peeled and deveined
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine vinegar, coriander, cumin, cayenne, salt, turmeric, and ground cashews and stir to form a paste.
2. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Cover and chill for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat.
4. Add the shrimp (reserving any residual marinade), and sear for 1 minute on each side.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, add any remaining marinade, and cook until shrimp is pink, opaque, and curled.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Aardak Lasoon Masoor ki Dal (Ginger-Garlic Red Lentils)

I wanted a dal to go with my shrimp vindaloo and I felt like red lentils and/or pigeon peas would work particularly well. This red lentil dal caught my eye first, so that's what I went with. It was very nice. Especially with the optional spinach. It could probably use even more if you wanted to work some more veggies into the meal.

Aardak Lasoon Masoor ki Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split brown lentils (masoor dal/Egyptian lentils/red lentils)
• 3 c. water
• 1-2 onions¹, coarsely chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies
• 4 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. ghee (or coconut oil for a vegan option)
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1-2 dried red cayenne/arbol or Thai chilies
• 1 small (~400mL) tin diced tomatoes
• 1/4-1/2 c. frozen chopped spinach or kale (optional)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse the lentils.
2. Add water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat.
3. Skim off any foam, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender (~20 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, add the onions, garlic, and green chilies to a food processor and pulse to chop.
5. Melt the ghee over medium heat.
6. Add the cumin and dried chilies and sizzle until fragrant and chilies blacken (20-30 seconds).
7. Add the onion mixture along with the ginger paste and stir-fry until onion softens (~5 minutes).
8. Add the tomatoes and spinach (if using) and cook until spinach is thawed and sauce has thickened slightly (5-10 minutes).
9. Pour the sauce into the pot with the lentils and stir to combine.
10. Simmer to let flavours meld (3-5 minutes).
11. Stir in cilantro and serve.

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¹ The original recipe only calls for 1 (red) onion, but my onions were on the small side, so I used two. ^Back

I love sticky toffee pudding, but I've never actually made it myself. This is the first recipe that I've tried, but I really like it. And so did Reiver and my mom. I think I'd like to try adjusting the proportions sometime, just because it would be nice to have even more dates in it. That said, I've written the recipe up without modifications this time because it was so good as is. I'll put my suggested modifications below.

I ran out of brown sugar when making the sauce so I ended up using some white sugar mixed with molasses. I ended up putting in way more molasses than needed to make a brown sugar equivalent, so the sauce was much darker than intended, but Reiver really liked it and says he'd do it that way on purpose in the future.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Pudding/Cake

• 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. (140g) flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter)

Sauce

• 1/4 c. butter
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. molasses (optional, for extra dark sauce)
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• small pinch of salt

Directions

1. Combine the dates and bakiing soda and pour over the boiling water. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour either eight 1/2-cup ramekins or one large casserole dish.
3. Cream the butter with the sugar until lightened.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Beat in the vanilla.
6. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt (if using) and mix until combined.
7. Add the date mixture and stir to combine. Mixture will be fairly thin.
8. Pour batter into prepared dish(es) and bake at 180°C (350°F) until done; ~20 minutes for small puddings, 50 minutes for one large one.
9. Meanwhile, combine the butter, brown sugar, molasses (if using), and cream for the sauce and bring to a gentle simmer.
10. Cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened.
11. Stir in vanilla and salt.
12. Once the pudding is done, remove from oven.
13. For small puddings, turn them out onto warmed plates and pour sauce over. For a large pudding, scoop generous spoonfuls into bowls and pour sauce over.
14. Top with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream if desired.

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Variations

Sticky Date Pudding

Ingredients

Pudding/Cake

• 1 c. chopped dates
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. (140g) flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter)

Sauce

• 1/4 c. butter
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. molasses (optional, for extra dark sauce)
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• small pinch of salt

Nanny's Lemon Cream

This is the lemon curd that I grew up eating. It's my great-grandmother's recipe. And we all called it lemon curd, but when we got her recipe, she had it written down as "lemon cream". It's very good. Simple. And I like that it uses whole eggs rather than just the yolks. I've now also tried it with grapefruit and can vouch for the results. I expect it would work wonderfully with limes as well!

