CURRY FAVOUR
She may live in Dubai, but SA-born chef Cariema Isaacs' recipes, taken from her new cookbook, Curried, will transport you from the Bo-Kaap to Thailand courtesy of her favourite food
Fancy trying a curried whole roast chicken this weekend? SA chef Cariema Isaacs’s new book, Curried, will help make it happen.
“I learnt how to make my first curry
“These curries always leave a hint of heritage on my taste buds”
with my father’s mother, my ouma, in the Cape Malay Quarter in Cape Town. It was my introduction to an authentic Cape Malay lamb curry. It required slow cooking – as most of the vintage Cape Malay dishes do – and was a test of my resolve as an impatient and petulant teenager. My ouma would encourage me to cook this curry a few times under her watchful eye, before I could move on to my next curry. A Cape Malay lamb curry calls for tender pieces of lamb cooked in a velvety sauce infused with aromatics. The potatoes are meant to be firm on the outside but utterly fluffy on the inside. A dash of sugar is added at the end, the perfect antidote to complement the sharpness of the tomato gravy. By the time the curry is served, the enthusiastic oohs and aahs at the table are enough to make any rookie cook feel like a master chef ! Flaky and crispy rotis are passed around and then dunked into the velvety curry sauce. Cutlery is banished at this stage – the temptation to break the flatbread with your hands and squish a potato or two engulfed by flaky roti sheets feels incredibly natural. Even at that young age I knew that nothing gave me more comfort than cooking.
For most of my life, when I craved a curry I would either cook it myself or go in search of an Indian restaurant to satisfy my cravings. While living in Dubai and having had the opportunity to travel to other parts of the world, I became even more intrigued about the multitude of curries out there. Among my personal favourites are the Japanese katsu curry, the Goan beef vindaloo curry, the Trinidadian crab-and-dumpling curry, and don’t even get me started on Thai curries! In Mumbai I couldn’t stop eating the most delicious vegetarian curries, and in Delhi I indulged in perfectly chargrilled kebabs accompanied by a saucy and spicy curried dhal.
The Cape Malay cook inside me will continue to gravitate to the curries I grew up with, which perfect the balance of sweet, spicy and tangy. These curries always leave a hint of heritage on my taste buds. The subtle flavours of Sumatra, Jakarta and Batavia. A reminder that our own Cape Malay curries hold within the narrative of our forebears who arrived at the Cape during the seventeenth century. Many of these vintage curry dishes are still being cooked in the same way in Cape Malay homes across South Africa today.
Rick Stein, in his cookbook Rick Stein’s India – In Search of the Perfect Curry, says: ‘At home I have a little sign I put on the front door of my cottage in Padstow which says, “Gone swimming”. Maybe I’ll get one that says, “Gone for a curry”. The sense of leaving home for something completely satisfying is the same.’
This resonates with my culinary soul. After all, if I am to lose myself in the comfort of food, let it be in the gratifying warmth of a curry.” W
cariemaisaacs.com
COD FILLETS WITH GINGER-AND-COCONUT CURRY
“I stumbled across this online recipe by chef Patrick Jamon of Villa Deevena restaurant in Los Pargos, Costa Rica. One of the reasons I adore it is because it makes me reminisce about culinary school. The vegetables have to be julienned, and at chef’s school our first attempt at julienne was done with carrots. Our teacher would make us do it over and over again. When it was flawless, we would move on to another vegetable!”
Serves 4
EASY
GREAT VALUE
Preparation: 20 minutes Cooking: 10–15 minutes
cod or angelfish fillets 4 x 170 g, skin removed
salt, to taste freshly ground black pepper 2t
olive oil 4t large leek 1, white portion only, trimmed and cut into 5 cm
segments and julienned (about 1 cup)
fresh ginger 1 thumb-sized piece, peeled and finely grated fresh turmeric ½
thumb-size piece, peeled and finely grated or 1 t
ground turmeric small carrot 1,
peeled and julienned snow peas ½ cup,
julienned fresh or frozen peas ½
cup coconut milk 1 x 400 ml
can fish sauce ½t
red chilli paste 1t red curry paste 1½
T fresh coriander 2
sprigs, to garnish red chilli 1,
thinly sliced, to garnish sticky jasmine rice, for serving
1 Preheat the oven to 100°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. 2 Season the fish generously with salt and pepper. 3 Heat 2 t olive oil in a large pan over a medium to high heat. 4 Add the fish and fry until golden on both sides – about 3 minutes per side. 5 Transfer the fish to the baking tray and place in the oven to keep warm while you prepare the rest of the dish.
6 Add the remaining oil to the same pan and heat over a medium to high setting.
7 Add the leek and sauté for 2–3 minutes, stirring frequently, until lightly golden.
8 Add the ginger and turmeric and sauté for a minute or so, stirring frequently.
9 Add the carrot, snow peas and green peas and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender. 10 Transfer the vegetables to a bowl, cover with clingwrap and set aside. 11 Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, chilli paste and curry paste to the same pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. 12 Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for about 5 minutes until the liquid is further reduced. 13 Stir in the cooked vegetables and heat for about 1 minute until warmed through. 14 Divide the fish between shallow serving bowls and spoon the sauce and vegetables over the fish.
15 Garnish with fresh coriander and sliced chilli and serve hot with sticky jasmine rice. DAIRY-FREE, WHEAT- AND GLUTEN-FREE WINE: Woolworths Ken Forrester Viognier
SUNDAY CURRIED ROAST CHICKEN
“It can be served straight out of the oven with warm naan bread or at room temperature with a green leafy salad. If you’re pressed for time, a store-bought curry paste can be substituted for the spices used here. Add the curry paste to the yoghurt, honey and melted butter and use as a marinade for the chicken.”
