Midweek Meals: Five comforting curry recipes to try this week

There's nothing like a delicious curry to warm you up on a winter evening 

Some of these dishes are ready in under 30 minutes.

Lamb Curry

recipe by:Derval O'Rourke

The most amazing recipe to dig into after an autumn walk.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 lime, zest and juice

• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

• 800g diced lamb

• 3 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 onion finely chopped

• 1 tbsp medium curry powder

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tin of coconut milk

• 2 tbsp tomato puree

• 1 tbsp tabasco (optional for those that like heat)

• 1 tbsp honey

• chopped fresh coriander to garnish

• brown rice or couscous to serve

Method

1. Mix the lime zest, juice and garlic in a large bowl.

2. Add the lamb and use your hands to massage the marinade into the meat.

3. Cover and leave in the fridge for 2 hours.

4. Heat the coconut oil in a large casserole over a medium heat.

5. Add the onion and cook for about five minutes.

6. Cook the lamb in batches in the casserole, until browned on each side.

7. Stir in the curry powder and cumin and cook for 1 minute.

8. Stir in the coconut milk, tomato puree, tabasco and honey and cook for another 5 minutes.

9. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for at least 1 hour.

10. Stir occasionally and add a little water if the curry seems dry.

11. Ladle the curry into warmed serving bowls and sprinkle over the coriander. Serve with brown rice or couscous.

Goan Prawn Curry

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

Seafood is wonderful in a Gaon style curry, but you can substitute chicken for the prawn if you prefer.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Indian

Ingredients

• For the curry paste:

• 1 tsp whole or ground black peppercorns

• 1 tsp whole or ground cumin

• 1 tbsp whole or ground coriander

• 1 tsp chilli powder or 4 dried red chillies

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tsp brown sugar

• juice of half a lime

• 40g desiccated coconut

• 250 ml coconut milk

• For the curry:

• 2tbsp coconut oil

• 1 onion

• 6 cloves of garlic

• 2 cm fresh ginger root

• 250g tomatoes

• 1 tsp salt

• 200g raw king prawns

• 6 leaves of fresh basil

Method

1. Begin by making your curry paste. In the ingredients list, I have given quantities for both ground and whole spices. Ground spices are a bit more convenient but freshly roasted and ground spices always give the best flavour, so if you have dried red chillies, whole coriander and cumin seed and black peppercorns to hand, swap those for the ground versions.

2. Roast one tablespoon of coriander seed, one teaspoon each of black peppercorns and cumin seed and four dried red chillies in a dry pan over a medium heat until they are fragrant, about three minutes will do it.

3. Grind them to a powder in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. Put all the spices, along with the coconut milk, desiccated coconut, lemon juice, sugar and lime juice into a food processor and blitz to a smooth paste. Set aside for now.

4. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and grate the garlic and ginger. Grate the tomatoes into a bowl using the coarse side of a box grater, discarding the skins you will be left with when you get to the end of each tomato. If you prefer, you can finely chop the tomatoes, but I find grating them quicker and easier and they also incorporate into the sauce more smoothly.

5. Heat the coconut oil in a pan over a high heat. If you do not have any coconut oil, you can substitute rapeseed or olive oil. Reduce the heat to medium and add the chopped onion. Sauté the onion for about three minutes until it is soft and translucent.

6. Add the grated garlic and ginger and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another two minutes taking care not to burn the garlic and ginger. Reduce the heat a little if needs be. Next, add the grated tomatoes. Stir to combine everything well and bring to the boil before reducing to a simmer and covering the pan. Simmer for five minutes.

7. Add the curry paste and the salt and bring the sauce back to a soft boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer once again, cover with a lid and cook for twelve to fifteen minutes. After that time, the sauce will have reduced just a little and deepened in colour.

8. Next, add the raw prawns to the pan. Stir to coat the prawns in the sauce and cook them for three to four minutes depending upon the size of the prawns. They take just minutes to cook perfectly, so be careful not to overcook them or they will become tough and lose their lovely sweet, juicy flavour.

9. Finally, roughly chop the basil and stir that through the curry. Taste and add more season if needed. Serve with boiled rice and some poppadom for a bit of crunch or with naan breads.