Mojave Madras Recipes

AUTHENTIC MADRAS CURRY

Steps:

• Cut meat into cubes and fry in oil to seal. Remove with slotted spoon and leave to one side to drain.
• Fry the onion in the same oil until golden then add Spices 1, cooking for a further 5 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes and puree and mix well. Cook for 10 minutes or so.
• Add the meat and put the the lot into a casserole dish in a pre-heated oven at 200C (400F) and cook for 45 - 60 minutes. Stir half-way through cooking time. (Alternatively, throw it into the slow cooker for 7 to 9 hours.).
• Add the lemon or lime juice and Spices 2 and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add a little water at any stage if it gets too dry. Add a knob of ghee (and salt, if you must) just before serving.

MADRAS CURRY

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions, cloves and the cardamom for 5 minutes.
• Add the green chilies, dried chilies, ginger, and garlic cook for 3 minutes.
• Mix the curry powder with a little oil to form a paste and add to the pan; cook for 3 minutes.
• Add the meat and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the coriander, cumin, salt and stock' cover and simmer till meat is tender.
• Serve with pomegranate rice.
• Boil the rice, seed a pomegranate and stir the seeds into the rice.

MADRAS

Steps:

• Add vodka, juices and triple sec to an ice-filled highball glass.
• Stir gently and add a splash of club soda.
• Garnish with a twist of orange peel.

PORK MADRAS

Steps:

• Mix together all the spices and add a few spoonfuls of coconut milk, enough to make a thin paste. Add enough cayenne to make it fairly hot; enough to give spicy heat to all the meat and onions.
• Heat the oil or butter, etc. and cook the onions and garlic until lightly browned.
• Add the paste and continue frying for a couple minutes.
• Add the meat and stir to cover with the paste and brown a bit. Add the beef broth, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer gently until the meat is very tender - at least 2 hours.
• Add the optional potatoes when the meat is tender and continue cooking until the potatoes are done.
• Stir in the remaining coconut milk and the lemon juice and continue simmering for 10 minutes until thickened a bit.
• Serve over any type of Indian style boiled rice.

CHICKEN MADRAS

Steps:

• Blitz 1 quartered onion, 2 garlic cloves, a thumb-sized chunk of ginger and ½ red chilli together in a food processor until it becomes a coarse paste.
• Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large saucepan and add the paste, fry for 5 mins, until softened. If it starts to stick to the pan at all, add a splash of water.
• Tip in ½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander and 1-2 tsp hot chilli powder and stir well, cook for a couple of mins to toast them a bit, then add 4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks. Stir and make sure everything is covered in the spice mix.
• Cook until the chicken begins to turn pale, adding a small splash of water if it sticks to the base of the pan at all.
• Pour in 400g can chopped tomatoes, along with a big pinch of salt, cover and cook on a low heat for 30 mins, until the chicken is tender.
• Stir through small pack of coriander and serve with rice, naan and a big dollop of mango chutney.

MEZCAL MADRAS

Steps:

• Fill a rocks glass with ice. Add mezcal, orange juice, and cranberry juice.

MADRAS MARINADE

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl, or use tightly covered Tupperware and shake to mix.
• (Madras curry often comes with whole bay leaves in the jar. Don't use these in the marinade!) Adjust the amounts of curry powder and orange juice to suit your personal taste.
• Goes well with chicken, pork, or shrimp.
• The longer the meat soaks in the marinade, the stronger the flavor will be.
• Poking holes in the meat with a fork will also help the flavor soak into the meat.
• Works well on the grill, in the oven, or under the broiler.