Easter with a full belly!

Easter sunday was spent packing up our house, and then in the evening we had a delicious roast duck dinner with Carolanne and her fella... I bought along hot cross bun bread and butter pudding, and hot cross bun ice cream... 

A mountain of potatoes, seasoned with maldon salt, parmesan, pepper and chives...

Delicious roasted (in duck fat no less!) purple carrot, parsnip and potatoes a la Carolanne.

Bread and butter pud before the custard went on.

 The fab local produce I used to make the BnB pud. Amazing milk and cream from Sunnydale (available from Subiaco Farmers Market, Farmer Jacks in Subiaco, The Herdsman in Wembley, amongst other places).

I also had a go at making honey madelines, without a madeline tin! I just used a "muffin top" tray instead. They were pretty tasty..

Hope you all had a great long weekend, a happy easter and are managing to move after all the delicious food that was eaten!

Ria Malaysian - Leederville

I was hungover, but pretending to be perky and upbeat. I had spent the entire afternoon handing out brochures and menus at the Beaufort St Festival, and was totally knackered and over being super nice and friendly. I didn't want to cook. I didn't want to face a mess in the kitchen. Thats it! Were going out for dinner! NOW! I was starving. I hadn't eaten since 10am.


I didn't know what I wanted to eat so S took  me to Ria Authentic Malaysian in Leederville, because its one of the only places there that we hadn't been to yet. Their doors were open, their tables were mostly set, but we couldn't go in because they didn't open for another 10 minutes. All I wanted to do, was sit and drink some water. 10 minutes and one short session of sitting on the pavement later, we were allowed in. We ordered quickly, having the Pork Rib Nibbles for a starter. How can you not order it with a name like that?! 

These were pretty tasty, sticky bbq-y tasted just like they should, and the dipping sauce was nice - but I felt the size of the dish was on the small side, considering its $16.50. I also felt they didn't have loads of meat on them - now I know that a rib is a bone and that will constitute some part of the nibbles. However I felt that there was alot more bone than meat, and I've had really meat ribs before, but these ones weren't that meaty. Again, for $16.50 I thought we'd get more meat on the bone. I guess they weren't joking when they said they were nibbles!


For mains, S ordered the beef vindaloo (which is Portuguese in origin according to the menu), and I ordered Mums Loh Ak, braised caramalised duck, which had come recommended to me by a chef friend of mine who knows one of the Ria chefs. We also ordered Nasi Kunyit to share (yellow rice spiced with turmeric, star anise and cloves).  S asked the waitress what did "Portuguese in origin" mean in regards to a vindaloo. He orders the vindaloo ALL the time, so knows what he likes, and is well versed in the Indian version, but was curious about the Portuguese style of vindaloo. Our waitress couldn't tell us, and asked uncertainly if we'd like her to check with the chef - we said yes, and off she went. She came back and said they used Portuguese spices rather than Indian ones. Right, so were none the wiser on that front! 


However the lovely Yvonne of Red Hot Spatula Catering (@RHSpatula on Twitter!) has read the blog and has been able to clear up what a "Portuguese Vindaloo" actually means! She is a wealth of knowledge on Asian food and is often my go to person when I have questions!


"There is a big portuguese influence in Malaysian and Singaporean curries thanks to the hordes that migrated decades ago. The curries are now Portuguese influence or Eurasian Influenced (which is my heritage). So in some restaurants they will have vindaloos with beef (as Indian ones can't be done with beef) or other curries like Devil Curry, Prawn and Pineapple Curry etc..... which is all part of the Portugues OR Eurasian culture derived from Malaysia and Singapore.


Vindaloo in India is done with Lamb (as hindus can't eat beef). Vindaloo in Malaysia and Singapore are generally served using beef as the main protein and sometimes pork (more so in Singapore as pork won't be so popular in Malaysia due to the Muslim differences). From my taste comparisons Malaysian Vindaloo has a stronger vinegar taste to it, but that may be just the recipe. I personally would say that the main differences are the proteins used with a mild spice difference. Google Eurasian Vindaloo or Malaysian Vindaloo and it'll pop up predominantly beef and pork recipes while Indian Vindaloo pops up with Lamb."


This conversation has continued on Twitter with Jesse (@good_drop also has a great wine blog Good Drop), who is a self confessed curry nerd, telling me that Vindaloos originated in the Indian state of Goa, as it was colonised by the Portuguese and it was a variation on a dish made with pork, red wine vinegar and garlic. The Indians used pork, coconut vinegar, garlic and Kashmiri chillies. He speculates that it was usually made with fairly mild Kashmiri chillies, but when taken out of India, these chillies weren't as easily available and so regular HOT chillies were used instead, which is where it gets it's searing heat from. Interestingly, Goa is one of the only places in India that use pork! 


Thanks to all those who have been able to answer this question for me! I've learned so much since posting this!

S enjoyed his vindaloo, but mentioned that if we came back, he wouldn't order it again. There are plenty of places he said did a better one, and he'd try something else next time. In saying that, he finished it, and it was nice enough! I didn't taste it, so I cant comment personally on what it was like - that's something for you to judge for yourself!

My duck was nice, but not amazing. Like S, if I went back again I would order something else. It was very sticky and the flavour was dominated by spices, the sauce, thick and syrupy. I did enjoy it, maybe it just wasn't what I expected or felt like, I'm not sure, but it wasn't rave worthy. Not unpleasant, or untasty, or anything like that. It just didn't win me over.