Lemon Cream

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 3 Tbsp. butter

Directions

1. Combine sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and water and mix very well.
2. Cook over low to medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
3. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

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Variations

Grapefruit Cream

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 c. (or a bit more) grapefruit juice
• 3 Tbsp. butter

This was a decent cake, but I don't feel like there was enough batter for the 23x13cm (9x5") loaf pan called for. Next time I'd try baking it in a smaller 20x10cm (8x4") pan. Also, although it's supposed to be "extra lemony" with lemon zest in the cake itself and juice in the syrup and glaze... I felt like it could've used even more lemon. I think I'd try putting a bit of lemon juice into the batter as well next time, just to really punch it up.

I cut back the sugar in the batter by 1/3 because I was worried about it being too sweet by the time I'd added the syrup and the glaze. I think it probably would've been okay with the full amount of sugar after all, especially if I end up putting some extra lemon juice into the batter, but Reiver was glad for the reduced sugar and said it would've been way too sweet if prepared as written.

Overall, I think I like my grandma's "lemon bread" better, but I'm still glad to have tried this version. And the blueberries were an interesting addition.

Photo goes here.

Lemon-Blueberry Drizzle Cake

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Cake

• 100g butter, softened
• 100-150g sugar
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice (optional)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• 210g (1 1/2 c.) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 c. frozen blueberries

Syrup

• 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp. sugar

Glaze

• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 60g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease and flour a 20x10cm (8x4") loaf tin.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar.
3. Beat in the lemon zest and juice (if using).
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Mix in the milk.
6. Sift in the flour and baking powder and stir to combine.
7. Fold in the blueberries.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
9. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 50-60 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and cool in tin for 10 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, Bring the sugar and lemon juice for the syrup to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thickened slightly.
12. Turn cake out onto wire rack and poke all over with a skewer or chopstick.
13. Drizzle or brush with syrup.
14. Allow to cool for at least half an hour longer.
15. Combine lemon juice and icing sugar and mix until smooth and drizzle over the cake.

This was delicious. And I like the ratio of chicken to broccoli.

Chicken and Broccoli in White Sauce

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 large chicken breast (~300g), sliced
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. oil

Broccoli and Sauce

• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 4 c. broccoli florets
• 2 tsp. oil
• 1/2 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch + 3 Tbsp. water

Directions

1. Combine chicken, water, oyster sauce, cornstarch, and oil, mix well, and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Combine the sugar, salt, sesame oil, white pepper, and chicken stock, mix well, and set aside.
3. Bring ~6 c. of water to a boil.
4. Add the broccoli and cook for 1-2 minutes.
5. Strain out the broccoli, but keep the water boiling in the wok.
6. Add the chicken to the boiling water and cook until no longer pink. Drain and set aside, this time discarding the water.
7. Clean the wok, then heat the oil over medium heat-high heat.
8. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 10-20 seconds.
9. Drizzle in the shaoxing wine around the edges of the wok.
10. Stir the sauce and drizzle that in as well.
11. Give the corn starch slurry a stir and slowly pour it into the wok.
12. Cook, stirring, until sauce thickens.
13. Add the broccoli and chicken and toss to combine.
14. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until heated through.
15. Serve with rice.

We have an excess of citrus right now, so I picked this out to use up some of it.

Lemon Pudding Cake

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1 c. sugar, divided
• 1/4 c. flour
• 3 lemons
• 50g butter, melted
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• 1/4 c. cream of tartar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and place a 20cm (8") square baking dish inside a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
2. Combine 3/4 c. of the sugar with the flour.
3. Zest the lemons and mix in the grated zest.
4. Mix in 1/3 c. of lemon zest.
5. Stir in the melted butter and egg yolks.
6. Add the milk and stir to combine.
7. In a clean bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar (if using).
8. Beat until foamy, then gradually mix in the remaining 1/4 c. of sugar and beat until stiff.
9. Mix ~1/3 of the meringue into the batter.
10. Fold in the remaining meringue until no longer streaky.
11. Pour the batter into the 20cm (8") pan.
12. Pour hot water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the smaller pan.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until top is lightly brown and firm (~40 minutes).
14. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold.