Asparagus matar malai - asparagus white curry

 

Some time ago I adapted/created a mushroom white curry - mushroom matai malai - and have become addicted to it.  While having all the glorious flavours of curry, it is also quite different from most other Indian recipes that I've tried.  I have also found it a good meal to serve to guests, because it is one of those recipes that can be half made, set aside and then quickly completed when you're ready to eat.  However, I found it frustrating that the curry always came out brown, rather than white and because I can't find oyster mushroom locally, have just had to put up with it.  However, when the asparagus season started and I found myself wondering how to cook it, it occurred to me that it might go well in this white curry sauce.

 

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 occasionally added white beans or  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.
  Mushrooms also go very well in this sauce.

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.  I have to admit that they do rather take away from the rather luxurious consistency of the sauce.
• 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. 
• Leave out the peas, if you don't have any.  Or substitute with some green beans.
• Try with cauliflower, cooking florets until just tender and then adding them once you've made the sauce.
• Courgettes could replace the asparagus, but I recommend only using baby ones: larger ones produce too much liquid.  
• I haven't tried this with broccoli, but it should work with young tender florets.  Broccoli can have a strong flavour which would overwhelm the sauce. 

 You will find more recipes like this here

 

Cream of asparagus soup

This luxurious soup can be made from whole asparagus. However, the following recipe allows you to have your asparagus and eat it, so to speak, because it’s made from the trimmings.

The best way to trim asparagus is to bend each stalk as close to its base as you can. It will snap off just above the tough section.

Use 1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the salt.

Serves 4 as a first course

Ingredients

 

The trimmings from a bundle of asparagus

2 cups water

1 onion

1 garlic clove

1/4 cup tbsp butter/olive oil

1 tbsp flour*

salt and pepper

1 tbsp lemon juice

 fresh parsley, if available

6 tbsp thick (vegan) cream

Method:

• Cook the trimmed asparagus: put it on a raised trivet in your pressure cooker, so that it isn’t immersed, and pour in 2 cups water. (You could stand it on end to do this, but might need to cut it to size.) Bring to pressure and cook for 1 minute. Reduce pressure rapidly if you like crisp asparagus, naturally if you like it soft. Put the asparagus to one side for another dish. Pour the water into a jug or bowl and set aside.
• Cut the trimmings into 2 cm/1 in lengths.
• Finely dice the onion and garlic. Melt the butter/oil in the pressure cooker, add the onion and garlic and stir it until it’s all covered in melted butter. Lower the heat, cover the pan and cook gently for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are softened.
• Stir in the flour and mix.
• Add the reserved water that you used to cook the asparagus, together with the trimmings. Bring to pressure and cook for 10 minutes.
• Reduce pressure naturally and then mash with a potato masher. Then pass the resulting purée through a sieve to remove any stringy bits. Alternatively blend with a stick blender or food processor
• Return to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Taste and add the lemon juice and more water if you think it can take it.
• Add the parsley and bring back to the boil.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the cream.

Serve with croutons

 

Note:

*Use 1 tbsp gram flour for gluten free.

 

Variations:

• If you like to have bits of asparagus floating around in your soup, trim pieces from the ends of the cooked stalks and add these with the lemon juice.
• For a really thick and luxurious version, use all the asparagus.
  
• This soup can also be made successfully with canned asparagus. Purée the bottom ends of the stalks and keep the tips to chop up and add to the soup with the lemon juice.
  

Melba Toast

Wafer thin slices of toast go well with many dips and pâtés.  In fact, this recipe isn’t pukka Melba toast, but works well.

 

Serves 4

 

 10 very thin slices of bread

 

Method:

• Put the toaster over a medium flame and cook individual pieces of bread until they are crisp. You will almost certainly need to use tongs for this, because they get very hot.

or

• Preheat the oven to Moderate.  Spread as much bread as you can fit, onto a lightly greased baking sheet. 
• Put this in the oven and after 2 or 3 minutes, turn the bread over. Watch it carefully during the next few minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn and take it out as soon as it’s crisp. It may tend to curl up, but this doesn’t really matter.

Variation:

• After greasing the sheet, rub a cut garlic clove over it. Repeat between batches, if needs be.

Avocado and cheese pâté

I invented this on the spur of the moment one evening in Trinidad. We had invited some friends round for drinks and I wanted fairly substantial nibbles, so that no-one would need to cook more than a light meal after they left. I had a ripe avocado on board, but none of the other ingredients for Guacamole, which would have been my normal choice. However, this recipe worked so well that I reckoned it was worth adding to the repertoire!

Serves 4 for a starter

 

1 large, ripe avocado pear

at least 1/2 cup finely grated cheese

 1/4 tsp of hot sauce 

1 tbsp lime juice 

salt and pepper

 

Method:

• Cut the avocado pear in two, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh into a bowl.
• Add the grated cheese. A 1/2 cup is sufficient if the cheese is full-flavoured; add more if it’s very mild.
• Blend the avocado and cheese together with a broad-bladed knife, and add the hot sauce – use less if you don’t like your food too spicy.
• Blend in the lime juice and season the mixture. The result should be a soft pâté, almost like a dip.

Variation:

• Use lemon juice, if no lime is available.