Korma Curry, Boat Style

 

I have often thought about the difference between what I do versus your standard urban food blogger, cooking in his or her five star kitchen. Complete with all the electricity and associated equipment. I have also thought at length about what I call in Afrikaans “afskeepkos”. Food made in negligence. I have gone so far as to post (or is it “pose”?) the question on my FaceBook wall, with some reaction.

The answer is not easy to find, as the term “afskeepkos” is a neologism, even in Afrikaans.

The proper answer needs to be researched and pondered, if you will.

The gist lies in the application of the mind in preparing food. Whatever food it is. Leftovers may look and taste like, well, leftovers. Or you can apply your mind and use those same leftovers in an altogether new dish.

Or you can use some of the stuff that you munch on before dinner as part of the dinner dish ingredients.

We are not here to discuss the vagaries of language and application of the mind, we need to cook up something simple for dinner on board. Using two pots and one burner. Perhaps this one will go down in history as having applied the mind.

Chicken Korma is one of the more well-known dishes in India. It is made with onions and cashews, along with the requisite spices. And it is extremely simple to make. If this dish takes more than fifteen minutes in preparation, you are doing something wrong.

The nominal recipe is to use the ingredients in the list below. There are a myriad variations and even my own version differs between batches. But they all taste exquisite.

This one is normally made in the kitchen at home, where you have access to a stick blender or equivalent. Aboard a small yacht there is none of that, hence this adaptation.

Ingredients

For the chicken

500 g (1 lb) de-boned chicken.
3 medium sized onions. More is better for this dish.
½ cup whole cashew nuts. Or one whole cup, but then the dish becomes very rich.
1 clove fresh garlic
1 fresh hot chilli
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
5 black peppercorns
1 cardamom pod, shedded
1½ teaspoon medium masala powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
Small stick cinnamon bark
1/4 teaspoon aniseed seeds.

Or combination of the above. The chillies, garlic, onions and cashews are not negotiable.

1 teaspoon green masala paste (recipe here)
1 teaspoon garum masala
bunch of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
spritz of fresh chives, chopped
some salt to taste
2 tablespoons butter

For the rotis

½ cup white or brown bread flour. I used brown bread flour
½ inch slice of a brick of butter
pinch of salt
¾ cup lukewarm water

Process

For the Chicken Korma

Fry the cashews in a dry pan until they are nice and brown. It works better if you have a cast iron saucepan or pot, because the pot heats the food from the side as well. The heat retention also helps with the rest period at the end. I used my 20cm Le Creuset saucepan for this.

Take them out and crush them as fine as you can get it. I used a coffee mug and the back ends of my kitchen knives. Keep the crushed cashews to one side. Add a dollop of butter to the pan and fry the dried whole spices until the flavour comes out. I use my mortar and pestle to grind the whole spices a little before frying them.

Add the grated onions and fry until they are nice and translucent, beginning to turn brown. This may be difficult as the onions will be very watery because you grated them. Add the chopped fresh chilli and and garlic and fry for another two minutes, then add the dry powder spices. I crushed the cashews while frying the onions to save time by multiplexing. Fry for another minute, then take it off the heat. Add the crushed cashews and a little water to make a batter-like sauce. Then put it back on the heat and bring to the boil.

In the home version you chop the onions coarsely, then fry them until they are brown. The spices are added as above. When everything is ready, the fried whole cashews are added back to the mix and blitzed with a stick blender to make the sauce, adding water as required.

The sauce can be quite thick, leading to burning if careless, so watch it. Add a little water if you get worried.

Now add the chicken. I cut the chicken into thickish slices, as opposed to cubes. They cook faster if they are thinner. Cook slowly until the chicken is tender. Add salt as required. Make sure you don't use too much water. The dish needs to be almost just runny when done. If it is too watery it becomes a mess to eat and most of the flavourful parts get left in your plate. When the dish is nicely done, add the garum masala, the chopped coriander (dhania), and the chopped chives. Put the lid on and set this lot aside to rest.

For the Rotis

This was one of my more successful experiments. The internet is a wonderful place if you understand that different folks have different names for the same stuff. Like rotis. Some call them flat breads, others call similar bread tortillas, even though they may not be made from corn flour.

Whatever the case, I used an idea from a recipe for tortillas. You rub the butter into the flour and add the salt to the warm water. Then add the water little by little to the flour making a very soft dough. This dough will be nice and elastic for only a short time, so work diligently. Knead the dough for five minutes until it becomes satiny. Then roll it into a long sausage about two inches thick (50mm). Cut this into 50mm sections to make small balls.

Roll each ball out into a small disk about 4mm thick. Bake in a dry pan on medium heat until it starts to puff, then turn over. You will know that it is done when it starts to burn in spots. You get a production line going, baking one at a time and rolling the next one while you wait. I used my 24 cm non stick frying pan from Le Creuset, it works a charm.


In the meantime, the main dish is resting and developing flavour. Don't worry. If you used a cast iron saucepan it will not even cool down to edible levels while you are making the rotis. Else heat it a little as required.

