Dinner Club in Bangladesh

We had our first dinner this past Tuesday. I was amazed how well everything turned out. We spun the globe for our next dinner and it landed in Malaysia. If anyone has any good recipes send some my way. Here are some pictures from the night. We really had a great time. I've posted all the recipes below each dish. You should defiantly try these out, each one was unique and tasty.

I was in charge of the main course so I chose to make Bangladeshi Lamb Curry. It was so good and you could easily cook it in a crock pot. The sauce was a creamy tomato coconut milk base with a hint of curry. I know so many people that dislike curry but if you try it in this dish I promise you'll love it. JIM even liked it and he's not to adventurous when it comes to tasting new flavors.

Bangladeshi Lamb Curry

(You could also use BEEF or CHICKEN)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 green chile peppers, finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger root - peeled, sliced, and ground into a paste
• 1 large can of tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 1/2 yogart
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup cilantro (for garnish)
• (You could even use chicken) 2 pounds boneless of lamb, beef chuck, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces

Directions***Important step: If you want the meat to be tender sear it in the pan before you had it to the sauce to simmer. It makes a difference.

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sear meat and transfer to pan. Add the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, and continue cooking and stirring until the onion is very tender and dark brown, 15 to 20 minutes more.
2. Stir in the garlic, green chiles, ginger paste, Cook and stir for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until the garlic begins to brown.
3. Stir the cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and water into the onions. Simmer until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture has thickened.
4. Add everything else stir in the beef.
5. cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the meat is cooked through and tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. You can use a crock pot.

Garnish with cilantro and serve :)

Kim hosted our dinner at her house. She had these gorgeous compass champagne flutes that fit the party perfectly. Wish I had some!

Kim had all the vegetables peeled and spices measured, so all we had to do is follow the recipes.

Kim and I cooking her side dishes

I've never peeled zucchini before but the recipe called for it. It's amazing how different it makes your zucchini taste. If your a fan of Z you should try this recipe.

Chichinga Bhaji

(Zucchini recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 tsp kalojira (nigella)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 or 2 dried red chili
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 medium Zucchini, peeled and cubed
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder
• 1 medium bay leaf
• 1/4 cup yogurt

Steps

1. Heat the oil ina pan over medium high heat
2. Add the nigella and cumin seeds and fry for 1 minute
3. Add the onion and garlic and fry until translucent.
4. Increase heat to high and add in the Zucchini and the remaining ingredients except for the yogurt
5. Stir fry for 5 minutes and then reduce heat to medium
6. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until Zucchini is cooked (15-20 minutes)
7. Add in the yogurt and stir fry for 5 minutes

Kim did a great job on presentation :)

Last was a eggplant dish. I love eggplant :)

Tomato Begun – Eggplant with tomato

There are many variations of eggplant and tomato. This is a simple one that appeals to the “just home from work, nothing cooked, feeling hungry, and the eggplant needs to be dealt with now” crowd. It may be short on steps but it is long on flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 medium to large eggplant (cut to 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp nigella (kalojira) seeds
• 1 tsp garlic powder or 1-2 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 – 1 tsp chili powder
• Salt to taste
• Small bunch of cilantro, julienned

Steps

1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium to high heat
2. Add in the cumin, fennel, nigella and fennel seeds, stir fry until the seeds starts to splutter
3. Add in egg plant and tomato and stir fry8-10 minutes until the eggplant starts to soften
4. Add in the rest of spices and salt and stiry fry an additional 10 minutes or until the eggplant is completely cooked
5. Mix in the cilantro just before serving

Links to recipes

http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/ranna/vegetable/tomato-begun-eggplant-with-tomato/http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/ranna/vegetable/chichinga-bhaji-fried-zuchhini