Cute miniature Curry Pot from Swiedebie

Some of you might have remembered the big buzz on Singapore's Cook-a-pot-of-Curry Day in August. Coincidentally at the Facebook event page I stumbled upon an independent designer Swee from Swiedebie who designed and handmade this super cute miniature Curry Pot. Its really tiny and everything was so carefully hand stitched. This Curry Pot measures about 3.5cm across and comes with a removable lid. Can you imagine how tiny those little pieces of ingredients in the curry are?

Miniature Curry Pot from Swiedebie

Super cute right? I just had to order it right away the moment I saw Swee's pictures! To tell the truth, this picture of mine (which I took immediately when I received it ) doesn't do it justice - It looked waaaaay better in real :D Check out her website and much better pictures here

Based in the Netherlands, Swiedebie is a regular participant in craft fairs all over the country, from Amsterdam to Utrecht and much more. For international customers, Swiedebie can also be found in Etsy. Everything in the shop is so sweet and cute, right up to the packaging and the tiniest details. Here is how my packaged arrived:

Handmade Packaging from Swiedebie

Swiedebie - handmade cuteness

Handmade cuteness! How true is it! Right up to the smallest detail!

SweeTreats a sweet jewelry collection by Swiedebie

Here's where you can find Swiedebie: http://swiedebie.blogspot.com/ . More projects can also be found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/swiedebie. Do check for updates because collections from her etsy shop changes very regularly. Happy Shopping!

Prawn Curry - Curry in a Hurry

Here is one of the many recipes for Prawn Curry. This curry dish is quick and easy to make and is especially popular with prawn lovers. You can also replace the prawns with sliced calamari for a quick Calamari Curry.

Serving Suggestion: Prawn Curry

Ingredients (A)

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion (chopped)
1 tomato (chopped)
1 green chilli
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
1 sprig mint leaves
1 teaspoon chilli powder
5-6 peppercorn

- Heat the oil in pan and then add the chopped onion. Fry till brown.

- Add the chopped tomatoe and stir fry it for 1 minute.

- Add the rest of ingredients and fry for 2 minutes. Keep aside to cool. After its cooled, grind it into a smooth paste and set aside. This is the masala paste for this dish.

Ingredients (B)

2 tablespoon oil
4-5 curry leaves
1/2 onion (chopped)
1/4 tomato (chopped)
250grams prawns (de-shelled and de-veined)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Corriander leaves for garnishing

- Heat oil in saucepan. Add curry leaves, chopped onion and stir-fry till fragrant.

- Add chopped tomato and add the grinded masala paste. Fry for about 2 minutes.

- Add the prawns and salt. Give it a quick stir and close the lid for a few minutes.

- Garnish with corriander leaves and serve immediately.

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North Kerala Egg Curry

Here is a recipe for a mild Malabar Egg Curry. This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients A:
3 eggs boiled, shelled and cut into halves
2 large onions, sliced
1 cup thick coconut milk (santan)
1 cup thin coconut milk
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
A pinch of tumeric powder
1 teaspoon of store bought garam masala ( or pound/grind together 1 cardamom + 1 small piece cinnamon + 2 cloves)
Salt to taste



Ingredients B
2 teaspoon cooking oil
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
a few curry leaves

How to:

-Heat oil in a saucepan and and add the rest of the ingredients in Ingredient B. This process is called tempering.

-When the mustard seeds start to pop, add in the onions and fry until they turn golden brown.

-Add the chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and tumeric. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add the ginger garlic past and fry for another 1-2 minute.

-Add the thin coconut milk and reduce flame to low. Bring to boil and let it cook for about 2-3 mins, stirring occasionally.

-While keeping fire on low, add the thick coconut milk and the prepared eggs. Add salt, bring it to a boil and quickly remove from heat. Try not to over-boil at this stage because the coconut milk will start to seperate.

-Serve warm with rice, rotis, papadums or puttus.

Pappadums

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Cook a pot of Curry Day 21 August 2011 - Simple Garam Masala Powder

As part of a protest which stems from Singapore, (which you can read about from here ) I have decided to post my favourite recipes featuring Curry spices. Over the next few days,  I'll try to put up different recipes on how to make your own Curry Spice mixes.


So here it goes:

Simple Garam Masala Powder
This spicemix is good for almost all types of meat and vegetable curry dishes.


First get hold of equal portions of the following ingredients:
-green cardamom
-black cardamom
-peppercorns  (whole black pepper or whole black/green/pink/white pepper)
-caraway seeds (which is quite similar to fennel and cumin seeds)

 Simply dry roast all ingredients together and then grind them into powder. After they are cooled, simply store them in air-tight containers till you need the Garam Masala powder.

The way I see this spicemix is that it's one of those multi-purpose ingredient. I use it for almost everything, from marinating meats, to making gravy out of it, to throwing it over my stir-frys. Every family has their own versions, every region has their own versions, and even different brands can taste completely different. 


And to top it all, there's even different spice mixes for different dishes (check out the right sidebar) and sometimes they go by different names as well. Sounds complicated? Nah, its not that complicated actually because there's never any hard and fast rules when it comes to cooking. What is the most important is that you or your love ones get to enjoy your cooking :) 


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I've included some pictures, since these ingredients might be named differently in different countries.

Green and Black Cardamom

Black and White Peppercorn

Black, Green, Pink, White Peppercorn

Caraway seeds (aka Meridian Fennel or Persian Cumin)

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