I can’t remember where or when I got this book, but it’s written by one of Australia’s best known spice experts, and contains a wealth of knowledge on spices and herbs, including Australian spices and herbs. Each listing has a little bit about the history of the spice or herb, where it originated, how it became known across the rest of the world, how it is cultivated, which parts you cook with, etc.
Spice notes and recipes by Ian Hemphill is now sadly out of print, but has been replaced by The Spice and Herb Bible. Apparently the Spice and Herb Bible is published for the US market, so I’m not sure what that means for the rest of the world. If you can find a copy of spice notes and recipes second hand, I’d highly recommend buying it. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Indian butter chicken
Ingredients:
- 6 – 7 chicken breast fillets
Tandoori spice blend
- 2 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
- 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger, cinnamon quills, fenugreek seeds and black pepper, all ground
- 1/4 teaspoon each of medium-heat chilli powder, green cardamom seeds and caraway seeds, all ground
- 2 brown cardamom pods, roughly ground in pestle and mortar
- 375g yoghurt
- 1 tablespoon butter or ghee
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon freshly crushed garlic
- 6 tablespoon pureed or finely grated onions (about 3 onions)
- 1 tablespoon medium-heat curry powder (madras style)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce mixed with 1 tablespoon jaggery (or brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon tomato or mango chutney or pickle
- 1 tablespoon ground almonds
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 tablespoon coriander leaves, plus extra to garnish
- 200ml pouring cream
- 1 small can (85 – 100ml) coconut milk
Method:
- Mix half tandoori spice blend with yoghurt and marinate chicken overnight. Next day, cook under grill while preparing the sauce.
- In a pan, melt butter, add ground cumin and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add garlic and onion, stir-fry for 2 – 3 minutes. Mix together remainder of tandoori spice blend with curry powder, tomato paste, tomato sauce, pickles, ground almonds, then add cooked chicken, along with any remaining marinade and pan drippings.
- Add coriander leaves, cream, coconut milk, and salt to taste. Simmer gently and allow to reduce a little. Garnish with more fresh coriander leaves and serve with rice.
Notes on this recipe:
- The recipe doesn’t say, but you should really cut the chicken into bite sized pieces after cooking it.
- If like me you don’t have a grill, then you can fry the chicken. It will take longer to cook, and the marinade is likely to burn, so ensure you remove any burnt marinade from the pan before putting all the ingredients in there to make a sauce.
- This is a very tasty dish.
Cashew Curry
Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon chat masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 400g raw unsalted cashews
- 200ml water
- 400ml coconut milk
- 1kg Indian paneer cheese (or firm tofu), cubed
- 1/2 cup fresh fenugreek leaves (or 2 tablespoons dried)
- 2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves
Method:
- Toast curry powder in large pan and then add oil and onions. Saute onion until soft and then add garlic for 2 minutes. Add chaat masala and salt.
- Add cashews and water, and simmer covered on low heat until soft, around 45 minutes. Blend to a paste in food processor and return to pan, adding coconut milk. Stir to combine well. Sauce can be reserved until ready to use.
- Add paneer and fenugreek leaves to sauce and heat gently. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serves 8 as part of a meal.
Notes on this recipe:
- I bought a kilo of tofu, and didn’t use all of it. I probably used about 600 – 700g of tofu before I realised we had more than enough.
- The only real complaint I have about this recipe is that there is no indication of how long you toast the curry powder.
- This recipe is very tasty and was a big hit around the dinner table. I will definitely make this one again.
Honey and ginger eggplant
Ingredients:
- 750g eggplant, cut into 2 cm rounds
- 300 – 500ml sunflower oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 5 tablespoon runny honey
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup water
Method:
- Heat 200ml oil in a frying pan to medium heat and fry eggplant each side until brown, then drain on paper towel. This will take 2 – 3 batches, depending on the size of the pan. Add more oil for each batch as the eggplant absorbs a lot of oil when cooking.
- In a large pan or casserole, cook garlic and ginger in 1 tablespoon oil over a low heat for 3 minutes, then add cumin, honey, lemon and water and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Add fried eggplant and stir gently to coat all pieces, cover and cook for a further 10 minutes. Serve immediately or move, covered, to a warm oven until serving.
Notes on this recipe:
- It’s really, really sweet. A bit like a cold and flu remedy with soft, squishy eggplant – this is not as horrible as it sounds, but it was difficult to manage the sweetness when compared to the other dishes I cooked that night.
Cardamom mangoes
(sorry for the poor photo)
Ingredients:
- 4 mangoes (or fruit in such such as apples, bananas or pears)
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- 4 tablespoons soft brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground green cardamom seeds
Method:
- Peel and core fruit and cut into 1 cm slices. In a frying pan, heat the butter and sugar, stirring until the sugar is melted, then stir in the ground cardamom seeds. Make a single layer of the fruit, spooning the liquid over the top, and cook until just warmed through. Lift out of the pan into serving dishes, and do a second batch in the pan if required. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream or plain yoghurt.
Notes on this recipe:
- I found the cardamom a little overpowering, which I typically do. If I made this again I’d probably only use 1 teaspoon of cardamom and adjust seasoning from there.
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