You can dish up straight from the saucepan at the table. Two rotis per person is more than enough, there will be leftovers.
And it is accepted practice to use the rotis to wipe out your plate.

Bon appetit!

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2013-07-06

The Thai Chicken Curry on a Balmy Saturday Afternoon

We had a yacht club social event on Saturday in the form of a “Cooking around the World” event. The day turned out to be one of those exquisite days for which Cape Town is so famous.

I decided on a Thai style chicken curry.

Most of my South African friends keep spicy food recipes in reserve for cold winter evenings and they live and cook accordingly. They hold that such food will warm you up. The opposite is actually true. The most of the spiciest food is found in the tropics. Just take a look at South Indian style cooking compared to the North Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese style cooking. In the South Indian style saffron would disappear completely in the heavy spices used in these dishes, while it appears regularly in the recipes from the colder regions.

The spices actually make you perspire a little more. Ladies, however, only develop a slight glow, I am told. Whatever you call it, all of it will cool the body down a tad. Hence the spiciness.

My dish tended more to the Northern Indian style to allow for the tender palates of my sailing friends. Actually, I rather like to cook a spicy dish that is not too hot, but flavourful. And here in the Western Cape you get the most amazing spices on your doorstep thanks to our Malaysian and Indian connections of old.

This dish was cooked in my enamelled cast iron casserole. This cookware will stay hot for a long time after you take it off the flame, thereby adding to the cooking time. The dish also rests better in the hotter environment, I like to think. Then you tend to get better flavour development. The pot may take a little while to warm up, but you get the heat back at the end. This is something everybody that has ever used a cast iron pot knows. The cast iron sides are also thick, adding heat from the sides, as opposed to some popular stainless steel cookware having thin sides.

This recipe, as always, gives an idea of what I did. The quantities will get you more or less to the same taste, but these recipes are never the same each time I cook them. Use chef's licence. The process is more important than the actual quantities.

Thai Chicken Curry

Ingredients

1 kg de-boned chicken. Any cut will do. I used breasts. Chopped into 2 cm cubes.
1 can coconut milk or cream. Or an envelope of coconut powder, which is what I used.
2 medium onions, chopped
½ sweet pepper, chopped. This is for some colour. Use a red or yellow one.
1½ dessert spoon green masala (Recipe here)
1½ dessert spoon masala powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon mustard seeds. I used black mustard seeds.
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
½ teaspoon coriander seed
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
small stick cinnamon bark
1 pod cardamom (elachi) pipped. You only use the pips
1 dessert spoon chicken stock dissolved in half a cup of water.
1 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1 dessert spoon garum masala
small bunch chives as thick as your thumb, copped into 1cm lengths. This is garnish.
350 ml jasmine or basmati rice. I used jasmine rice
1 teaspoon aniseed seeds
Some cooking oil. Not olive oil, it clashes with the other spices
Some salt to taste

Process

Marinate the chicken in the green masala paste for 20-30 minutes.Then start with a dry pan, pot or casserole. Heat the whole dry spices (not the aniseed, that’s for the rice) until the flavours start to come out. I normally crush the whole spices in a mortar and pestle to have some smaller bits. The flavour comes out better with smaller bits. Then add a dollop of oil. Add the onions and sweet pepper and fry these until they are translucent. Add the dry powder spices and fry until the flavours come out. Be wide awake that you don't burn anything at this stage, because then everything will be bitter and you will start from scratch.

When the dry spices have married with the onion mix, add the marinated chicken cubes and fry them in the onion mix until they are nice and brown on the outside. They may turn only white because of the amount of fluid, but that is not something to worry about, Just keep on frying them till you think they are done. Not more than five minutes, though, otherwise the chicken dries out.

Add some oil during the frying if the pan gets too dry. The dry spices will soak up all the fluid. When the chicken looks done, add the stock and some water, set the heat to low and simmer the dish for 30 minutes or so. Test the chicken for tenderness and add some salt to taste at this stage.

When the chicken is tender enough to your taste, add the coconut milk. I used powdered coconut, which I dissolved in one cup of water. Check the amount of water in your dish, that you do not end up with a flavourful chunky soup. You may need to use less water or take the lid off and allow the water to cook off naturally.

The coconut milk will thicken the juices anyway, so watch out again for burning the dish. Add the chopped coriander leaves and the chopped chives, along with the garum masala. Bring to the boil, stir through and switch off the heat. Allow this dish to rest for twenty minutes. I rested the dish for the time it took to cook the rice. You can rest it for longer, the flavours keep on developing.

For the rice I used a lot of water and some salt. Cook the rice until it is almost done. The water will look milky from the starch. Wash the rice in cold water until the water is clear. Pour off most of the cold water and bring the pot to the boil again. Add the aniseed seeds and some salt to taste. Allow the rice to steam a little, then take it off the heat. You can reheat the main dish once you washed the rice.

Allow everything to cool down a bit, then dish up.

Bon appetit!

Authored by Johan Zietsman

Last updated on 2012-12-12

3rd Leg Day 3: Headwinds, Counter Currents and Fish Curry

We battled through the night against the wind and against the currents. I have not experienced anything like this before.