The rice tasted how you expect it to taste, spiced, with a sweet bite of raisin every now and again. It was good to soak up the sauce from the vindaloo but I didn't really have much sauce, so mopping up of sauce wasn't happening on my side of the table! Was good rice, but Ive not often had a rice dish that wows me...


Overall, despite the fact we weren't wowed by Ria, I would go back. Alot of people have said good things about them, they are always  booked out, and I think I should try something that I would normally order so it could make a more accurate impression upon me. 


Other noteworthy blogs who have come here are; 


Juji Chews (what she ordered was far more to my liking!)
Foodie Cravings (seemed to have a similar experience to ours!)
Hold the Beef (ordered similar to us so worth comparing!) 

Chicken Vindaloo - Madhur Jaffreys Ultimate Curry Bible

My darling S loves his curries, and he can be won over in an instant, when he comes home and smells a curry I become the best person ever ever ever! I decided to have a flip through Madhur Jaffreys book, the Ultimate Curry Bible, which I still havent cooked from! Its got such a great array of recipes in that book, for any lover of curry and spice its definately a book you want to look at.

I was looking through the poultry section because I had chicken breast in the fridge that needed using... I know that chicken breast isnt the best thing to be using in a curry because they dry out so easily, but we had planned on just grilling them for wraps but plans changed! I settled on the duck vindaloo, because I had everything I needed for it, and S loves vindaloos and orders it ALL the time, so I knew he'd be happy after a long day nerding out at uni! Ok so I had everything I needed cept duck... I subbed chicken. Ill let you know how that went later in the post!

First things first, heres the recipe!

Duck vindaloo

Serves 6

Ingredients

1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp bright red paprika
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
4 tbsp corn or peanut oil
1 x 2.7kg duck, jointed and partially skinned
1/2 tsp whole brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp whole fenugreek seeds
15 fresh curry leaves, if available
2 medium onions, about 285g, peeled and sliced into fine half-rings
2 tbsp peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
10 medium cloves garlic, peeled and crushed to a pulp
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
120ml cider vinegar
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

Method

Mix together the turmeric, cumin, paprika, coriander, cayenne pepper and garam masala in a small bowl and set aside.

Pour the oil into a large, wide, lidded pan and set over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in as many duck pieces, skin side down, as the pan will hold easily in a single layer. Lightly brown the duck, about 3-4 minutes per side, and remove to a bowl. Brown all the duck pieces this way and remove.

  

Add the mustard and fenugreek seeds to the hot fat and, as soon as the mustard seeds start to pop, which will happen in a matter of seconds, put in the curry leaves and onions. Stir and fry them until the onions begin to turn brown at the edges. 

Now put in the ginger and garlic. Stir and fry for a minute. Add the mixed spices from the small bowl and stir for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until they have softened. Scrape the bottom of the pan as you do this.

Now add the browned duck pieces, the vinegar, salt, sugar and 475ml water. Stir and bring to the boil. 

Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook gently for 45 minutes, lifting the lid occasionally to stir. 

Increase the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, a bit more vigorously, stirring more frequently, for a further 30 minutes or until the duck is tender and the sauce has thickened slightly. Remove as much fat as possible before serving.

Leftovers ready for lunch tomorrow! S had coriander and fresh chilli all over his but it was spicy enough for me without the chilli and I haaaaaaaaaaate coriander!!

NOTES:

Now, I changed this recipe slightly as I had no duck and used chicken instead. I found that there was too much vinegar in this recipe for the chicken. If it were duck Im sure it would have been fine, because its so fatty and you need something acidic to cut through the richness, but the chicken, and chicken breast mind, has very little fat and its not necessary to have that much vinegar. I would cut it down to 50ml next time and add more if I need it. If you choose to follow the recipe to the letter then youll find the vinegar far too strong, I had to add more sugar and more tomatoes. It was still a touch too vinegary - but it was still really nice, S actually said he really liked it that way. 

I cooked this FAR less than the recipe stated. Chicken breasts cant take being cooked for the length of time specified so I halved it. Breast isnt really the best meat for this recipe, because the sauce benefits from being allowed to thicken up and by that time the chicken has dried out a bit. I would recommend using meat on the bone for this recipe, or at the very least, thighs. It came out fine, but for me, being a bit picky, I noticed the dryness. I knew it was going to be a bit dry but had a go anyway - always the optimist!

Being that I didnt use duck, when I was frying off the spices there wasnt enough oil in the pan to do it properly, due to the lack of duck fat. Next time Id add a bit more when frying the spices, not much but just enough to wet the pan a bit more.

Smaller things, I used spring onions instead of white onions as theyre just what I had. I also used canned tomatoes rather than fresh as I didnt have any - it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I needed to use the extra liquid that the canned toms have to counter the vinegar! 

I also found out that I had no cayenne pepper - I thought I had some, I might do, but the state of my tiny little pantry cupboard, I wouldnt be surprised if its in there I just have no idea where it is! Instead I used ground chillies, as the cayenne was the only thing providing heat, so chilli seemed a suitable substitution.

Looking back I really didnt have everything, did I?!

Anyway this was a really nice curry, S loved it, it was nice and saucy and I think its very versatile - it would be great with duck obviously, as well as lamb or beef. It was really simple to make and once youve got the indian spices its a real pantry, stand by meal. Its a sauce that can handle being cooked down alot longer than I cooked it, so would work well with cheaper cuts of meat that need longer slower cooking.

Id be happy to make this recipe again - however there are so many others in the book that Id like to try I dont know when Ill get round to it!