Burma
Today while rummaging through our freezer I came across a pheasant. I immediately thought that it would make a nice curry for a change and came up with this Burmese Curry recipe that had originally been designed for chicken. Burmese curries generally have fresh onion (which provides the gravy and main body of the curry), Indian spices and red chillies. Usually, meat and fish are the main ingredients for popular curries. Generally there are two types of Burmese Curries hot spicy dishes which exhibit north Indian or Pakistani influence, and the milder 'sweet' curries. Burmese curries almost overwhelmingly lack coconut milk, setting them apart from most southeast Asian curries
ingredients
- 1 pheasant, cut through the centre and the legs removed
- 1 tsp cinnamon stick (ground)
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp chilli pepper (ground red)
- 2 medium onions
- 3 garlic cloves
- ginger root, 1" length
- 2 green chillies
- 6 tbsps oil
- 6 curry (leaves)
- 750 ml vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- juice of a lime
- 4 or 5 cabbage leaves finely shredded
- 250g small potatoes
- 1 cup of rice - TOP POT
- 2 cups of water - TOP POT
method
- Mix all the ground spices and salt together, and rub it into the pheasant pieces. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.
- Purée the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli.
- Heat the oil in the inner pot and add the pheasant pieces and cook until they start to brown.
- When browned remove them and place on a plate.
- Add the onion mixture and fry for 3 minutes.
- Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Once boiling add the pheasant and all the rest of the ingredients except for the rice and water.
- Bring back to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes while you start the rice in the top pot by adding the rice and water then bringing to the boil. Once boiling simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Place the top pot in the inner pot and transfer the inner pot to the insulated outer container.
- Shut the lid and leave to thermal cook without power for 3 to 4 hours.
Continue reading about Burmese Pheasant Curry cooked in Mr D’s Thermal Cooker
With India on the West, China on its northern most borders and Thailand is eastern neighbour it is little wonder that Burma’s food is something of a hybrid.
Burmese curries are cooked in a particular way, pureed onions, garlic and ginger are cooked in oil until they are tender and have taken on a little colour, then seasoning - in particular turmeric and usually chilli powder are added and fried further until the paste is thick and the oil has begun to cook back out the onions, forming a golden or red pool on the surface.
Beef, pork, poultry and fish are the principal ingredients used in curry making. The Burmese prefer freshwater fish to those from the sea, but Burma have plenty available from both sources.
Rice and soup are the pivotal dishes at a Burmese meal.
This Burmese beef and okra curry takes a little time to prepare but it’s worth the effort.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg beef, cut into 3 cm cubes
- 250g of small potatoes
- 175g okra, trimmed
- 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 300 ml beef stock
- 200 ml coconut milk
METHOD
- Process the onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, paprika and chilli in a food processor to form a thick paste. This can be done in a pestle and mortar if you do not have a processor at hand.
- In the inner pot heat the vegetable and sesame oil.
- Add to be processed onion mixture and cook on a low heat for about 15 minutes. The paste should be a golden brown colour with oil forming around the edges when it is cooked.
- Add the beef and cumin. Stir making sure that it is well coated with the onion mixture.
- Add the beef stock coconut milk and stir well. Bring to the boil.
- Turn down the heat and allow to simmer five minutes.
- Turn off the heat and put the inner pot into outer insulated container.
- Shut the lid and leave to thermal cook without power for a minimum of three hours. The time will depend on the cut of beef. Cheaper cuts will require longer cooking.
- Before serving check the seasoning.
- Serve with rice or noodles.
Continue reading about Mr D’s CURRY WEEK – Burmese Beef Curry Cooked in Mr D’s Thermal Cooker
