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Jo’s Pork Vindaloo

Dec30

Hello my friends – after a somewhat lengthy hiatus I now have come back and will try to share one of our delicious recipes again once a week.
But first of all Jo and I like to wish you all the very best for the coming year; good health (and good fortune), joy and happiness and may at least some of your wishes, if not all, come true!

Christmas came and went – now is the time to say “good bye to 2019 and hello 2020”. Like most of us we too will be spending time with relatives and friends here in India whilst dreaming of snow, cold etc. in my own native country Germany. Hm – maybe next year!

Today I like to share with you one of our most favourite dishes, Jo’s very special Pork Vindaloo from a recipe he has devoped into his very own over the last few years. For any kind of celebration we will serve, amongst others, Biriyani and of course his Vindaloo. It is so delicious that we will never have any left-overs here.

We like our food really hot, but if you want to scale down on chilli by all means do so, but remember Vindaloo is by nature a very spicy dish. It is a jumbled pronunciation of the Portuguese dish “carne de vinha d’alhos” (meat marinated in wine-vinegar and garlic), which was introduced to Indians in 15th century by Portuguese explorers.

So, go ahead and enjoy this Vindaloo and, if you like, let me know what you think.

Take care
Carina

Ingredients:

1 kg Pork, cut into medium sized pieces
3 x big onions, thinly sliced
4 x Tbsp grated coconut
1 x inch ginger, crushed
5 x large garlic pods, crushed
4 x Kashmiri Chilli, dried and whole
1 x tsp cumin powder
1 x tsp fenugreek
5 x cloves
3 x cinnamon pieces
5 x cardamoms
6 x black peppercorns
1 x star anise
1 x small bay leaf
2 x tsp mustard seeds
1 x cup white vinegar
½ x tsp black pepper powder
3 x Tbsp chilli powder
2 x tsp coriander powder
1 x tsp turmeric powder
1 x tsp ginger/garlic paste
4 x Tbsp Vegetable oil
2 x sprigs of curry leaves
2 x cups of water (initially)
Salt, as required

Method of Preparation:

1) Wash the pork pieces well, drain and pat dry with kitchen paper.
2) Rub a little bit of chilli powder and salt into those pieces and keep aside.
3) In a Mixi grind into a fine paste, with a little water, grated coconut, portion of one sliced onion, cumin powder, mustard seeds (1 x tsp only), pepper powder and coriander powder.

4) Heat oil. When quite hot add fenugreek, cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamoms, pepper corn, star anise and the bay leaf and mix. After a few seconds add the remaining mustard seeds and let them ‘pop’ and then add the Kashmiri chillies and the sliced onion.

5) Fry this on medium heat until the onions turn golden brown.
6) Now add the grinded mixture, ginger/garlic paste and turmeric powder and fry until the oil rises.
7) Add the Pork pieces and fry in this mixture for app. Five minutes.
8) Add vinegar, water, salt and curry leaves and slow cook until the water almost dried up and the meat is deliciously tender.
9) Done – serve with rice, chapatti, naan or paratha and enjoy!

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I DO IT MY WAY! HUNGARIAN GULYÀS

May24

“……… I DO IT MY WAY! …..”

I am pretty certain that most of us have a favourite ‘comfort soup’ – for some it is chicken soup, for others a nice vegetable soup, but for me my absolute No 1 soup is “GULYÀS”.

This ‘love affair’ goes back quite a few decades now and I can never get tired of this.

For you who are not familiar with this deliciousness: GULYÀS is actually a soup! And what is generally referred to as Hungarian Goulash (Gulyás) is in fact known as Pörkölt in Hungary which in fact is a One-pot dish, (sort of stew) and that’s why we can find cubes of potatoes in this dish. And as our Hungarian friend in Vienna assured us, a Pörkölt has absolutely nothing to do with Gulyás.

A few years ago JS decided literally on the spur of a moment to take me to Vienna for my birthday, a city which neither of us had been to previously. We spent two glorious weeks there, seeing “the sites”, visiting friends, etc. But the highlight of our stay was a visit to the “Wiener Staatsoper” to see a performance of Verdi’s “La Traviata” – no question about it, this was my most happiest birthday!

Our friends, Katharina and Sandor (who is a true Hungarian!) ‘wined and dined’ us royally during our stay, but when Katharina learned of my passion for a ‘Hungarian Gulyás Soup’, she of course cooked a splendid version of her husband’s traditional Soup for us. Thank you, my friends!

Like most traditional recipes one can seldom find the same one in two households. Every family for generations will put their own little ‘tweak’ to this dish.

And once I started writing the recipe here, floods of (nice) memories came back from quite a long long time ago.

