Turmeric and curry recipes

[suze]

In Foods To Fight Cancer Prof Beliveau and Dr Gingas have 11 chapters on foods they call nutraceuticals: foods which are specifically good at targetting cancer.

I'm going to do a little thread on each one which sums up the value of the particular food or food group and then where we can add our own comments or recipes etc for each one.

[suze]

Turmeric
Anti-cancer spice: curcumin

Summary page 104
1. Black pepper is essential alongside turmeric intake, increases its absorption by 1000.

2. Tumeric is almost exclusively eaten in India, where there are far fewer incidences of some cancers than in N. America. These facts may be linked.

3. Add a teaspoon of turmeric to soup / salad / something / every day to help prevent cancer developing.

It operates in various ways, not least, combating angiogenesis –> stopping a tumour creating new blood cells to feed itself (which is what Avastin does!)

link to more detail on research

[suze]

Today's funky new turmeric recipe:

Red Pepper Pilaf

serves 2:
5 oz grain ... I used this stuff we buy in France but think it'd do as well with brown rice, maybe millet?
or wholemeal pasta as well
1 stock cube (chicken or veg)
one onion, finely chopped
tbsp ghee
one red pepper, medium diced
1 tsp (or more) cumin seeds
2 tsp turmeric
good squeeze of balck pepper
8 oz frozen peas
1 or 2 ounces toasted almond slices
juice of one lemon
generous tablespoon of fresh chopped mint
three or four spring onions finely sliced

Boil your chosen grain in the stock until soft.

Meanwhile fry chopped onion in linseed oil until softening, then add the diced red pepper.

When both are nearly cooked add the turmeric, black pepper and cumin seeds and fry for a bit. If this seems too dry add a drop of water or stock to moisten.

Add frozen peas. Stir fry, add more moisture if it dries out too much, this dish is like a risotto and should be a bit moist, but not soupy.

When your grain is fully cooked tip it into the veg and spice mix and continue to stir and mix carefully.

When peas are warmed through (couple of minutes) add the lemon juice, mint and spring onion.

Do not cook any more --- enjoy hot or allow to cool.

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This is really fresh and lovely to eat. I grilled a few slices of tofu basted with soy sauce to serve alongside it, just to get the soya element into the week! I'd prefer it with a Middle Easter spinach-yogurt dish, or broccoli spears, I think. Soya slices are never going to be a favourite!

The pilaf would also be good with a few nuts stirred in at the end ... toasted almonds or hazlenuts would work well.

[suze]

tomato omlette

no kid, I added a tsp of turmeric to the tomatoes I fried for my omlette today, fried in little olive oil and ghee with extra black pepper, and it was, really, very good ..

very surprised!

[suze]

Spicy Mushrooms

3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp turmeric
black pepper
tsp of ginger from a jar!
salt
200g (8oz) mushrooms - I used chestnut ones - quartered
3 tbsp water

Fry garlic in oil for a minute to soften slightly
Add turmeric and pepper and sizzle for a few seconds
Add mushrooms, stir about briskly
Add water, ginger and salt .. bring to boil then simmer .. stirring often
When mushrooms are soft and cooked turn up heat to reduce liquid down to a very intense sauce that just coats the veg.

Serve on a bed of strong green leaves like watercress and rocket, or with a jacket spud for a quick lunch

[suze]

Turmeric Soup (aka lentil and tomato soup)
enough for 4 big portions (some today, some tomorrow!)

knob of ghee
two onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic - chopped
1" ginger finely chopped
4 tsps turmeric
lots of black pepper
8oz red lentils
3 carrots - chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
3 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 litre chicken or veg stock

handful fresh coriander leaves

Fry onion
When soft add garlic and ginger and soften further
Add turmeric and black pepper
Add stock and lentils and bring to boil
Cook until lentils are soft - about 20 mins
Add tomatoes and cook for further 5 minutes

Add chopped coriander leaves and blend until quite smooth. At this point you might need to add more water if it seems too thick, and salt to taste.

This is a soup with layers of flavour and made a lovely homely meal.

[anne]

I invented this pasta dish for lunch ..

for one ..

3 tsp or so of olive oil into a frying pan with half tsp tumeric, one large chopped clove of garlic, a small squirt of chilli (Encona or Tabasco)

Warm through so garlic softens - (Virgin olive oil burns easily)

Cook enough pasta for one

Drain and add to frying pan, stir around.

I added 1 tbs grated cheddar to go on top.

[suze]

Another Veg Curry

Made this last night, mainly leek and courgette, not traditional curry ingredients, but I've got to branch out!

One large leek washed and sliced
several garlic cloves sliced
inch or more of ginger, sliced
stock -- I used organic chicken, but whatever you want - just enough to cover leeks in the pan


2 tsp turmeric
lots of black pepper
two soup-spoons of Rogan Josh curry paste

Ghee or other oil
Large onion cubed
thick slice of white cabbage cubed
medium carrot, grated
two medium courgettes (scrape out seeds if the are a bit big) cut into chunky pieces

Start by simmering the leek in stock with the garlic and ginger.
/after a while add turmeric, pepper and curry paste
When leeks are tender use hand blender to make a puree

Fry the other veg briefly (cabbage, carrot onion and courgette) in ghee to warm / soften them a little then add these chunky veg to the leek puree -- use judgement about whether it needs more fluid or not, these veg will give out some lquid in the oven.

