Fresh asparagus is something of a luxury and combining it with Indian spices might sound like sacrilege: however, I urge you to try it. I find it incredibly good eating and could happily enjoy it twice a week during the all-too-brief asparagus season. Because it is a bit of a luxury, I make the cashew nut cream, that these white curries usually contain.
The onions, garlic and ginger are meant
to be ground to a paste in a blender. However, this means that you need to wash and dry the blender just before making the cashew cream. I find this a bit of a bother and simply dice the onion very
finely and use ginger and garlic pastes. I don't think that the onions intrude.
Matar, by the way, means peas, so they
are, strictly, essential. otherwise it will be simply asparagus malai. I use freeze-dried peas – essential voyagers’
provisions. You could leave them out, I suppose, but they add interest to the appearance.
I have made this curry several times and adore it. If you’re not fond of too much chilli, leave out the
chillies and simply use the Kashmiri chilli powder. It is so good that I could probably eat both servings at one sitting and other people also scrape their plate clean. Because of this, it's worth adding chickpeas or white beans to make it more filling. either that or have rice and roti! Moreover, as it is spectacularly
delicious, it's difficult not to eat the full two servings oneself and
I've taken to adding chickpeas to it. However, if serving it for guests, the beans do detract slightly, so
maybe just splurge on more asparagus. In my opinion, this is not a
curry to serve with a dal, or another curry, because I want to
appreciate its uniqueness.
Unfortunately, it still doesn't end up white. I shall just have to try it with cauliflower!
Serves 2
Ingredients
one bunch of asparagus - about a dozen stalks
1/4 cup cashew nuts plus water for blending
1½ tbsp ghee or oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 small piece mace
1 or 2 green chillies,
chopped
1 small onion, finely
diced
1/2 tsp ginger paste
2 garlic cloves, finely
diced or 1/2 tsp garlic paste
2 green cardamoms,
seeds only
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli
powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp water
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup freeze-dried
peas soaked in 1/4 cup hot water
1/4 tsp ground white
pepper or black, if that’s all you have
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp kasuri methi
(dried fenugreek leaves)
Method:
- Trim the ends of the asparagus and cut it into pieces about 35mm/1.5 in long.
- Put the cashews in a blender and grind them to a powder. Than add 1/4 cup of water and blend until you have a smooth liquid.
- Heat the ghee in a heavy-based saucepan and sizzle the cumin seeds and mace.
- Add the chilli and cook for a few moments.
- Now add the onion, ginger, garlic, cardamom seeds, coriander, chilli powder and salt. Cook for a couple of minutes, lower the heat and add the water. (This is to stop the vegetables browning). Cook until the onions, etc are soft adding a drop more water if necessary.
- Now raise the heat once more, add the asparagus and cook for a few minutes, ensuring that it is well-covered in the ghee/spice/aromatics mixture.
- Add the peas and any remaining water.
- Cook for another four or five minutes and then stir in the cashew cream and cinnamon and bring everything to a very gentle boil. I usually find I need to add more water, so you could rinse out the blender with a couple of tbsp water and add that to the pot. Now turn the heat right down until the mixture is barely simmering and add the pepper.
- Put a lid on and simmer until the asparagus is cooked. Remove the lid so that the sauce can thicken to the consistency you want, then add the methi and garam masala. Cook very gently for another couple of minutes.
Serve with roti, brown basmati rice, or
cumin rice if you prefer.
Notes:
- Whole mace, unlike the ground variety, has a surprisingly intense flavour. If you’re not used to using it, be careful how much you add. I use a piece about the size of an almond.
Variations:
- If cashews are too expensive or unobtainable, you can use blanched peanuts instead.
- Use yoghurt instead of cashew nut cream.
- If you want to end up with a smoother sauce, add the onion, ginger, garlic, and green chilli to a blender or food processor and blend to make a rough paste. Add this paste to the pan, after you've fried the cumin and mace.
- For a more filling meal, add ½ cup chickpeas or white beans, soaked, cooked and drained. Or a can.
- This is quite a quick meal to make because you can just add everything in order, stirring to ensure that it’s all mixed, as you don’t want the fried vegetables and spices to turn brown.
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