The nearest big city to my hometown Bonn is of course Cologne. And it was and still is quite common to quickly drive or take one of the super trains to this city for Lunch, Shopping or Dinner.

And there one can find one of the famous Restaurants called “Pusztahuette” on the “Neumarkt’ which only serves one dish, and one dish only – yes, you guessed it “Gulyás (Soup)”. This restaurant is still going strong even after nearly 50 years!!! They also sell Gulyás in tins to take home and if you take your own container to this restaurant they fill it with the Soup to be enjoyed at home. Oh, how often I went there with friends for a most enjoyable meal.

Because I started to live around the world, I had to come up with my very own version of this wonderful “Gulyás” which today I like to share with you. And so, although it is not quite like the original recipe, my version is nevertheless most delicious. Maybe you will give it a try one day.

For 4 people you will need:

1 kg of pork, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 x Tbsp of Vegetable oil
3 x cloves of garlic, minced
2 x big onions, sliced
2 x Capsicum, I like to use 2 different colours, sliced finely
2 x medium sized potatoes, peeled and grated
2 x tsp of caraway seeds
2 x tsp of marjoram
3 x Tbsp concentrated tomato paste

A very generous shot of dry red wine
3 x tsp of paprika, mild
3 x tsp of paprika, hot
1 x Tbsp of “Lingham’s Chilly sauce” – (if liked!)
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 – 4 x cups of water

And this here is how I do it.

Heat oil in large/wide pot.
Add meat, few pieces at the time, and brown slightly before taking it out again and keep aside.
Now add sliced onions, sliced garlic, and the capsicums, stir and let also brown very slightly.
After some time add the meat, tomato paste, the 2 types of paprika, marjoram and caraway seeds, stir well.
After 5 minutes add the water, cover your pot and let this simmer until meat is NEARLY tender.
Now add your red wine, stir, and also add “Lingham’s Chilly Sauce” and the grated potatoes.
Stir, cover and let simmer for another 10 minutes maximum.

How to plate

Fill your soup cups or soup plates with this delicious fare. Sprinkle some finely chopped spring onion greens over this and finish everything off with a dollop of Crème fraîche.

N.B. Here are some tips which I learned over the years out of sheer necessity, i.e. non-availability of certain items.

If you cannot get decent Paprika use 2 types of chilli powder, one for heat and Kashmiri powder for colour.

This dish is equally delicious made from beef.

I like to add the grated potatoes, they give the Gulyás body – remember, this is not a thin soup at all.

That’s it – enjoy!

Namaskaram
Carina

Pollo con limón

May9

Translating a Quote from my home country, Germany, which goes as follows “… it does not always happen as one wants or has planned”. This applies to our desire to travel to Europe on another 1-month long trip to countries we have already visited many times in the past and also to new countries, which are on our “bucket list”.

But since my health still does not allow me to travel so far abroad, I have decided to ‘visit’ those countries through my kitchen, i.e. trying to bring you easy recipes from those places.

So I am starting off with Spain. This was triggered by a telephone call from our friend Francesca in Madrid. And since we had taken our girls some time ago for a long family holiday to Madrid, we have very fond memories of some of the delicious, but so simple, dishes eaten in either our favourite ‘Bodegas’ or in the homes of some of our friends.

Francesca’s Mama one day made for us an easy Chicken dish for Lunch. And it only took her 45 minutes before we were able to sit at her table, accompanied by a chilled Cava ‘Segura Viudas’, lots of chit-chat and lots of laughter. Oh yes …… those were the days!

Pollo con limón

What you need: (for 4 people you can use 8 or more Chicken drumsticks)
8 x Chicken drumsticks, washed, dried and kept aside
500 g x Chorizo, skin removed and sliced
12 x (or more) Potatoes, peeled and cut like thick chips
2-3 x decent size red (for colour) Capsicum, halved, cleaned and cut into strips
Some lemon slices (skin removed)
2-3 x Cloves of Garlic (pounded slightly)
1x Bunch of Spring onions (the green part only) cut into small rings
Some Olive oil
Salt and black pepper (to taste)

How to make this dish

In a large pan heat the Olive oil, add the earlier prepared chicken drumsticks and brown those from all sides, take out and keep aside.

Now add the also earlier prepared potatoes and fry those lightly – add some salt.
Next add the Capsicum and Garlic and fry those too for a few minutes only. Now add the chicken drumsticks.
Turn down your heat and cook all this for appr. 30 minutes.

Before serving your “Pollo con limón” add all your Chorizo slices and fry for 5 minutes with your sliced lemon.
To serve, sprinkle the Spring onion greens over your Chicken and add some more Lemon halves.

That’s it – all done. Ready to be enjoyed.

