Saturday, January 26, 2013

Weekend Cooking; Curry and Chappati

We've been eating...lots of good stuff.  Last night I whipped up an easy batch of fettuccine (pasta, olive oil, hard Parmesan, cream, thinly sliced garlic, and loads of pepper)  after a crazy day with no heat in our house.  Lucky for us by 5:00 last night it was fixed otherwise my hands would probably be too cold to type.  But the recipe coup of the week was the curry dish I created last Sunday night for guests.  We ate the curry over brown rice, washed it down with a couple of ice cold Stella's, and popped edamame pods for something green.  

I cleaned my house early in the day so I'd have plenty of time to cook with out hurrying which leads to worrying that everything's not going to come out right.  It came out great with very little leftovers.  Because of the extra time I allowed I had time to whip up something special for the side that my husband loves; chappati. ( Indian Bread) As a 4th and 5th grader my husband spent two years in Malaysia and he loves most everything related to Indian and Asian cooking.  My mother-in-law who I adore and bragged about in this post wrote a short cookbook based on her experiences working with friends in Malaysia.  I've made a few recipes from her book but the chappati one is one of our favorites.  It is incredibly easy and they work perfectly as the tool to get more curry into your mouth.

The curry recipe is from Serious Eats.  This recipe called for lemongrass which smelled incredible as I chopped and whirred it together with fresh ginger.

And the chappati recipe:  

3 cups whole wheat flour, or atta flour
Water, enough to make it pie dough consistency

Knead the water and flour well, at least 30 minutes before you are ready to fry it.  Grease the top with ghee or corn oil, cover, and leave at room temperature until ready to use.  

Pull off small tangerine-sized hunks of dough and work in your hand until it is smooth and round.  Roll out into a flat, round circle about 1/4-inch thick.

Fry on a very hot griddle until golden brown on each side.  May brush on a small amount of ghee or oil while frying to make chappatis soft.  If they puff up while cooking, press the air out.  Continue making until all dough is used up.  Keep warm in oven or between layers of towels.  Makes 10-12.

Thank you Phyllis!

There is a curry puff recipe here that is on my list to attempt soon.

I also have all the ingredients to make this Mexican Tortilla Casserole that I first spotted at Beth Fish Read's interview with Katie Workman and now I have the book.  I hope all my peeps like it.

We won't be having it tonight though as Groovy Girl and I have tickets to the ballet...the Russian Ballet performance of Cinderella so we are donning our dresses and heavy winter coats and heading out, one foot in front of the other to the ballet!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme.  Click her link to find many other food-related posts.  

Enjoy your weekend...


11 comments:

Peppermint Ph.D. said...

I sometimes wish I liked curry...there's so many good dishes that I feel like I'm missing out on :( But, I can't even stand the smell of it :(:( This still sounds and looks so good!

Laurie C said...

Both the curry and the tortilla casserole look delicious. I've made chappatis but it's been a long time. Your recipe seems so easy. I guess it's the mess and space for rolling them out that are the reasons I don't make them. If I did it more often, it probably wouldn't seem so daunting.

Beth F said...

I made a chicken curry this week too, but I winged it and don't have a recipe to share. I'm going to have to try the chappati. I've never made them.

I hope your family loves the Mexican Tortilla Casserole as much as we do.

Marie said...

Yum! I love Indian food. I'm definitely going to try the chappati.

JoAnn said...

That looks so good! I've never made chappati, but you are tempting me to give it a try. Glad you got your heat back - we lost ours last weekend, too. Thankfully, it was fixed within a day.

Heather said...

my sister described making these exactly as you said. a neighbour had shown her several times. Don't know if my sister ever tried to make them, but I recall being amazed that it was only water and flour. how can those simple bits work such magic in the pan.

caite said...

Wow, that does sound easy...I must try it.

Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate said...

This looks delicious and the perfect way to add a little spice and warmth to a cold winter day. I love Indian food so I am planning to try this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate

Anonymous said...

Following the link to Serious Eats, I noted the original cookbook the curry recipe came from: Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen. The publisher is Ten Speed Press, and I have had good luck with some of their other cookbooks. Must check out this one. The curry looks good but not too difficult to prepare.

Joy said...

That looks so good -- what a wonderful color for a wintry day.

Joy's Book Blog

Becca said...

Yum! I love Curry! I will have to give it a try.