Serves 4 to 6
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 1 hour free-range whole chicken 1.2–1.5 kg curry paste 3T
garlic 3
cloves, finely minced fresh ginger ½
thumb-sized piece, peeled and finely grated garam masala 1t
spicy paprika ½t
ground cardamom ½ t
(optional) turmeric ½t ground coriander ½t
chilli powder ½ t
(or 1 t roasted masala) freshly ground black pepper 1t salt, to taste melted butter 2T
honey 1T
lemon 1,
juiced plain or Greek yoghurt 3T
medium onions 2,
quartered medium carrots 3, peeled and topped and tailed garlic 4
cloves, unpeeled olive oil 2T
flatbreads or basmati rice, for serving
1 Preheat the oven to 220°C. 2 Pat the chicken dry with paper towel. 3 Combine
the curry paste, garlic, ginger, all the spices, butter, honey, lemon juice and yoghurt in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
4 Loosen the skin on the chicken breasts, then brush the marinade over the chicken, under the skin and into the cavity.
5 Place the chicken in a roasting pan, then surround it with the onions, carrots and garlic cloves. Drizzle with the olive oil, then place into the oven on the bottom rack.
6 Reduce the heat to 180°C and roast for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is golden and nearly cooked. 7 Increase the heat to 200°C and roast for a further 15 minutes or until the skin has crisped up and some bits are charred. 8 Remove the roast chicken from the oven and serve with the roast vegetables and flatbreads or basmati rice. WINE: Woolworths Ladybird Organic Chardonnay
SOUTH AFRICAN NAAN BREAD
“This naan bread, also referred to as Durban naan bread, is not the same as a traditional Indian flatbread. The South African version resembles little dinner rolls, baked in a round cake tin, and is sprinkled with fennel seeds.
It’s traditionally eaten with a curry, but is also popular served with roast leg of lamb or slices of corned tongue or corned beef on Eid day.”
Makes 14
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 20 minutes Cooking: 1 hour
For the naan bread:
full-cream milk 1½
cups canola oil 2T butter 50 g,
diced cake flour 420
g self-raising flour 140 g
fennel seeds 1T
white sugar 50 g salt 1t
instant dry yeast 10 g
free-range egg 1, beaten
For the egg wash: free-range egg 1, beaten
sesame seeds 1t nigella or poppy seeds 1t fennel seeds 1T
1 Grease and flour two 20 cm cake tins and set aside. 2 Heat the milk in a large jug for about 2 minutes in the microwave on a high setting. 3 Add the oil and butter to the warm milk. Set aside and allow to cool slightly. 4 Sift the flours into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the fennel seeds, sugar, salt and yeast. 5 Using the hook attachment, mix all the ingredients at a low speed. 6 Add the beaten egg to the warm milk mixture and give it a quick whisk. Gradually add this to the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. 7 Increase the speed to medium and continue to knead the dough for at least 5 minutes.
8 Brush the inside of a large bowl with oil and place the dough inside the bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside for about 45 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size. 9 Preheat the oven to 180°C. 10 Turn out the dough onto a wellfloured surface. Divide the dough into two portions, shaping them individually to form a long sausage shape. Cut the dough sausages into about seven equalsized portions. 11 Shape the dough portions into balls and place them into the prepared cake tins, leaving spaces between each dough ball. Set aside for 20 minutes. 12 Brush lightly with the beaten egg, and then sprinkle with the sesame, nigella or poppy and fennel seeds. 13 Bake for 20–25 minutes or until golden. Pull the buns apart and serve hot straight out of the oven.
Cook’s note: Use the hook attachment of an electric mixer for kneading the bread. This will assist in making the dough more pliable and utterly light and fluffy once baked.
MEAT-FREE
MY MOM’S CAPE MALAY LENTIL CURRY
“This is the food from my childhood, one of many of the home-cooked dishes my mom would make during the cooler months in Cape Town. You can opt to use raw brown lentils, but to cut down on cooking time, I have used the canned precooked version. This is one of those rustic curries that needs a starch slightly more robust than white fluffy rice. It’s served here with Tastic rice – a South African, parboiled, semi-brown rice.”
Serves 4 to 6
EASY
GREAT VALUE
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 1 hour
canola oil 2T
green cardamom pods 2,
lightly bruised cinnamon sticks 2
medium onions 2,
finely chopped bone-in lamb pieces 500–700 g
garlic 2 cloves, peeled and crushed
salt, to taste
water ½
cup ripe tomatoes 2,
peeled and grated turmeric 1t
roasted masala or curry powder ½T
ground cumin 1t ground coriander 1t
Amina’s wonder spice all-purpose curry paste 1T
white sugar 1T
brown lentils 500 g,
soaked for 30 minutes and cooked until soft or 1
can (410 g) precooked lentils red chilli 1,
sliced coriander or parsley, chopped, to garnish
1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium to high heat. 2 Add the cardamom, cinnamon sticks and onions and sauté for 5 minutes or until slightly golden. 3 Add the meat, garlic and salt and give it a good mix. Cook, covered, for about 5 minutes. 4 Adjust the heat to medium, add the water and simmer for 30 minutes. 5 Add the tomatoes, spices, curry paste and sugar and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. 6 Lastly, add the lentils and cook for a further 10–15 minutes. 7 Garnish with sliced red chilli and fresh coriander or parsley and serve hot with parboiled rice and Cape Malay tomato-and-onion relish.
DAIRY-FREE, WHEAT- AND GLUTEN-FREE WINE: Woolworths Rustenberg RM Nicholson
“This marinade is also great with chicken on the braai”