Spicy Cumin Beef

Food hopping in NYC is one of our favorite things to do. One spot we never fail to miss is Cafe China in Manhattan. I first came across this place while watching Unique Eats on the cooking channel. They specialize is Sichuan cuisine, so its quite spicy that appeals to our tastebuds. I guess it's because my husband went in with low expectations thinking nowhere in America can you find the real spicy food. This blew him away, so much that he actually craves for it! Lol!
One of our favorite dishes is the spicy cumin lamb, apart from their dan dan noodles, chungkiang chicken and 3 pepper chicken. The lamb is personally my favorite. I also heard about Xian Famous foods being quite popular for their spicy lamb noodles, and spicy lamb burger. So on our anniversary this year, we stopped by to see if it was as good as Cafe China. Pretty spot on I gotta say!

Spicy cumin lamb burger, chrysanthemum and jasmine tea to cool off. Food stop no.3 #foodhopping #NYC #xianfamousfoods #crazyfaces

A photo posted by Ancy Alexander (@ancyalexander) on Nov 1, 2015 at 2:05pm PST

Now that we've tried this thing in a couple of different places, I had to try and make it at home. I didn't have lamb on hand unfortunately, so used thinly sliced beef instead. I was amazed at how simple it was to make this dish. Now I gotta find me some lamb next time!

Ingredients:

Beef - 1 lb.
Cumin seeds - 2 tbsp
Sichuan peppercorns - 1 tsp
Onion - 1, medium
Garlic - 2 tsp, minced
Green chillies - 3 small or one large bamana pepper - sliced thin
Scallions - 2 stalks, chopped (separate whites from green part)
Cilantro - handful, coarsely chopped (almost whole sprigs)
Chilli oil - 4 tbsp.
Salt - a pinch
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Tapioca starch or corn starch - 2 tbsp
Chinese 5 spice powder - 2 tsp
Cumin powder - 2 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Hoisin sauce - 1 tbsp
Light soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Chingkiang vinegar (chinese black vinegar) - 1 tbsp
Shaoxing rice wine - 1 tsp

Method:

Toast sichuan peppercorns (1 tsp) and cumin seeds (2 tbsp) in a pan on medium heat. Grind coarsely.
Cut beef in thin slices (bite size). Add salt, cooking oil, baking soda, tapioca starch, 5 spice powder, and cumin powder. Mix thoroughly.
Chop up some onion (large chunks), cilantro with stalks and scallions.
Mix hoisin sauce, soy sauce, chingkiang vinegar, shaoxing rice wine and a teaspoon of chilli oil in a bowl and keep aside.
Cook beef in chilli oil in a large wok on high heat. Set aside. Do not put all the beef in at once. I cooked small amounts in 5 batches, or the wok will cool down quickly and the beef with stew rather than sear and toughen up.
After taking out all the beef, coat surface of wok with oil and add green chilies, garlic, onion and chili powder.
Then add beef/lamb, cumin & sichuan peppercorns, and cilantro. Add sauce mixture. Stir fry for another 4 minutes till sauce is absorbed by the beef. Serve hot with steamed rice, noodles or even in a bun.

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Blanquette de Veau - Veal Stew

I picked up some veal stew meat on one of my trips to the grocery store. With the cold weather outside, I felt like having something warm and comforting for dinner. I looked up a few veal recipes on Epicurious and elsewhere on the web, and I decided to go with the Blanquette de Veau. It's a French dish which basically means veal stew. The rule is to keep it as 'white' as possible, so refrain from any green garnishes. Also it's traditionally served with rice to soak up the gravy. Its a little bland for an Indian palette, so I was worried if Bee would like it. But to my relief, he loved it!! I did make a few changes to the original recipe though, which I will mention in notes below. I brought a slight Kerala twist to the stew, which not only brought good flavor, but also made it slightly more simpler. This took me roughly 2 hours to prepare from start to finish.

