Low-cal curry
Feb. 9th, 2009 06:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaceyI'm sending out f-locked posts to a small group of people who are on my weight-watching list. (I've lost ten pounds so far.) If you want to be on my weekly bulletin let me know and I'll add you to that list - but I appreciate it's not for everyone.
Anyhow, tonight I've made a big curry and thought I'd share the recipe.
Jacey's Low Cal /Low Fat Curry
This makes a big pot that feeds about 6 people depending on appetites.
I like my curry mild but flavourful. Add more curry paste if you like it hotter.
Onions - 2 large, peeled and chopped
Leeks - 1 large or 2 small, washed and chopped (If no leeks you can add an extra onion)
Carrots - 2 large, peeled and chopped into small pieces
Parsnip - 2 small or one larger peeled and chopped into small pieces
Cauliflower - half a decent sized head, chopped small
Red chilli - 1 de-seeded and chopped small
Apple - 1 large Braeburn or similar, peeled, cored and chopped
Ginger marmalade - 1 heaped teaspoon
Black raisins - 1 tablespoon - optional
Canned chopped tomatoes with garlic - 2 cans (though you could manage with one and add some fresh tomatoes
Curry paste - I used Sharwood's Balti tonight, about a quarter of a jar but more or less to taste. You can augmenty it with a little curry powder and cayenne pepper to taste.
Salt to taste (not much)
Meat - either a small amount of chicken breast (say 3 smallish breasts for the whole pot) or a bit of fresh or frozen lamb mince - say 250 g for the whole pot. Meat is optional, you could just add a couple of extra carrots and parsnips and maybe another onion and have a vegetable curry.
NOTE: no oil apart from what's in the curry paste
It makes about 6 - 8 normal sized portions depending on your definition of normal (BB can easily eat twice as much as I can and he calls his portions normal as well.)
A small portion of basmati rice to go with it is only 1.5 points or 3 points for a bigger portion. Yum.
Prepare all the veg. Obviously it doesn't matter if you substitute extra carrots for the parsnips or the other way around. This is probably never the same twice.
Sweat the onions and leeks very slowly until soft but not caramelised
Add the remaining fresh vegetables and fruit, allow to cook gently with the onions for about 15 minutes.
Add the curry paste and stir in thoroughly
Add the canned tomatoes and ginger marmalade.
Simmer for about an hour. Check seasoning and add more curry paste if necessary. (If it's too hot add some more marmalade and some cooked chopped potatoes.)
If using lamb mince add it now and simmer for a further fifteen minutes.
If using chicken breast, chop it into thin slices add it right at the end. Simmer for only as long as it takes to cook the chicken through. (Don't overcook it so that the chicken dries out.)
This can all be prepared in advance and reheated on the stove top, but if preparing in advance i would still cook the chicken from raw at the last minute as it will be much more moist and tender.
Serve over basmati rice.
Don't forget the naan bread, poppadoms, raita and pickles add more calories than are in the curry. The weight watchers cost is 3 points for a portion of the curry roughtly equivalent to a sixth of this, plus 1.5 points for a sdmall portion of rice of 3 points for a larger portion
Anyhow, tonight I've made a big curry and thought I'd share the recipe.
Jacey's Low Cal /Low Fat Curry
This makes a big pot that feeds about 6 people depending on appetites.
I like my curry mild but flavourful. Add more curry paste if you like it hotter.
Onions - 2 large, peeled and chopped
Leeks - 1 large or 2 small, washed and chopped (If no leeks you can add an extra onion)
Carrots - 2 large, peeled and chopped into small pieces
Parsnip - 2 small or one larger peeled and chopped into small pieces
Cauliflower - half a decent sized head, chopped small
Red chilli - 1 de-seeded and chopped small
Apple - 1 large Braeburn or similar, peeled, cored and chopped
Ginger marmalade - 1 heaped teaspoon
Black raisins - 1 tablespoon - optional
Canned chopped tomatoes with garlic - 2 cans (though you could manage with one and add some fresh tomatoes
Curry paste - I used Sharwood's Balti tonight, about a quarter of a jar but more or less to taste. You can augmenty it with a little curry powder and cayenne pepper to taste.
Salt to taste (not much)
Meat - either a small amount of chicken breast (say 3 smallish breasts for the whole pot) or a bit of fresh or frozen lamb mince - say 250 g for the whole pot. Meat is optional, you could just add a couple of extra carrots and parsnips and maybe another onion and have a vegetable curry.
NOTE: no oil apart from what's in the curry paste
It makes about 6 - 8 normal sized portions depending on your definition of normal (BB can easily eat twice as much as I can and he calls his portions normal as well.)
A small portion of basmati rice to go with it is only 1.5 points or 3 points for a bigger portion. Yum.
Prepare all the veg. Obviously it doesn't matter if you substitute extra carrots for the parsnips or the other way around. This is probably never the same twice.
Sweat the onions and leeks very slowly until soft but not caramelised
Add the remaining fresh vegetables and fruit, allow to cook gently with the onions for about 15 minutes.
Add the curry paste and stir in thoroughly
Add the canned tomatoes and ginger marmalade.
Simmer for about an hour. Check seasoning and add more curry paste if necessary. (If it's too hot add some more marmalade and some cooked chopped potatoes.)
If using lamb mince add it now and simmer for a further fifteen minutes.
If using chicken breast, chop it into thin slices add it right at the end. Simmer for only as long as it takes to cook the chicken through. (Don't overcook it so that the chicken dries out.)
This can all be prepared in advance and reheated on the stove top, but if preparing in advance i would still cook the chicken from raw at the last minute as it will be much more moist and tender.
Serve over basmati rice.
Don't forget the naan bread, poppadoms, raita and pickles add more calories than are in the curry. The weight watchers cost is 3 points for a portion of the curry roughtly equivalent to a sixth of this, plus 1.5 points for a sdmall portion of rice of 3 points for a larger portion
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curry paste???
Date: Feb. 11th, 2009 01:41 am (UTC)How soft do the vegetables cook down? This smells lovely right over the internet, but my father has five teeth left. I cooked a chicken today, and after reading this I'll be currying some of it. Drool.
(Obviously I want to be on the bulletin list.)
Mary Anne in Kentucky
Re: curry paste???
Date: Feb. 11th, 2009 12:03 pm (UTC)Yes the vegetables can be cooked down as soft as you like and should, in fact, be the consistency of a well-simmered stew (hence simmer them for at least an hour and longer if you like) but they still retain their individual textures. You don't want it to turn to mush.
Re: curry paste???
Date: Feb. 11th, 2009 03:30 pm (UTC)I used to get to Lexington (fifty miles) regularly, but my father really needs not to be alone for long. Lexington has a substantial Indian population and I'd be likelier to find it there. (When I was in library school I used to live up the street from a vegetarian restaurant/store that invited a local Calcuttan to create an all you can eat buffet every other Sunday. Oh, the memories!) My coop there has many different curry blends in the bulk spice section, and I've tried many of those. Yum.
Mary Anne in Kentucky--must stop drooling so much