We passed into the North Atlantic Ocean again via The Narrows late yesterday afternoon, en route to Puerto Rico. We came close to the island, then encountered a head wind tht forced us to furl away the sail completely and motor along. Suddenly we were moving at one knot. I checked the engine revs, checked behind us in the wake for anything that maight have caught on the rudders and dragging along. Then I put the engine in idle and out of gear. Then we were moving sideways at a knot. Quite disconcerting in the middle of the night. The engine revs were put up to a decent nick and then we managed to move along at just over two knots. And so we motored laboriously for most of the day.

The verdict was a heavy current out of the North Atlantic into the Puerto Rico Basin. This current dominated our day until after lunch. Our daily run came to the princely total of ninety nautical miles. I write it in words to make it sound a bit further. Dismal and enervating, but there you have it. The words “head winds” and “counter currents” take on a whole new meaning. Being in sight of the land doesn't help much either. You start off on your watch looking at a lighthouse on land. Then, at the end of your next watch nine hours later, you are still seeing the same lighthouse. Not funny.

The day was quite nice otherwise. Discussing the heat of the day seems a bit bland, as it is still very hot. We still have to check the engine fuel filters for water, as well as the coolant, every three hours. And we still get water in the fuel. Fiddlesticks!

The weather seems to be clearing a bit and the wind is veering into the north-east sector of the compass, which suits us to a T. We may just be able to raise the mainsail in a few hours' time if the wind veers some more. It has been freshening all through the day, which is also good. Perchance we may be able to sail at over six knots again.

Our bit of excitement came from a naval exercise by the US Navy. We had to motor around the exercise area. Also we were entertained by the US Coast Guard and their frequent bulletins on VHF channel 16, giving the co-ordinates of the exercise area for us civilians to stay clear.

Today was my turn at the galley again. The choices of meals are beginning to be very narrow, verging on almost binary. As in take it or leave it. This shows the voyage is drawing to an end.

We still have some fish, so it was fish curry and rice.

Last Legs Fish Curry

Ingredients

400 g fish fillets, cubed. I used Dorado, also known as Mahi Mahi around these parts.

1 onion, chopped

2 small Jamaican hot pepper chilis, chopped. I got these in St Maarten, as ours from Cape Town had started fermenting and had to be ditched.

1 dessert spoon masala powder

½ teaspoon cumin powder

½ teaspoon whole coriander seeds

1 star aniseed

¼ teaspoon aniseed seeds

¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 small stick cinnamon bark

½ cup lentils. Brown or black lentils are good. This is for some bulk in the fish part of the dish.

1 envelope coconut powder

some salt

1 teaspoon gharum masala

½ cup frozen garden peas

dollop of cooking oil

1 dessert spoon butter

1¼ cup rice

½ teaspoon saffron essence

Process

Cook the rice in enough water to just absorb all of it. Add a ½ teaspoon of saffron essence and some salt as requied.

Start with a dry frying pan, Fry the whole spices until the flavour comes out, then add a dollop of cooking oil and the butter. Heat the oil and butter to medium hot, then add the onion and the chopped chilis. Fry the onion until it is glassy, the add the dry powder spices. Keep the gharum masala for later. Fry for a minute, then add the fish. Fry the fish until it is nice and brown, then remove from the pan. Add the coconut powder, dissolved in half a cup of water, and the lentils. Simmer these until the lentils are almost done, then add the fish back to get the flavours mixed properly.

Lastly, add the garden peas and the gharum masala and simmer for another five minutes, before turning off the heat.

Let the dish rest for a few minutes before dishing up.

Bon appetit!

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12

2nd Leg Day 27: Full Sails, a Barber Shop and Thai Fish Curry

The wind stayed constant during the night and the swells subsided sufficiently for us to put up the mainsail for the first time on this voyage. Today is the first time that we had the wind on the beam and small enough seas to enable us to use the mainsail. Much excitement on board!

We woke the skipper at 07h00 this morning to make his usual Monday morning call to the office in Cape Town. I prepared the mainsail while he was doing the administration thing with the office. Then it was time to hoist the mainsail. The boat was pointed into the wind and we started hoisting, but got some lines twisted. After these tangles and twisted lines were sorted, we hoisted and set the sails, turned back on course and voila!, we were sailing merrily along at around eight knots. The boat has a totally different motion through the water with a lot less banging of the water against the underside of the bridge. The sailing experience is all the more enjoyable.


Today I took what is probably my penultimate sextant sun sights for this voyage. I normally take two sights and plot both to get an idea of my own errors. Today the two lines of position so obtained coincided. While one may think this is good measuring practice, bear in mind that the sun moved for two minutes between the sights, so there should actually be a slight difference. In spite of this, I still have a warm feeling about these sights.

It is shower day today, so we decided to open the barber shop before we took our baths. Some idea in the back of our heads not to look like the ancient mariner or a bunch of dirty scruffy Caribbean sea gypsies, I guess. I have cropped heads before, but not on a bobbing and heaving boat. One needs to be very alert with the clipper and be sitting down when using it. We all had a turn to be cropped. The results appear to be quite presentable, despite the conditions and our level of proficiency.