Ingredients:

Veal - roughly 1 lb. or 1/2 kg, cut into 1 inch pieces
Garlic - 2 cloves
Yellow or white onion - 1/2
Cloves- 10
Carrots - 2
Leeks - 2
Potato - 1
Cremini or button mushrooms - 20 pieces
Pearl onions - 10
Lemon - a wedge
Butter - 3 + 3 tbsp
Flour - 3 tbsp
Thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste

For bouquet garni:
Parsley (flat leaf) - few sprigs
Thyme - few sprigs
Bay leaf - 1
Black peppercorns - 20

Method:

Cut veal into 1 inch pieces (mine was store bought so it was pre-cut).
Note: if you get veal with bone, save the bone for using in the stock, adds a lot of flavor.
Add the veal pieces in a pot and cover with water and bring to a boil. You will notice a lot of scum forming on the top. At this stage, drain the veal and wash off all the scum. Put it back into the pot.
Prepare a bouquet garni by taking a piece of muslin cloth (i used a sterilized medical gauze, wink!) - and wrapping the parsley, thyme, bay leaf and black peppercorns in it. Tie it into a knot. Add this to the pot with the veal. Take a quarter of an onion - pierce cloves into it. Wrap this in another muslin cloth. Add it to the pot as well. Now fill it with water to cover the meat and some more for the vegetables too.
Note: If you have a veal bone, add this now to make a more flavorful stock. Alternately, you can also use chicken/beef/vegetable stock, or bouillon cubes.
Slice the garlic cloves and add it to the pot. Now bring the pot to a boil on a medium heat.
While its heating up, meanwhile, we're going to chop the veggies and add them to the pot one by one. Cut the carrots into bite size chunks, slice the remaining quarter of onion, dunk them into the pot. Wash the leeks and cut off the green part. We're using the white portion of the leeks only. Slice it and it goes into the pot. I cubed a potato as well and added it.
Note: In the traditional recipe, potatoes aren't used. But some use potatoes as a side to the stew. I wanted to add the Kerala stew twist to this, so I decided to add a potato in.
Add salt to taste. When it has started to boil, bring the heat down to almost low. Cover and cook for 1 hour and 15 mins. This is slow cooking so the veal is cooked until tender.
Note: Some like to cook the vegetables separately and then add it after the veal is slow cooked. That way, the vegetables will still have a slight crunch to them. I wasn't too worried about that, and mine didn't turn to mush either. I wasn't using a stock, so I wanted the vegetable flavours to form the stock. So it's all good!
While the veal is cooking, slice the mushrooms and peel the pearl onions. It is also a good point to get the rice started too.
When the veal is tender, strain the veal and vegetables and reserve the stock. Bring the stock back to a boil and reduce it further to about 2 cups. While the stock is reducing, it's time to saute the mushrooms.
Heat up a frying pan and melt 3 tbsp of butter. Heat the butter until the foam subsides. Add the mushroom slices and pearl onions. Saute for about 6-8 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked and still have a good crunch. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over it.
Note: Keeping with the 'white' theme of the stew, white pearl onions are traditionally used, but I used the red ones, no biggie!
Now in a saucepan, prepare the roux. I've explained this in my fish fry in white sauce recipe, but here it is again. Heat the saucepan and melt 3 tbsp of butter. Add 3 tbsp of flour to this and whisk it. Allow it to froth and turn golden brown. The flour will be cooked in a minute or two. Now slowly pour in the reduced stock, whisking constantly as you're pouring it, to avoid lumps. You will see that the stock will thicken into a gravy.
Note: The traditional recipe, asks for a dollop of crème fraîche (fresh cream) to be added at this stage. Two large egg yolks are beaten in a bowl. Half a cup of the gravy is slowly beaten into the yolks to temper it (warm the yolks to prevent curdling). The egg yolk mixture is slowly whisked into the gravy pan, removed from heat and whisked until sauce has a creamy consistency. Lemon juice is added and seasoned with salt and pepper.
I avoided this complex step above, and used my Kerala stew twist again. I had half a cup of thick coconut milk leftover from last week's beef curry. I tempered the coconut milk by whisking in a little gravy into it. Then added it back into the gravy (prevents curdling of the coocnut milk). Add the veal and vegetables and sauteed mushrooms. Cover and let it cook for another 10 minutes so everything is combined.
Note: Some people put the veal, vegetables and mushrooms on a plate and pour the gravy over it. Some combine it. I chose the latter option.
Serve with a cup of steamed rice and enjoy! This also stores well, reheats well and makes great leftovers!

