Back from India

Wine:
Domaine de la Vieille Julienne 2004 Cotes du Rhone
Podere Casale Cutturnio Riserva 2003


We are now back from our wonderful trip to Southern India. It has taken two weeks to get back on schedule and over the jet lag.

For our first dinner, Cathy modified a recipe for Chicken and Potatoes and it turned out great. It was a perfect one dish meal. It was from the Simply French cookbook by Patricia Wells. The whole chicken is cooked directly on top of cut up potatoes. She made a herbed butter and stuffed it under the chicken skin. The drippings from the chicken and the butter flowed over the chicken. It made for a delicious meal.

We saw a recipe in the New York Times for a Shrimp Curry from Goa. We had just purchased a new cookbook: Indian Home Cooking by the owner of Devi Indian Restaurant in New York. This recipe is not in the book. But it inspires us to try the recipes and eat in his New York Restaurant! Goa is a small state in Southern India along the Arabian Sea. It is famous for its beaches and is similar to Hawaii. We made the curry it was fantastic. For the rest of the meal we decided to get some to go Indian food from our local Indian Restaurant: Agra. We added Naan (flat Indian Breads), Vegetable Curry and Vegetable Biryani (Mixed Rice) to our dinner. We look forward to leftovers! No Bea, she is allergic to Shrimp.

For dessert we had Carrot Cake from LA Bread.

Goan-Style Shrimp Curry
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Adapted from Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur, Devi Restaurant in NYC.
Time: 25 minutes
1 1/3pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1/8teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4cup canola oil
4 dried red chilies
1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3 cups canned chopped tomatoes, with juice
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro.
1. Place shrimp in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag, and add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper and cayenne. Mix well and refrigerate.
2. In a deep skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat, combine oil and chilies and stir 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and cook for 1 minute longer. Add ginger, onion, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt and sauté until onion is soft and translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, ground coriander and turmeric and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomatoes. Stir, scraping sides and bottom of pot, for 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.
4. Stir in curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil, and add shrimp. Bring to a simmer and cook until shrimp are opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro. If desired, serve with rice.
Yield: 3 to 4 servings.