Monday, November 30, 2009

Curry Off

On Saturday night a group of enthusiasts joined for the underground world of the curry off. The night was not aimed at the hottest curry or the most curry eaten but the simple aim of rolling home with full belly's and having to lie on the sofa and say "Oh, why did I go back for thirds?"

Fijian Goat Curry

The boy brought a Fijian Goat curry, after a few false starts (Hyderabadi chicken which was too spicy for my sensitive taste buds...) The Fijian Goat curry was a winner. Goat was sourced from Wild OZ in the central markets. Cooked on the Friday night and the flavours left to mature in the fridge overnight.

It was a zesty, tasty curry where the goat was so tender you didn't need a knife but holding it's shape enough that it didn't turn to mush! Delish definitely one we will make again.

Beef Massaman Curry

Karen went for a tried and tested recipe handed down from her Mum, She had a hectic day whipping up a second batch of curry as the Friday Night batch had gone dreadfully wrong (Turns out you can't use evaporated coconut milk instead of the real stuff!) The finished product was delicious, I really liked the long strips of soft stewed onion, mmmm melt in your mouth flavour. Not as spicy as I was expecting I thought the Raita would definitely be required!

Red Thai Mussel Curry

Andrew made a Red Thai Mussel curry. When I heard about this one I was a bit wary, I've never been a fan of Seafood curries I always have a hunch that if seafood needs to be curried it's not fresh enough(also weirdly I'm never game for seafood on pizzas). This curry may have changed everything! This reminded me of a moules mariniere the mussels were cooked in a covered fry pan and allowed to steam in the red thai sauce. They were Fantastic! cooked to perfection and so tasty. It was this curry that made me go back for 2nds and I greadily spooned the sauce on to my plate. It turned out the sauce on it's own was really spicy but when combined with the mussels the flavours blended together really well. I have already stolen the recipe!

Saag Aloo

Andrew also brought Saag Aloo, A Spinich and Potato curry a tasty side

Lamb Kari

Chris made a Lamb Kari, a North Indian Curry from Madhur Jafrey's Ultimate Curry Bible ..... We realised we had a real spread of curry recipes Fiji, Malaysia, Thailand, and India. I'm glad we didn't all go for the same region. The Lamb Kari had really soft green capsicum chunks (Yip I've Australianised! They are now capsicums to me not peppers!) I really likes the big Chunks of Capsicum, soft and full of soaked in flavour, the Lamb was very tender I think this was one of the spicier curries although once they were all on my plate it was hard to tell where the heat was comming from as I'm a big fan of fitting a bit of everything on to my fork!

Mango Chuttney and 2 types of Raita

Andrew brought a homemade mango chutney,wow, he talked it down as it was a bit sweet and when you tasted it on a spoon it was really sweet but when eaten with curry it went really nicely. Good work!

Me and Karan both made Raita, different recepies mine was Cucumber and Mint Raita it turned out really runny (more than I'd intended. maybe I didn't dry the cucumber enough) and Karens had Tomato in I think? both were called upon to reduce the flames in my mouth later!

Daal

What is a curry off without Daal! I frantically made this just before we set off, I say I made it, The boy bought the ingredients and chopped everything while I got ready then I put it into the pan and stirred! Thank you my sous chef!

A Tasty Well Heaped Plate



We had a great night a wonderful follow up to last years Pie off! what will the next challenge be? Suggestions welcome.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Marrakech

We went to Marrakech for dinner for my Birthday back in September. (Yes this blog post has been sitting in draft form for a long time) but better late than never!

Marrakech is a moroccan resteraunt on King William road. We had a great review from a freind and thought we'd check it out.

We started with the Mezza Platter ($26.90)

The Mezza Platter is a chefs selection from five entrees (although I think we got 6!)
The Djaj Katban(Skewered Charmoula Chicken Fillet)
Kebab (Skewered Rass Elhanout Lamb Back Strap)
Kefta Katban (marinated beef mince)
and 3 Dips; Zaalouk (Eggplant Dip), Khizzou (Carrot Dip) and Bakkoula (Spinach Dip)

The Mezza Platter was a great way to start the meal, we got a little bit of everything, with just the right amount of bread to use up all the dip (I hate it when you run out of bread before you've scooped everything up!)

A nice atmosphere we dressed up as it was my birthday but would just as easily come with a bunch of girls for a casual dinner. We were advised to book even on a Tuesday, but the night we went they were pretty quiet.

Berber Tagine($24.00)

The Berber Tagine is Lamb cooked until tender with Rass Elhanout and vegetables. I had no idea what Rass Elhanout was (you can read what wikipedia has to say) we asked the waitress who explained it was a morrocan blend of herbs and spices including cinnamon and cumin. This was succulent and juicy dish. I really liked the way it was served in the Tagine, when the lid was removed the steam wafted out.

Djaj Maassel, Apricot Chicken ($24.00)

The Apricot Chicken was fantastic! I was a little hesitant ordering this one, described as chicken cooked with caramelised apricot, cinnamon, honey and roasted almonds. I thought it was going to be too sweet but the flavours worked really well together the sauce was morish.

We had one serve of rice between two which was maybe a little small but we had so much other food we were stuffed by the end.

A wonderful birthday meal,



View Marrakech in a larger map
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Marrakech
66 King William Road
Tel: 08 8299 9901