Check out my other recipes that uses roux:
Julia Child's fish fry in white sauce
Shrimp and veggie pasta casserole
Canneloni Florentine

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Naadan Beef curry (with coconut milk)

Porotta and beef curry. Some of the combinations that is synonymous with Kerala cuisine.
I haven't dared to make a porotta at home yet. It really is such an ordeal, even back in Kerala, families buy them from the local thattukada (food stall). Beef curry on the other hand, is best made homemade, with freshly ground spices.
Previously, I made beef curry using chuck stew meat, which was good. This time I tried sirloin tips, and it turned out ah-mazing!!

Ingredients:

Sirloin tips (beef cubes) - 1 lb (1/2 kg)
Homemade garam masala - 2 + 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspp
Red onion - 1 large, sliced
Ginger - 2 tsp, chopped finely
Garlic - 2 tsp, chopped finely
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Bay leaf - 1
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Mint leaves - a handful
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Dry roast the coriander powder, chilli powder and turmeric in a wok for a couple of minutes on medium heat till it just starts to smoke. Keep aside on a small plate.
Wash the beef cubes in some warm water and a small amount of vinergar (optional). Drain and store in a bowl. Sprinkle salt and 2 tsp of garam masala, half the roasted powder mix of coriander, red chilli and turmeric. Rub the beef cubes in it. Let it sit for marination for about half an hour.
Meanwhile prep the other ingredients - chop onions, ginger, garlic. Wash the curry leaves and mint leaves.
In a wok, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add bay leaf and curry leaves. Then fry the sliced onions for 5 minutes with some salt till its softened to a nice pink. Add the ginger and garlic, fry for another couple of minutes. Add the remaining 2 tsp of garam masala and remaining coriander powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Fry for a minute. Then add the marinated sirloin tips and fry for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of thin coconut milk and mint leaves. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes. Check for salt, add half a cup of thick coconut milk and let simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve hot with porottas or steamed rice and kachiya moru. Remember it tastes better the next day, when the spices have really blended into the meat. This is heaven!!

Note: I bought a can of coconut milk. I scooped out the top part which was the thick coagulated coconut milk into a cup. Then I mixed the rest of the thin coconut milk in the can.

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Egg and Vegetable Stew (with variations for chicken, beef or lamb)

This stew is a traditional Syrian Christian curry served for breakfast with Appam (lacy rice pancakes). I like to have it any time of the day with toasted bread, if there's no ready batter for appams. It's very rustic and hearty, like the filling of a pot pie. (Maybe I will try it in a pot pie someday).

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

Eggs - 4 large
Onion - 1 medium size, chopped
Ginger - 1 inch, minced
Green chillies - 3 or as per your spice level
Chopped Vegetables - 2 cups (preferably potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, french beans, green peas)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cinnamon sticks - 1 large broken to small pieces
Cloves - 4-6
Green cardamom pods - 4
Bay leaf - 1
Curry leaves - 1 sprig (optional)
Black pepper corns - 6-8
White pepper powder - 2 tsp (optional)
Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Red chilli powder - a pinch (optional)
Coriander powder - 1 tsp (optional)
Garam masala - a pinch (optional)
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Oil (vegetable/canola) - 2 tbsp (For authenticity, use coconut oil - its an acquired taste)

Method:

Hard boil the eggs and keep aside to cool. Meanwhile chop all the vegetables and store in a mixing bowl.
In a large pot, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add mustards seeds and let is splutter. Add the whole spices - cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf, peppercorns. Once their aroma starts to exude, add the chopped onions, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute until the onions are translucent. Then add the powdered spices - turmeric, white pepper, black pepper, red chilli powder, coriander powder. Mix for a minute. Then add the chopped vegetables and enough water to just cover the vegetables. Cover and cook until the vegetables are cooked through. Meanwhile peel the cooled eggs and halve them, if desired. Once vegetables are cooked, reduce the heat, and pour coconut milk. Let it cook and reduce until you get the desired consistency of gravy. Finally sprinkle garam masala and add the hardboiled eggs. Serve with appams, chappathis or toasted slices of bread.

Note: You can make different variations of this stew. Leave the eggs out and it becomes a vegetable stew. Add cubed chicken pieces instead of the vegetables and it becomes a chicken stew. For beef or lamb stew, cook the meat separately with a small amount of water or even pressure cook it, before adding it to the stew.
If you don't have coconut milk, use regular milk.