Or lack thereof.


We now look like scruffy Cape Town sea gypsies that took a crop and a bath.

Today was my turn at the galley again. I made Thai fish curry with savoury rice. I used a mix of half a cup of brown and wild rice and some long grain rice. Just for the texture and to use up all the leftovers. It makes sense and is suited to the dish. Next time I shall bring basmati -, bimri - or jasmine rice or all of the aforementioned. The dish also contains some fresh garden peas. This is in lieu of some exotic Thai green stuff, whatever the description. Call it chef's license.

Thai Fish Curry with Savoury Rice

Ingredients

For the Fish

400 g fish fillets

1 onion, chopped

1 dessert spoon green masala (Recipe here)

1 dessert spoon masala powder

½ teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds

1 packet coconut powder

½ cup warm water for the coconut powder

1 cardamom (elachi) pod, shelled

1/4 teaspoon coriander (dhania) seeds

¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

small piece cinnamon bark

1 teaspoon gharum masala

½ teaspoon saffron essence

½ cup fresh garden peas

½ teaspoon salt

dollop of cooking oil or ghee

For the Rice

1 cup of long grain rice.

¼ cup of lentils. Texture again.

½ teaspoon aniseed seeds

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

Process

Put the rice, lentils, water, aniseed and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer until the rice is done and all the water boiled away or absorbed. You may add a little water every now and then as required. You don't want to rinse the rice, as you will lose the aniseed.

Marinate the fish in the green masala for 20-30 minutes. Start with a dry frying pan or wok. I used a wok. Heat the wok and add the whole dry spices. Fry the dry spices until the flavour comes out, then add a dollop of cooking oil or ghee. Reduce the heat and mix the spices and oil to ensure proper flavouring of the oil. Then add the chopped onion and fry until it goes glassy. Add the dry powder masala and fry until the flavour comes out, then add the marinated fish and fry until the fish is nicely done. Add the coconut milk which you made using the cup of hot water, the coconut powder and the saffron essence. Add the garden peas. Reduce the heat and simmer for another five to ten minutes, then add the gharum masala. If you happen to have fresh coriander leaves, you can add some at this stage as a garnish. Turn off the heat and let the dish rest for ten minutes to develop flavour.

Bon appetit!

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12

2nd Leg Day 3: Rye Bread, Beef Curry and Whales

Actually, one needs to add dolphins to the title, but then it would be too long and uncomfortable. We had an interesting day. I baked another rye loaf, I cooked dinner and a large pod of whales came to visit, joined by four or five dolphins a while later. The rye loaf happened in the morning, the rest all in the late afternoon during a small squall.

A large pod of whales means more than fifteen humpbacks. About five meters from the boat. Quite scary, but we got the idea that they were just visiting us in the passing, not wanting to play. One has mixed emotions when seeing these large animals at such close quarters, but they are beautiful. They were followed by a small group of dolphins, also on their way in the same direction.

Nice to have visitors in this deserted part of the ocean, far away from the busy shipping lanes. I also caught our first dorado today, during the visit of the whales. It was only a baby fish, so we let it go safely back in the water. It started swimming the moment it had reoriented itself after getting back in the water.

Rye Loaf

The rye loaf was done on a fast track. I used instant yeast this time. The flour was a mix of one cup rye, one and a half cup brown bread flour and one cup white bread flour. The kneading board was floured with rye, which added another half cup of rye flour to the mix. I mixed this lot, adding some salt and the dry instant yeast, followed by 1 cup of lukewarm water. After kneading this on a well floured board, I let it rise in ambient conditions, which is around 25ºC /77ºF at the moment. We are nearing the equator and winter is basically over for us. The instant yeast performs well and the dough took an hour to rise to double its original volume. The dough was then kneaded down, shaped and put to rest for 30 minutes, then baked for 40 minutes, starting with a cold oven. I baked it at 190ºC/375ºF for 30 minutes, then at 210ºC/ 410ºF for another ten minutes. The oven was switched off and the loaf left in the oven to rest for ten minutes before being taken out to cool. It came out quite nice and brown, not overbaked, with a medium thick crust and with a very spongy crumb. The brown and rye flour made it quite heavy.

I was lucky to get a picture or two before it was devoured.

On the navigation front I managed to get some sextant readings early this morning, before the sun and the moon went into the clouds. The clouds were quite low, but had a gap to the horizon, where the sun on one side and the moon on the other peeeked through. As it is still close to full moon, one has the opportunity to take sun and moon sights at the same time. Not that it is of major help, since the two bodies sit at almost 180 degrees apart and therefore are not of much use for navigation. You want them spaced closer to 90 degrees to be useful. But the sighting practice is more important. I eagerly went to the reduction tables, only to find that both sets of sightings re of no use, as the heavenly bodies need to be more than 9 degrees above the horizon. The tables only start at 9.5 degrees. This is because there is too much distortion through the earth's atmosphere at the lower angles. Drat.

