Lamb Masala

Mike and I did our grocery at the supermarket at Market Market for the first time this week, and we were thrilled to find an amazingly large Asian spices section, and a very good meat section as well.

One of our many finds was a meat masala mix from Pakistan.



We bought some lamb from the butcher section and today we tried a lamb masala.

The recipe was on the back of the box was easy enough to follow. We made only a few changes. The first was using minced garlic and minced ginger instead of garlic/ginger paste (I don't have a blender yet, that's why). Secondly, the original recipe called for 1 cup oil or ghee (ghee is clarified butter, made by evaporating the water from butter). You'll see the change I made in the recipe. Third, we used less masala powder, just to be sure that it wouldn't be too spicy for our tastebuds.

Ingredients

500 g lamb (or other kinds of meat), cubed and excess fat trimmed
3 medium onions, finely sliced
1 meduim tomato, finely diced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 to 2 tbsp ginger, minced
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1/4 tbsp masala powder
water

1. In a frying pan, heat butter on high-medium heat until it bubbles. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook uncovered until butter turns golden and foam has risen to the top.
2. Add vegetable oil. Then add lamb, garlic, ginger and masala mix. Stir-fry for a few minutes.
3. Add onions and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Then add tomatoes and 2 glasses of water.
4. Cover and cook on low heat until the lamb is tender (at least 45 minutes).
5. Uncover, increase heat and stir until oil/ghee has separated from the masala. Keep frying for a few minutes. Add 1/2 cup water for desired thickness of the gravy.

Serves 4 (based on recommended portion size).
Calorie count: 795 per serving (assuming you pour all the sauce over your rice).

The verdict: The resulting lamb masala was super- yummy!!! We will definitely buy this mix again.



Some adjustments we will make in the future:

• The recipe didn't need quite so much water. The final 1/2 cup at the end wasn't really necessary. (The original recipe had actually asked for 1 to 1-1/2 cups water.)


• The sauce was fine as it was, but for health reasons, we could've reduced the butter and it would have still turned out all right. Next time I will try it with just 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup vegetable oil.


• We served some yogurt on the side to see if the dish would taste better with or without yogurt. Next time we will try it with maybe 1/2 cup of yogurt.

Ah, delicious. I love South Asian food!

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Curry fish head attempt

Growing up in Singapore was an exciting culinary adventure. One of my favorite Singaporean dishes is curry fish head, and tonight I will attempt to make one, for our department's potluck tomorrow.

Below is what I am going to attempt. I will let you know if it works, and what changes I am going to make. Updated 24 Nov 06: The original recipe I attempted was way too spicy for my lame Filipino taste buds. I made some alterations to neutralize the spice and got general good reviews from my colleagues (naubos!) though some of them also found it too spicy.

Nonetheless, here's a revised version. I'll let you know again when I try this version.

Ingredients:

1 whole fish head (maya-maya), cut into 2 (about 1 kilo)
2 tbsp oil
5 garlic cloves, crushed
1-1/2 native onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp crushed ginger
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1-1/2 cups gata (coconut milk)
1 green chili, seeds removed and cut in half lengthwise
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tamarind cube
1/2 cup hot water
1/3 cup curry powder
1 tsp chili powder
5 okra
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 stalk lemon grass, finely chopped (use the stalk, discard the leaves)
3 tomatoes, quartered

Steam the fish head until barely cooked. Set aside.

Mix 1/2 tamarind cube with 1/2 cup hot water. Add curry powder and chili powder, and mix to form a paste. Set aside.

In 2 tbsp oil, stir-fry the garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric powder until fragrant. Add curry-tamarind paste and stir-fry until cooked. Put in 1/2 the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the other half of the coconut milk, okra, chili, tomatoes, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil then add steamed fish head and simmer gently for about 5 minutes.