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Keema Matar

Keema matar is one of my favorite dishes. My mom used to make this for me and my sister when she feels like treating us to something special. She used to also make a pan grilled bread that was a lot like naan to go with this. When I started to cook on my own, this is one of the first recipes that I decided to master. Its quite simple and delicious!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (you can use ground lamb, chicken or turkey too)
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 inch piece ginger
2 green chillies sliced fine
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 inch piece cinnamon
4 cloves
2 cardamom
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp asafoetida
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
4 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp yoghurt
2 tsp lemon juice

Method:

Heat oil in a wok. Add cumin seeds, cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom and cloves. Then add onion and salt. Saute on medium heat for about 10 mins, till  it turns brown. Add ginger, garlic and green chillies. Continue sauteeing for a long time till everything softens up. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala and asafoetida. Mix till raw smell disappears. Add tomato puree. Cook till raw smell goes. Then add ground beef. Mix thoroughly so that no chunks form. Add 2 tbsp milk. When beef turns brown, add more tomato puree if required. Adjust salt as well. Add green peas and cook further for another 5 minutes. Take off heat and let cool down. Mix yoghurt and sprinkle lemon juice before serving.

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Beef Fry - Kerala style

This recipe is different from my mom's recipe. It's an adaptation from Vazhayila. But the quantity of spices used for the meat masala seemed a bit too much for me, so I made a few changes here and there. My mom uses a lesser amount of the masala. Both use coconut cuts (thenga kothu). As I wasn't in a position to break open a fresh coconut to cut out the pieces, I used grated coconut from my freezer. Still tasted amazing with steamed rice and kachiya moru.

Ingredients:

For Meat masala powder:
Bowl -1 Roast and Grind
Dried red chili - 15   OR  Chili powder 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 3 tbsp   OR  Coriander powder - 2 tbsp
Black Pepper corns - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 small sticks
Green Cardamom - 5 OR Cardamom seeds - 1 tsp
Cloves - 6
Star anise - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp Or garam masala - 1 to 1.5 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

To pressure cook:
Beef - 1 kg (chuck works best)
Salt to taste
Meat Masala powder - half of of the recipe above
Curry leaves

To roast:
Shallots chopped - 1 cup
Garlic chopped - 4-5 cloves
Ginger chopped - a small piece
Green chili chopped - 2
Coconut cuts ( Thenga kothu) - 1/4 cup OR Grated coconut - 2 to 3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Curry Leaves
Oil

Method:

Heat a small pan and add all the ingredients in the section for meat masala powder, except turmeric powder.
Dry roast it for 4-5 minutes on a medium steady flame , until aromatic and brown.
Switch off the heat and add turmeric powder. Grind it to a coarse powder in a coffee grinder.
This will give you about 5-6 table spoon of meat masala.

Clean and cut the beef into medium cubes and marinate it with half of the prepared masala powder (around 2.5 - 3 tbsp), salt to taste and curry leaves. Fill water till half the level of the beef pieces occupied. Pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed cooking pan and add curry leaves and coconut cuts or grated coconut. Fry for 3-4 minutes. If using grated coconut, it will initially absorb the oil and start to foam. Then it will start to change color and foaming will stop. Do not let it overbrown.
Now add onion. Add crushed ginger,garlic and green chilies.
Saute till they start to turn brown. Add the remaining masala powder (or less if you think its too much masala) and fry for a minute or two.
Add the cooked beef along with cooking liquid if any and simmer until it is dry .
Turn the flame to medium and saute,stirring often and scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent from sticking,until it turns dark and dry. Serve warm with steamed rice and moru. Or another popular combination is to have it with Kerala Parotta.

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Seekh Kabab

Seekh kababs are my favorite variety of kababs. Grilled on skewers also known as seekh, until juicy and succulent, they're just mouth watering.
The seekh is a round metal skewer, however I used bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water (to prevent them from burning when grilling).
You can use any kind of ground meat for this - beef, lamb or chicken. But it should not be too lean, or it will become too dry. So make sure it has some amount of fat in it. They will melt into juices when its cooking, and the excess will drip down.
This weekend, our neighbor took us to a meat packing company at Sussex, NJ. I bought a pound of ground sirloin (beef). It looked so beautiful, that I decided to try out seekh kababs for the first time.
Since I don't have an outdoor grill yet, I broiled it in the oven. They need to be cooked at the highest temperatures possible. Traditionally, seekh kebabs are grilled in a tandoor (clay oven), that has temperatures as high as 800°F. As ovens cannot be this hot, crank it up to the highest possible.
Another thing to note is that the final mixture should not be too moist, or it will not hold onto the skewers. So make sure you absorb most of the moisture from the ground meat in some kitchen towels.
This recipe was inspired by vahchef.

