What's on the Grill #104
Fragrant Beef Curry with Naan! OK, although none of this may sound "grilled", I did in fact use the grill for the entire meal. The curry took up the side burner and the Naan was grilled on the stone. Too bad it was 28 degrees outside and sleeting.
The only reason I made curry tonight was because I wanted to make Naan. About a year ago, Wendy gave us an English bread cookbook put out by the Women's Institute (The WI is the same organization that spawned the group that raised money by dropping their clothes for charity. Their exploits eventually made it into the movie Calendar Girls). Anyway, tucked away in this book was a Naan recipe that has been calling my name for some time.
For the curry I turned to a recipe found on Epicurious.
Fragrant Beef Curry
Adapted From Epicurious
2 pounds well-trimmed boneless beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large onions, sliced
6 whole cloves
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 cinnamon sticks
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 large tomatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons Major Grey chutney
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons in a large pot over high heat. Brown the beef. It takes about 7 minutes. Transfer the beef to a plate or bowl with a slotted spoon.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the same pot. Lower the heat to medium and add the onions. Sauté the onions until tender and brown. Return the beef to the pot. Add cloves, garlic, cinnamon sticks, bay leaf and dried red pepper to pot; stir 1 minute. Stir in milk, tomatoes, chutney, lemon juice, ginger, curry powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until beef is tender.
Unfortunately, my side burner has two settings: high and even higher. Fine temperature control is not what it is made for. For that reason, I cooked the curry for about 1 1/2 hours. My simmer was more of a boil.
Naan
Taken from Breads and Bakes p.26
11 oz white flour
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons easy blend yeast (quick rise)
3 tablespoons natural yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons sunflower oil
150 ml hand-hot water
Stir together the flour, salt and baking powder into mixing bowl.
Stir in the yeast. Add the yogurt, oil and water to form a soft dough.
Knead until smooth and elastic.
Place in a clean (Duh! Do you really have to spell that out? When I cook I tend not to look for the next pot on the dirty side of the sink.), greased bowl, cover and leave to rise until doubled in size.
Knock down, divide the dough into four and roll each piece into an oval 8 x 6 inches. Leave to prove for 15 minutes.
Place your grill stone in your oven and preheat your grill on high, leaving the burners directly below the stone on low. Let the grill get as hot as you can. Cook the bread on each side for approximately 3-4 minutes, or until gold and puffy...or so.
Final thoughts: The curry was surprisingly good. Although I felt it could have used a little more heat, Wendy thought it was just fine.
I wished I had read the reviews ahead of time, as many suggested replacing the milk with coconut milk. I think I will try that on the next round. We topped our curry with some fresh yogurt and it really complimented the dish nicely. However, the true winner tonight was the Naan. It was incredibly easy to make and grill and it soaked up the curry nicely. I think it would be a great party food too.