Luckily the clouds cleared at about 09h00 local time and I could get decent sun sights. These, along with my dead reckoning calculations since departing St Helena, put us within 6 nautical miles from the GPS fix. Not too shabby for three days' worth of dead reckoning, I should venture. It pays to keep fit in the ancient methods.

Today was also my turn at the galley. I made beef curry with lentils, served with brown and wild rice mix.

Beef Cube Curry with Lentils

Ingredients

400 g beef cubes

1 onion, chopped

1 hot chili, chopped

1 dessert spoon green masala (Recipe here)

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 star aniseed

Small piece of cinnamon bark

1 dessert spoon dry masala powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1-2 teaspoons garum masala

3/4 cup brown rice

2 small potatoes, peeld and cut into thumb size pieces

3/4 cup lentils. I used black lentils, but you may use any.

1 can peeled and chopped tomatoes. We don't have fresh tomatoes, in which case you should use two or three. Don't worry about peeling them, just cut them into thumb size pieces.

Some salt

Some vegetable oil, peferebly not olive oil. The flavour clashes with the other spices.

Process

Cut the beef cubes into thumb size pieces. Marinate this in the green masala and a dollop of vegetable oil. I marinated the beef for 30 minutes.

Start cooking using a dry pan. Fry the cumin, cinnamon, aniseed, fenugreek and coriander seeds in a medium hot pan until the flavour comes out, then add the onion and a dollop of oil. Fry the onion until it goes glassy, then add the chopped chili. Fry these for another minute, then add the dry powder spices and the meat. Fry these until the meat is brown. Add some oil if the pan is too dry. The dry spices soak up a lot of moisture and they must not burn, else you start over. When the meat is brown, add the tomatoes, potatoes and lentils and some additional water. Simmer until the lentils are done. Thicken the sauce by mashing a couple of the potato cubes. Then add the garum masala, stir the dish, switch off the heat and let the dish rest for ten minutes to develop flavour before serving on a bed of brown rice.

This blog also linked to Yeastspotting!

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12

Day 11: Basic Navigation Revision and Mince Curry

Today, life brought home another lesson in navigation, not soon to be forgotten. The lesson actually started about three to four days ago with a niggling thought in the back of my head about the accuracy of my navigation. That little voice in the back of your head that speaks to you, sometimes incessantly. This time around I was worried about my calculations. But it stayed a worried little thought in the back of my head.

Until today, when I happened to browse through some of the books on my Kindle e-reader. In a book on emergency navigation (Emergency Navigation, Second edition, by David Burch) I found some pointers to general navigation. Pointers to basic navigation principles that everybody learns, but soon forget, especially when circumstances change. Most of our training happens in a coastal environment, but the real sailing happens on a wide ocean with no land in sight. It behoves one to make the academic material and the practical training your own, to live by it.

I went back to my navigation work of a few days ago and revised my calculations, complete with some updates to the notes accompanying the calculations. The magic word is leeway. Every sailboat has it and you need to take cognisance of it, measure it under varying conditions and account for it in your navigation calculations. Just like in your training.

The updated plots put us right there by the GPS position.

Today was another cloudy day, no sextant sights possible, so I stuck to reading. Like everyone else on board. The wind was steady, as trade winds should be, and the sea relatively calm with a two meter swell. Idyllic sailing weather.

It was also my turn at the galley. Dinner was beef mince curry and rice.

Beef Mince Curry

Ingredients

400g beef mince

1 can tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

½ sweet pepper, chopped

½ hot chili, chopped

1 dessert spoon green masala (Recipe here)

1 dessert spoon powder masala. I used some that I bought from a store on the Kwazulu-Natal South Coast, which is in the South Indian style.

1 star aniseed

½ teaspoon coriander seeds

¼ teaspoon whole cumin (jeera) seeds

5 black peppercorns

1 small stick of cinnamon, broken

¾ cup of frozen fresh peas

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

some salt

Some vegetable oil

1 dessert spoon garum masala

Process

Fry the whole spices in a dry pan until the flavour comes out, then add the oil, onion and sweet pepper. Fry these until the onion goes transparent, then add the chopped chili and wet masala. Fry until the flavour comes out, then add all the dry powder spices except the garum masala. Add some water lest the dish goes completely dry. The powdered spices must not burn, otherwise you start over because everything will be very bitter. Fry for a minute, then add the beef mince. Fry until the meat is nice and brown, then add the tomatoes and potatoes. Simmer the dish until the potatoes are done. Take one or two of the potato cubes, mash them and put the mash back in the pan to thicken the sauce. Add the frozen peas and the garum masala as garnish and cook through. Add some salt to taste.

Then dish this lot up on a bed of rice.

This is enough to feed three to four people. Enjoy the dinner!

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12

Stiltetyd, meditasie en olielensie-kerrie

2011-12-19 00h30

Dit was weer my kookbeurt gisteraand. Ek het alreeds vieruur begin kosmaak want ek het geweet dit gaan langer neem as normaal. Twee ure later is ek toe eers klaar en kan ons eet. Dit was beesvleisblokkies-kerrie in olielensies, bedien met rotis. Dis die rotis se voorbereiding wat so lank neem.

