National Curry week 21st October 2007 - 28th October 2007.
| Published: 15th October 2007 11:47 |
The 2007 National Curry Week will again invite Indian restaurants, caterers, pubs, canteens etc, all over Britain to celebrate the cuisine and culture with special dinners, record-breaking attempts, raffles, auctions and more, all in aid of contributing to the alleviation of poverty and suffering in South Asia.
National curry week starts on Sunday 21st October which sees the 3rd Annual British Curry Awards Ceremony held in East London's Brick Lane, famed for its diverse Indian cuisine.
There are to be charity events nationwide to raise money for Oxfam's work in South Asia including the River Basin Project in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and the 'We Can' campaign to end violence against women in South Asia.
Last years event included breaking the world poppadom tower record, which is now set at160 that's 1m 37cm of poppadoms! The Sun's fun challenge for Café Spice Namaste to create the World's Longest Kebab.
You can support National curry week by throwing your own curry night, ask for a minimum £1 donation and donate online to Oxfam online.
See http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/events/curryweek/index.htm for more details.
Indian cuisine is one of the most enjoyable in the world, with the spread of so many migrants with so much respect for their culture it is no wonder that Indian food is enjoyed the world over. Indian food ranges from the rich indulgent food of the Mogul empire to the basic day to day dishes of the villagers. Indian food also varies regionally with variation between the use of meat, fish and vegetables depending on religious and availability. The northern dishes tend to be vegetarian and non dairy based, while the dishes of the south contain more meat and especially fish and are creamy and rich with coconut milk. Indian food is not inherently hot, there is much skill involved with balancing spices and flavours in Indian food.
Here's our simple Indian dinner party guide.
I like the idea of an informal starter comprised of several dishes, for people to pick and choose, this allows the timid to choose carefully, and if you have vegetarian guests they don't have to have a ‘specially' prepared plate of their own.
- Vegetable samosa - Crunchy pastry wrapped around a spicy filling of peas, carrots, potato and cauliflower.
- Onion Bhaji - Deep fried spicy onion fritters.
- Poppadoms and pickles - Delicious wafer thin pancakes made from Urid dhal and rice flours fried until crispy.
- Lamb kofta - A hot and spicy lamb patty.
- Coriander yogurt dipping sauce - A perfect cooling yogurt and herb accompaniment to any of the starter.
For the main course I find it best to have a range of dishes and accompaniments. That way guests can mix and match dishes. I like to have a mix of vegetarian and meat dishes, and also tomato and cream based sauces.
- Chicken Dopiaza - Chicken in mildly spicy onion and tomato based sauce.
- Vegetable and paneer Pista Passander - Fresh vegetables and Paneer, which is an Indian cheese made simply by straining milk that has been curdled with lemon juice, cooked in a fragrant sweet nutty sauce.
- Naan bread - A traditional bread eaten in many regions of India, traditionally cooked in a tandoor oven.
- Pliau rice - A fragrant delicately spiced rice dish, perfect with curry.
Indian deserts are incredibly sweet, you can buy a wonderful variety at your local Indian sweet centre. The recipe I have given is for an Anglo Indian desert. Using the flavours and spices of India to give a twist to a British dish.
- Cardamom Crème brulee - An Indian twist on the classic custard and caramelised sugar desert.
Try a Coconut and mango Lassi, a cooling Indian yogurt drink. The compound in chilli that makes your eyes water and your throat burn is capsaicin. Capsaicin is not water soluble but fat soluble so drinking water when your mouth's on fire may seem like a good idea but in fact all you are doing is swilling the chilli around your mouth. The fat in the yogurt and coconut milk takes the chilli out of your mouth instantly cooling you poor palette.
- Coconut and Mango Lassi and a Lassi Cocktail. - The traditional way of cooling your palette after a curry.
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