Could you help me turn this curry into a complete meal? Wine recs?

[Greta]

I have this lovely super-easy curry dish that I make that is always a hit. It's fairly spicy, though not like a vindaloo, and it is really rich and creamy because it's made with coconut milk. It has chicken and I serve it over rice, so when I make it for just my family I throw in a side salad and call it good. But we're having guests over tomorrow night, and I'd like to flesh it out a bit.

 

What sort of appetizers and side dishes could I serve with a curry?

 

What kind of wine would you serve? DH and I always drink dry red wines, but I know a lighter white wine would probably be recommended with this dish. Maybe even a sweet one? I don't want to spend a fortune on a white wine, because dh will not drink it! Any good ones with a modest price tag, say around ten bucks? And any reds I could buy for dh that would be okay with a curry? I don't generally like whites either, but I had one with curry once ages and ages ago and it was pretty good. I just can't remember what kind it was!

 

I have access to an extensive Asian market, and, a Trader Joe's! :D

[kalanamak]

I have this lovely super-easy curry dish that I make that is always a hit. It's fairly spicy, though not like a vindaloo, and it is really rich and creamy because it's made with coconut milk. It has chicken and I serve it over rice, so when I make it for just my family I throw in a side salad and call it good. But we're having guests over tomorrow night, and I'd like to flesh it out a bit.

 

What sort of appetizers and side dishes could I serve with a curry?

 

 

 

You could use this before meals

From M. Jaffery's Spice Kitchen:

fry 2 cups of raw cashews (taste at store to make sure fresh)

in an inch of oil (I use peanut) until reddish brown

Drain in a sieve, shake of extra oil, stread the hot nuts on a plate.

Sprinkle with

1/4 teas salt

1/4 teas cayenne

a bit of black pepper

1/2 teas of cumin seed DRY roasted (put in cast iron or Enamel pan, heat

over med. until perfumy and getting darker, grind a bit (I use M&Pestle)

Mix well, slide onto another plate (to leave some oil behind.

Optional: add 3/4 cup big golden raisins.

 

Because what you are making sounds rich, you could do what my ex-IL's (Panjabis) did for salad: cuck slices and carrot stick arranged on a nice plate with some thin slices of green chili and lemon wedges at one end, and sprinkle a little crushed dry-toasted cumin seeds on it.

 

Raita? If you take an...oh gosh, I'm blanking on the name....a pear shaped veggie in the Mexican veggy section...perhaps starts with an A. Well, peel and shred it and boil it al dente and press dry and mix in full fat yogurt and salt and pepper, water, and maybe some garam masala or toasted cumin seed, you have an untypical raita for USians that my ex-IL said mimicked an unimported veggie they had in India.

 

Found it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayote

 

Roti

 

A wee bowl of dal on the plate. Dress with chopped cilantro.

 

How about pakora for pre-meal? Here is an old post of mine:

 

Vegetable Pakoras

 

1 1/2 C chickpea flour or besan (can get at Indian groc. or in bulk

sections of many of the larger grocery stores, or in co-ops)

3/4 teas salt

1/2 teas baking soda

1/4 teas (generous) of turmeric (this helps you decide when it's done)

1/2 teap ground cumin

1/2 teas ground coriander (for these two, I added a teas + of my garam

masala...which has a healthy bit of both of these as a base)

3/4 teas whole ajwain or cumin. (We always use the ajwain...it gives an

unusual undertone, and is a cheap seed that stores well...available at

Penzey's)

1/4 teas ground black pepper (we do this coarsely)

1/4 teas cayenne....(we add 1/2 or MORE...very important says tall TJ)

She says sift, but we don't, just break up the clumps of besan and mix

well with a fork. It travels very well in this form, and water can be

added at the party.

Beat in 1 1/4 C water until you have a smooth, thin batter.

Heat oil (we use peanut and do it in a small flat bottomed Peking-style

wok, but a big wok or a kardhi or a cast iron skillet (deep) would do

fine) between 350F and 375F (We usually guess...should fry the stuff

without exploding when the food goes in)

Cut a potato into 1/8 inch rounds, an onion ditto,

1/2 a sweet potato ditto, trim 16 string beans (oh these are good), 16

cauliflower florets, and some New Mexican chilis, or hot Italian. We

also did zucchini strips, whole garlic cloves (peeled) and slices of

turnip.

Dip in batter and fry about 7 minutes until they get a dark golden.

Drain and eat. The little tiny blobs of batter that drip into the oil

can be drained and put into raita or into kardi (the chickpea 'soup').

 

Now for the chutneys, the red one, the brown one and the green one.

Usha's Hot and Spicy Hyderabadi Tomato Chutney

(M. Jaffrey say that this perky relish can be kept in the fridge to

brighten up almost any meal...I can taste it on eggs)

A pound of ripe toms peeled and chopped (About 1 3/4 C)

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 teas mashed garlic pulp

1/2 teas turmeric

1/4 teas cayenne

Put this in a bowl and reserve

 

Heat 4 T oil (I used Mustard and only 2 T)

Add 4 whole, peeled cloves of garlic and brown lightly.

Add

1 teas cumin seed

1/2 teas black mustard seed

1/4 teas whole fenugreek seed

stir once and then add

2 whole dried hot red peppers (I used one big tein tsin) HAVE THE FAN ON

When the peppers have darkened and puffed up, add the reserved mixture

above and don't breath the blast of steam.

Cook, stirring a bit 10+ minutes until the mixture is 'dry' but not

panting.

Add 1/2 teas or so salt (ours needed 1 teas) and serve warm or chilled.

 

Tamarind-mint Chutney

This I make exactly how she says:

1 heaping T EACH of chopped cilantro and chopped mint

2 T chopped GUR (or brown sugar) (again, this is a cheap ingredient that

keeps, and will make your Indian food more, well, 'Indian'.)

3/4 " peice of ginger minced

1/4 teas kala namak (black salt...very cheap and keeps well)

2/3 cup tamarind paste (I use the compressed bricks...break off about a

cup of the brick and soak in enough warm water to cover and then some.

Break the material up into small peices in the water and let soak at

least 15 minutes. Rub the muck into a strainer with the back of a spoon,

being sure to scrape a spoon on the bottom of the mesh to capture the

thick muck.)

1/8 teas ground pepper, fine this time

1/8-1/4 teas cayenne

1 teas ground roasted cumin...place raw cumin seeds in a fry pan and

heat over medium, shaking now and then (use no oil) until they darken

and smell toasty. Grind in a mortar or under a rolling pin.

 

Place all of the above in a blender and puree (I use the one cup

attachment on the Oster Blender).

 

Mint Chutney

(the green one) Although Jaffrey has a recipe, we've never added the

yougurt.

3/4 C cilantro chopped and firmly packed

1/2 C mint chopped and firmly packed

0-2 seranno chiles (I do seed these for fine texture) minced

1 T of lemon juice

1/2 teas salt (half of this if you use no chile I would gamble)

Puree in blender as above. She add 3/4 C of yougurt which would make a

significantly different dish

Edited February 27, 2010 by kalanamak

[Greta]

kalanamak, thank you so much! Everything there sounds so delicious! Can't wait to give some of these a try. The vegetable pakoras sound divine!