Beesvleis in olielensie-kerrie

Bestanddele:

1 koppie olielensies

¼ teelepel heel kojander

¼ teelepel heel komyn

4 kardamompeule, uitgedop

3 stukkies kaneelbas

4 korrels piment (allspice)

1 steranys

¼ teelepel anyssaad

½ teelepel borrie

1 eetlepel medium masala-poeier

1 teelepel knoffel, gekap

1 ui, gekap

1 eetlepel groen masala

500 gram beesvleisblokkies (goulash), in kleiner blokkies gesny

½ soetrissie, gekap

1 teelepel garum masala

sout na smaak

Roti

300 ml bruismeel of gewone koekmeel

1 eier, as jy een het, ek het nie.

sout na smaak

½ teelelpel heel komynsaad of anyssaad vir garnering

òf brooddeeg

Metode:

Bak die droë heel speserye in 'n droë pan tot die geure uitkom. Voeg dan 'n skeut olie by, vergaar verder tot die olie mooi gegeur is. Pasop vir aanbrand, dan is alles bitter en mens begin oor. Voeg die vleis by en braai tot dit begin bruin word. Verwyder die vleis en sous van die hitte en hou dit eenkant om te rus.

Voeg weer 'n skeut olie by die pan, asook die gekapte ui, soetrissie, groen masala en knoffel. Braai tot die uie deurskynened is . Voeg dan die masalapoeier en borrie by. Braai verder tot die droë poeierspeserye se geur uitkom.

Die olielensies moet vooraf in so twee koppies kookwater geweek word om uit te swel. Dit neem so 10-15 minute Voeg die geweekte olielensies by die uie in die pot en prut die sous tot die lensies begin opbreek.

Voeg dan die vleis weer by, kook deur en laat dit dan weer 'n paar minute rus. Die olielensies, ook bekend as dal, sal water absorbeer tydens die kookproses. Voeg water by soos nodig om die mengsel loperig te hou, anders kan dit aanbrand. Verwyder die pot se deksel sodra die lensie begin opbreek. Die sous sal dan indampp en verdik.

Jy kan so teelepel garum masala byvoeg vir garnering knap voor opdieneing. Dit sal die geur in die dis uitbring. Verder kan jy vars koljanderblare opkap en en bietjie by elke porsie in die bord sit. Moenie dit in die pot sit nie, koljanderblare het 'n sterk geur en kan die dis oordonder. Jy kan ook 'n bietjie saffraan aan die begin bysit. Week 'n paar stingels (2 of 3) in 'n halwe koppie kookwater. Sout die dis na smaak.

Rotis

Meng die meel en eier. Sout na smaak, so'n teelepelvol sal werk. Voeg water by die deeg soos nodig om 'n lekker brooddeeg te maak wat jy kan knie. Jy kan natuurlik liefs brooddeeg gebruik, maar op die boot raak dit nogal 'n luukse. Garneer die deeg met die komynsaad.

Verdeel die deeg in balletjies van so 30-40 mm nadat jy die deeg behoorlik geknie het. Rol die balletjies deeg dun uit en bak die rotis in 'n droë pan. Pasop vir aanbrand. Hierdie hoeveelheid is genoeg vir drie mense.

Die kerrie is genoeg vir 3-4 mense. As daar meer mense is, maak meer rotis en rek die sous deur dit effens te verdun.

Ons is nou naby die kus van Brasilië en so twee dae se seil vanaf Fortalesa, 'n groot hawestad. Ons is nou terug in redelike besige skeepsverkeer en ons wagbeurte is nie meer so rustig nie. Ons het vandag binne omtrent vier ure vier skepe gesien. Wanneer mens hulle sien op die horison is hulle waarskynlik net so meer as 'n halfuur weg van jou af, meesal minder.  'n Mens se horison aan boord die seiljag is maar naby omdat jy so naby aan die water is.

Die seevoeëls is weer terug., mens sien hulle nou gereeld. Die vlieënde visse is bietjie minder en ons het weer 'n dag geseil sonder 'n byt aan ons lyne. Dit sal nogal lekker wees om weer 'n vis te vang.

My navigasie is nog heel op standaard. Dit lyk ook asof ek die sekstant se gebruik onder die knie het. Die lesings kom nou met gemak en is nie meer so wyd verspreid dat ek lesings moet weggooi nie. Miskien is die oop weer en goed gedefinieërde horison deel van die rede. Ek was vandag nie lus om die sekstant te ontmantel nie, so ek het maar verlief geneem dat die indeksfout gaan kruip. My navigasie, na 'n oornagbeen, met die geassosieërde skattings en growwe onakkuraathede, is steeds binne tien seemyl korrek, vergeleke met die boot se GPS.