Namaskaram,
Carina

Oberschlesisches Pork Cutlet with Apple Rotkraut

Oct27

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Yes, it’s that time of the year again – my birthday will be tomorrow! Happy Birthday to me.

So I used this occasion to treat myself to yet another dish my ‘Mutti’used to make so well.

My late mother was born in a small town in Oberschlesien (Upper Silesia) which after the Second World War in 1945 became part of the Republic of Poland.

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Sadly I do not have as many recipes from her old country as I would like, but, although today’s recipe is one I do remember well from my time growing up in Bonn, it is not easy to make this one here now, simply because it is very very difficult indeed to get those large succulent and tender Pork chops. (In fact because of this difficulty I have in the past used veal or chicken frequently instead of pork).

Ingredients for 2

2 x pork chops (or tenderloin slices)
Some garlic, finely chopped, or garlic powder
Some dried marjoram
Some breadcrumbs
Some plain flour
1 x egg, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 x Tbsp each of butter and oil

Place your chosen meat between 2 layers of cling film or parchment paper and bash this for a few minutes until the meat has become considerably thinner.

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Line up 3 x plates, dip your meat into the beaten egg, then into the flour to which I had previously added the spices, then once again into the egg and now into the breadcrumbs, to which I had added some finely chopped parsley (optional).

Cover a plate with some cling film, then add the prepared meat and uncovered! Keep in your fridge for maybe 30 minutes or so (the coating on the meat should now stay on).

Heat pan on medium heat, add a knob of butter and a Tbsp of oil and when hot enough, carefully add the meat straight from your fridge. Gently turn this a couple of times when cooking.

When ready – keep warm.

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APPLE RED CABBAGE
½ X Kg of red cabbage, very finely shredded
2 x slightly tart apples, peeled, quartered and cut into small pieces
1 x large onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 x cloves
2 x bay leafs
Some vegetable broth (from a stock cube)
Little vegetable oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Some red wine vinegar
And finally either some cranberries or red currant jelly (very little, must not become too sweet)

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Method to cook:
Heat oil in large pan on medium heat, add onions, cabbage, apples, cloves and bay leafs, stir and bring to a light boil just for a few minutes. Add vegetable stock, salt and pepper, stir, and cover with a tight lid.

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Reduce heat if needed and cook for some time – check after 30 minutes or so. When you are happy with the cooked cabbage add red wine vinegar and the jelly. Keep tasting – remember, the cabbage should not be too sweet – but should have just the right amount of “sweet tartness”.

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PS This red cabbage freezes well.

Serve with either just boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes or with my favourite: Kluskis = potato dumplings (this recipe will be posted another time soon)

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That’s it – Guten Appetit

Namaskaram, Carina

Indian Spinach and Pork

Oct20

As you well know by now I do have a pretty good relationship with my WOK.

For only 1 or 2 people producing a delicious meal in no time and with no fuss and most of all without lots of washing-up, a wok is the perfect tool for somebody who is always on the go and often running short of time.

So, therefore I share with you today my recipe for yesterday’s lunch.

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I remembered I had bought a bunch of “Palak” the South Indian equivalent of our Spinach and it needed to be used fairly quickly. I also had some pork left over from a Pork Vindaloo dish. Some nice fresh peanuts I had just bought winking at me from their jar – and so very quickly I had assembled everything I needed and just 30 minutes later (that included the time to take some pictures for you to see) I was able to sit at the table and enjoy my “Spinach and Pork Stir Fry”.

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So, for 1 slightly hungry person you will need:

3 x spring onions, I used only the white, cut into rings
1 x small piece of fresh ginger, very finely chopped
2-3 x garlic cloves, very finely chopped
Some pork (appr. 100 gr), cut into small mouth sized pieces
1 x Tbsp Soya sauce
1 x tsp Honey (or less if you don’t like it too sweet)
2 x tsp lemon juice
1 x bunch of fresh Palak or appr. 150-200 gr fresh spinach, well washed, keep aside in a colander to lose some of the water
1 x tsp Oil
1 x small handful of fresh Peanuts
Salt and Pepper to your taste

To cook:

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Heat Wok with the oil on medium heat. After 2 minutes add your Peanuts, Garlic and Ginger, keep stirring, add Pork and continue stirring for app. 2 minutes or so.

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Add the prepared Palak/Spinach and all the Spring onion rings; stir and cook for a further 2 minutes.

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Mix honey, lemon juice and Soya sauce together and add to the wok. Finally check, and if needed, add salt and pepper.

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Since I like my Palak/Spinach slightly crisp I continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes.

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And that’s it! Ready. Serve with rice.

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Guten Appetit!

Namaskaram, Carina