Ingredients:

Ground beef - 1 lb (500 gm)
Red onion - 1/2 medium
Garlic - 4 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Green chilli - 1 or 2
Grated cheese - a handful (optional)
Parsley or Cilantro - small bunch, about 10 sprigs
Mint leaves - a handful
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp or to taste
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Egg - 1
Lemon juice - from half a lemon
Salt to taste
Bread crumbs - optional (see note)
Bamboo skewers, soaked in water - 10

Method:

Preheat oven to the highest temperature or on broil.
Chop onion, garlic ginger and green chilli finely. Or run it through a food processor. Collect it in a mixing bowl. Add grated cheese, finely chopped parsley or cilantro (or use small amounts of both), finely chopped mint leaves, red chilli powder, garam masla and coriander powder and mix it. Add ground meat and thoroughly mix everything together by hand. This is so therapeutic, trust me! Sprinkle enough salt, squeeze lemon juice, and break an egg into this mixture. Continue kneading this mixture.
Note: If you feel that the mixture is too moist, add bread crumbs or chickpea flour (besan) to this. It will help making the mixture more dry.
Let the mixture marinate for about 15 mins. If you want, you can prepare this in advance and allow it to marinate overnight.
Take a lemon sized ball of the mixture.

Push it through a skewer.

Using your fingers, work it along the length of the skewer to form a long kebab.

Place these skewers across a rectangular cake pan, or on a baking sheet.

Place it on the top rack of the oven, and cook until done, around 12-15 mins. You can also grill these beauties on an outdoor grill.
Serve with lime wedges and coriander-mint chutney mixed with yoghurt.

Or serve over a bed of cumin rice.

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Sautéed flank steak beef strips in a honey-orange-spice sauce

I bought a pack of frozen pierogies on the recommendation of a neighbor who took us grocery shopping as we don't have a car of our own yet. Sweet right? Pierogies are of Polish origin and are something similar to Raviolis, a dough covered dumpling, and the filling would be predominantly mashed potatoes. Other variants would include sautéed onions, cheese with the potatoes. More info on wikipedia: Pierogi.
I bought the one with potatoes and onions. As the flavour would be on the blander side, I wanted to make a side that would complement it with a good kick!

 So I made these sautéed flank steak beef strips in a honey-orange-spice sauce with onions, cabbage and red pepper. I know it sounds like a lot of ingredients but its easy to make. It was inspired by a show I watched long ago on the travel channel, called Everyday Exotic. It was an episode devoted to the spice Star Anise, and it was used with beef strips and had a honey orange sauce. But my version is totally different.

Ingredients:

Beef steak cut into thin strips (similar to the cut in Philly Cheese Steaks) - use flank or sandwich steak

To Marinate:

Garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped
Ground black pepper - 1 tsp
Star anise - ground - a pinch
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients:

Orange juice - from one clementine
Honey - 2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Ginger - 1 inch (optional)
Onions - 1, sliced
Red pepper - sliced lengthwise (same length as beef flanks)
Shredded cabbage - 1/2 cup.
Cheese - grated (optional)
Butter - 2 tbsp
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) - 2 tbsp

A box of Mrs T's Pierogies.

Method:

Mix the beef strips with the marinade ingredients and leave for an hour.
In a bowl, mix soy sauce, honey and orange juice. Heat a frying pan and add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of EVOO.
Add the beef strips until its just  cooked. Dont mix it around too much if you want a nice carmelization to happen. Add the orange juice mixture into the pan. This is called deglazing. Allow the sauce to thicken and dry up a little. Keep aside.
In the same pan, add another tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of EVOO. Saute thinly sliced onions with a bit of salt till its light brown and caramelized. Now add red peppers, chopped ginger (if using) and shredded cabbage and sprinkle freshly ground black pepper. When its cooked, add the beef strips and combine well.

Pierogies can be boiled in hot water, or baked, or sautéed in oil or butter.
I boiled it as per the instructions on the box, then added gave it a quick toss in the same frying pan the beef was cooked, to get its edges browned a little.

All in all, it was fun!

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