Put the whole lot in an oven dish and bake for an while ... not sure about the time or temp, but lowish heat for an hour or so should do it ...

Was really pleased with this, though I'm sure no Indian would cook this way .... it's got that anti-cancer quality in spades ... and it was yummy with a little brown rice

[suze]

Turmeric Capsules


When I'm on the move it's not always easy to get enough turmeric and black pepper every day ... so I take a few peppercorns in a little silver pill box and some capsules with me ..

I wouldn't use the capsules daily cos they are a ludicrous pcrice for what they are .. one of the cheapest spices on the shelf in the local Pak-Market .. AND it's more holistic to eat the spice with the onions, ginger and garlic as a curry in general .. but they are useful for travelling with:

Ayurveda Pura 60 Vegetarian Capsules Strength: 500mg Price: £6.95
(that's 3,000mg for 7 quid)

These are the ones sold in Anadi Anant by my yoga teacher -- it's turmeric in a gel capsule, which I prefer to a tablet which is a made-up thing not the pure stuff

Holland and Barret sell capsules too - 100 Capsules 400mg Now: £4.09
(thats 4,000mg for 4 quid)

[suze]

Reading around a bit about turmeric, I came across the opinion that it will not dissolve in water, but will dissolve in fat thus making it more easily available to your body ..

which makes sense cos the traditional way to cook it is frying before anything else is added .. so I am going to make sure I use fat with it all the time now ...
_{edit to add:}
but not linseed as I originally thought, cos linseed's properties are spoilt by heat - so use that for dressings not frying .. if any of hte recipes still say fry in linseed I will be using olive oil or ghee from now on!

[anne]

I put a little fat in the pan, then add turmeric (plus curry powder) - and it makes a kind of roux which can burn easily as it thickens, so I add a drop of water once it has solidified to stop it burning away.

I *have* been using much more turmeric since reading this thread, add it to shepherds pie, rice, soups, even bolognese sauce.

[suze]

I noticed myself that it acts like a flour for thickening when fried this way ...

glad to hear you're scoffing more of it, Anne, I would say we hardly notice it in savoury dishes .. generally! so not as hard as all that to increas intake, is it

[suze]

Chicken Curry a la me

Ingredients
Four good quality chicken legs ... ideally organic .. on the bone, skinned and cut into drumstick and thigh portions

ghee or other oil - as little as you can get away with to sear the meat

two medium onions - roughly chopped
inch or more chunk of ginger - roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic - roughly chopped
three tablespoons natural yogurt
handful flaked almonds
1/4 pint chicken stock (I use one organic cube with less water than they say!)

two heaped tsp turmeric
tsp black pepper
pinch salt
two level tsp fennel powder
two level tsp gram massala
1/2 tsp dried chilli
more oil to fry these spices

Method

Preheat oven gas mark 5

Fry skinned chicken portions to brown thoroughly.
Place chicken in casserole dish

Put onion, ginger, garlic, yogurt, flaked almonds, chicken stock into a blender.
Blend until quite smooth.

Add a little more oil to chicken juices, and fry the spices lightly.

Gradually add the blended onion and yogurt puree to the pan and heat through, mixing the spices well into a thickish sauce.

Pour sauce over chicken portions and place casserole in the oven gas mark 5

Cook for at least an hour until the meat is ready to fall off the bone. It will be nec. to stir during cooking as the sauce tends to seperate.

This goes very well with dwarf green beans and cauliflower.

I "invented" this today, roughly based on various recipes I've read recently .. we thought it was really good, and it has some strong anti-cancer elements with turmeric, garlic and ginger ..

I only cook with meat when Mr K is coming, but he missed this treat last night, as I was too tired to cook ...

[suze]

Another quick curry

Spinach and kidney bean
1 giant onion or 2 medium ones
5 cloves of garlic
bit of ghee
2 tsps of turmeric
black pepper
2 tablespoons of rogan josh curry spice paste
squirt of extra chill paste
tin of toms
tin of kidney beans
bag of spinach

Chop and fry onion and garlic in the ghee
When very soft, add the turmeric and black pepper
Fry a bit then add the rogan josh paste and chilli paste
Chuck in beans and toms, blend well and cook a bit to take rawness out of the curry paste .. can be left for a while at this stage -- may need to add water if it is a too thick or starts to stick.

When ready to serve stir in the spinach and cook for a little while until all leaves have wilted

This is quick, easy and surprisingly nice!

[suze]

Potato and Cauliflower Curry
This is roughly adapted from a Madhur J, recipe .. the seeds add a a good variety to the flavour, and it is a bit odd to do a dish without garlic, so it tastes quite different .. Iam keen to make sure my food doesn't all end up tasting the same!

10oz cooked new potatoes - cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cooked cauli (lightly steamed) in small florets
1 - 2 onions, chopped
8 - 10 oz fresh tomato (I used baked cherry toms, but any would do

ghee

grated ginger -- about an inch or two
2tsp fennel seeds
1 tps cumin seeds
1tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
chilli paste to taste
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black pepper


garam massalla

Fry chopped onions and grated ginger in ghee until soft ... part way through add the whole seeds of fennel and cumin

When onion is soft, stir in ground spices -- cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, chilli and salt

Add toms and cook / stir well to make a scant sauce - might need a little water too ..
Add cooked veg and warm through
Just before serving stir in the garam massala powder

We had this on its own .... after a starter of asparagus

Enjoyed it very much, actually ...