Vandag het ek vir die eerste keer na ST Helena-eiland my rekenaar uitgehaal en gebruik. Ek het 'n navigasieprogram by Renier gekry, wat oudergewoonte nie werk op Ubuntu/ linux nie. Daar is darem hoop, die helpfile dui aan wat ek van die internet af moet kry en wat ek moet doien om die program aan die werk te kry op Linux. Verder het ek 'n paar rekenaar-speletjies gespeel. En die eindresultaat is dat 'n mens breinmoeg is. Die tipe speletjie het natuurlik 'n groot invloed, maar ek sal liewer ander tydverdrywe soek ter see.

Ek het ook 'n klomp boeke vir die Kindle gekry. Dis nou vir 'n toekomstige tydverdryf. Sal maar sien of hulle goedkoop is op St Maarten, anders sal ek ene oor die internet aanskaf wanneer ek weer tuis is.

Ek sit nogal en wonder waar die lewe my heen gaan neem in die toekoms. Daar is nou 'n hele nuwe wereld wat oopgaan hier om my. En dis beduidend minder vreesaanjaend as die bedryf waaruit ek kom. Die bedryf waaruit ek kom is aan't sterwe en is besig om te kwyn, met die geassosieerde geskarrel na die oorblywende krummels van die krimpende begroting. Die bedryf waarin ek my begewe is aan die groei en dit lyk asof ek reg gerig is om 'n goeie tweede loopbaan te kan opbou in die seilvaartomgewing. Ek hoop dat Carol sal meedoen en ondersteun.. Sy gaan ook 'n besluit moet neem oor 'n tweede loopbaan, daar is nie tyd en vermoë vir aftree en niksdoen by die huis nie. Ek is nie seker of sy dit al ernstig oorweeg en oordink nie.

Verder begin die reis nou amper einde se kant toe staan. Daar is nog so knap meer as twee weke oor, dan is ons daar. Daar is natuurlik ook die stop by St Maarten, waar ons toerusting vir die boot sal oplaai. Klink my ons gaan teendaardie tyd ook nie meer aan boord kook nie, synde ons dan telkens aan wal kan eet en drink. En elke dag bad of stort. Dit gaan 'n belewenis wees!

Ons sal dan die boot skoonmaak en voorberei vir finale oorgee en aflewering. Na die reis van ses weke gaan dit aardig voel om weer permanent op vaste aarde te wee en die kamer staan stil. Ek mis natuurlik die katte ook, al hou hulle 'n mens uit die slaap. Veral so in die na-nag. En natuurlik mis ek my vrou. Dit gaan lekker wees om weer iets saam te doen. Die stap op die strand, die uiteet en so aan.

Ek reken ek sal minder Sodoku speel en meer lees. Die lees het my jare se goed gedoen hier aan boord. Dis 'n rustige soort tydverdryf en iets om jouself in te verloor. Daar is 'n persoonlike caveat vir my: ek moet miskien wegbly van vakliteratuur af, dis studie. Prediker 12 vers 12 lees: "En buitendien, my seun, wees gewaarsku; aan baie boeke maak kom geen einde nie, en baie studie is vermoeiing van die vlees." Verder, die boodskap uit “Houseboat Chronicles” van Jake McDonald, is dat mens moet aanbeweeg. Die lewe gaan aan en dis nooit 'n goeie ding om aan die verlede vas te klou nie. Jy kan nie 'n toekoms bou op herinneringe nie, dis bietjie soos die Bybel se gelykenis van 'n huis op sand bou. Die see en water spoel die sand weg oor tyd, dan stort die huis in duie. Op dieselfde manier spoel die tyd en die lewe herinneringe uit jou gedagtes en die herinneringe vervaag. Dan stort jou lewe in duie as jy dit gebou het op herinneringe. Drome is anders. Dis goed wat beelde is in jou kop. Beelde in jou kop kan mens iets mee maak. Dis goed wat nog nie bestaan nie, maar wat more of oormore kan bestaan.

Daar is 'n element van beplanning en skepping in drome. Nie almal is nagmerries nie. En die nagmerries en spoke in my kop is grootliks besweer na hierdie reis. En ek kan bou aan my drome omdat die spoke stil is. Dan is daar tyd in mens se gemoed vir sulke gedagtes. Die Bybel vereis gereelde stiltetyd, 'n tyd van oorpeinsing,en gesels met jou God. So ook ander godsdienste. Die meer oosterse vorme van gosdiens gebruik meditasie. “Transcendental meditation” is die term. Dit transendeer mens se aardse woelinge en veroorsaak dat jou ego stil word, so dit transendeer jou ego as 'n begin. Daardie stemmetjie in jou agterkop wat jou slegte moed inpraat. Hoe dit ook al sy, dis 'n manier om stilte in jou kop te kry sodat jy kan tyd hê om jou hede te geniet en jou toekoms te kan beplan. Wel, dis hoe ek daaroor voel. En dit werk vir my.

Die meditasie is goed om jou gemoed tot rus te kry, selfs sielkundiges leer jou tegnieke om te ontspan. Elk geval, dit voel reeds goed vir my dat ek aanbeweeg uit my ou lewe na 'n nuwe een. Die ontdekkingstog is opwindend en laat mens sommer opgewek voel.

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2013-01-23

Maalvleiskerrie en die rustigheid

2011-12-07 00h25

Dit was gisteraand my kookbeurt. Ek het vooraf beplan vir maalvleiskerrie.

Maalvleiskerrie

Bestanddele:

400 g maalvleis

5 klein aartappels, in dun blokkies gesny

1 blik tamaties

1 blik ertjies

1 groot ui, gekap

¼ soetrissie, gekap

1 telepel knoffel

1 eetlepel kerriepoeier

1 eetlepel nat masala

1 klein brandrissie, gekap

¼ teelepel heel koljander korrels

1 telepel garum masala

½ teelepel fyn komyn

¼ teelepel heel komyn

3 kardamompeule

¼ teelepel anyssaad

1 steranys

Stukkie kaneelbas

Sout

3 korrels wonderpeper (allspice)

1 eetlepel maizena

½ koppie bruin lensies

1 ½ koppie rys

Metode:

Braai die droë heel speserye in 'n droë pantot dit verbruin. Voeg 'n skeut olie by en vergaar verder in die olie. Voeg die maalvleis by en bak tot alles mooi bruin en deurgebraai is. Verwyder van die pan en hou dit eenkant om te rus.

Gooi weer 'n skeut olie in die pan. Voeg die uie, soerissie, brandrissie, en knoffel by. Prut tot die uie deurskynend is. Voeg die res van die speserye by en prut tot dit deurgekook is. Wees versigtig om nie die droë poeier-speserye te brand nie. Voeg die tamaties by asook die aartappels. Prut tot die aartappels amper gaar is en voeg dan die ertjies by. Prut to alles deurgekook het en voeg dan die vleis weer by. Prut tot alles gaar is en voeg dan die garum masala by. Verdik die sous met die maizena.

Kook intussen die rys en lensies saam. Die lensies gee lyf aan die rys.

Dien op wanneer alles gaar is.

Hierdie metode neem maalvleiskerrie in 'n ander dimensie van kulinere genot in. Die geure is net meer opvallend en die dis is baie vullend. Die resep hierbo is ook nie te sterk nie.

Die manne het weer elkeen twee rondtes geëet. Ten spyte daarvan dat ek die rys en lensies amper te rou opgedien het. Ek het self so pas 'n klein porsie geëet op 'n sny brood. Net so vir 'n middernagtelike versnaperinkie, sien. En was dit nou lekker!

Ons is almal bly om weer aan boord te wees en aan die gang. Dis asof die land nie meer so erge aantrekkingskrag het nie. Vir my in elk geval. Die lewe aan boord is beduidend minder burokraties.

Op die oomblik is ons besig om te motor, daar is geen wind nie. Die maan is amper vol en sit reg bo ons. Dis gedeeltelik bewolk en die lig op die see is baie romanties. Jy sien 'n ligbaan van maanlig op die water en die hele see om jou is so mooi donker kleur. Jy kan selfs die horison behoorlik uitmaak.

Dis vanoggend helder genoeg om 'n paar sterrelesings te neem, as dit nie vir die wolke was nie. Miskien wel later. Ek het die observasie reduksie-berekeninge nou onder die knie en is heeltemal in staat om op grond van sonlesings en “dead reckoning” myself te plot. Nou is dit 'n kwessie van maan- en sterrelesings en die verwerking daarvan.

Ons het gister heeldag 'n kunsaas gesleep, maar weereens niks gevang nie. Ek het darem op my diensbeurt gister 'n bietjie beweging in die water gesien. So 'n vinnige kol spatsels, soos wat 'n skool klein vissies maak as 'n groot vis hulle jaag. Dis darem iets.

Een van die dae sal ons begin om die staalwerk op die boot skoon te maak. 'n Mens staan verstom oor die mate van roes wat reeds sigbaar is, slegs twee weke nadat die boot te water gelaat is. Dit klink darem of dit nie 'n lewensroeping-tipe taak is nie.

Intussen is ek steeds besig om gewig te verloor. My knie is ook reg en ek het nie meer 'n probleem met 'n sinus-drup nie. My enkels swel ook glad nie op nie. Maar ek was redelik uitasem na ons bietjie vinnig die bult op geloop het in die dorp op St Helena. Dit lyk of die luilekker lewe op die boot 'n groot duik maak in mens se fiksheid, veral ten opsigte van hart- en long oefening.

Die gebrek aan kardio-vaskulêre oefening is waarkynlik nietig vergeleke met die positiewe effek van lae stres, baie rus en geen alkohol nie.

Dis interessant, maar daar word niks aan boord gedrink terwyl ons ter see is nie. Ons sal iets neem vir Kersfees en dan wanneer ons weer land kry en anker of vasmeer. Dis waarskynlik uit hierdie gewoonte dat jotties 'n reputasie kry van drinkelaars; Almal sien hulle drink aan wal. Behalwe die hard-core Vaaldam-sailors natuurlik. Hulle vat 5c se brood en R10 se drank aan boord, nogal.

Maar die manne sal vir my sê TMI: Too Much Information.

Ons praat nie daaroor nie.

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12