Page 45 - ALG Issue 3 2016

General
Grow Your Own Curry
For many of us, curry has become a British staple, from the late night vindaloo after the pub, to the committed cook grinding the spices and poring over Madhur Jaffrey cook-books; curries are now consumed as a regular part of the British diet. The
dish itself may no longer be
considered exotic, but what about
the ingredients? The
majority are available in
supermarkets; some you
may have to track down
at specialist shops, but it
is possible to grow a signi cant
amount on your plot, especially if you
have a greenhouse or cool conservatory for winter months.
The basic ingredients for most curry sauces (onions, garlic and chillies) can be found on most plots or polytunnels. Fennel even grows wild in the gutters next to my site and many of the distinctive spicy avours of your favourite curry (coriander, cumin and fenugreek) can be grown in a sunny spot outside. Basil prefers a sunny windowsill or greenhouse. Ginger and turmeric are both rhizomes that can be grown in a pot of rich compost and kept in a warm place; they will double in size over the growing season. Ginger can be grown from the rhizomes you nd in the supermarket and both turmeric rhizomes and plants are available on the internet. The plants will die down in autumn, when you can harvest half and keep the other half for replanting. Store them in a paper sack in a cool but dry room and start them back into life early in the year in a heated propagator.
Lemongrass makes an attractive grass-like plant when grown in a plot and is also the source of the insect repellent citronella. It is frost tender so will need to be brought indoors over the winter, cut back to about six inches and watered sparingly; slice and freeze your harvest.
Kaf r Lime bushes produce highly fragrant leaves and fruit that are used in Thai cooking. The dried leaves found in the shops will have lost a lot of avour but with a bush you can provide your own all year round. Treat as you would any citrus tree, outside in the sun once all risk of frost has passed and indoors during the winter – a cool bright conservatory is best.
Malvern Spring Show
Poor Colin! I told him I was going to change the colour of the pots for Malvern this year to black. This was in late January when Colin starts planting the seeds; Kings, of course! Everything went quite well with planting etc but was a bit slow due to cold weather. We had great hope that they would pick up in time for the Malvern Spring Show.
The Monday before the show, we set off with the car packed to the hilt; the ground was very wet but we thought it would be ok.
We took all of the plants, trees and paperwork and dressed the stand ready for the show opening. We were both pleased with the way the stand looked, but what would the judges think? We didn’t need to wonder for long as the stand was awarded a gold medal by the judges. We would like to thank our helpers, Liz and Karen from Head Of ce, Dr Dennis Sutton and members of the Cheltenham and District Allotment Holders Association; also our friends from the Cotswold Fuchsia and Pelargonium Society.
We managed to get six new members and a lot of interest from associations. We noticed that the cost of allotments does not seem to be such a talking point these days. On Saturday evening
the heavens opened and ooded the marque that
we were exhibiting in. We were able to get the table
cloths up with the boxes to stop them from getting
wet. We wondered what the marquee would look like
on Sunday morning. Our fears were con rmed...mud,
mud, mud and more mud. Rosemary and some other
stall holders went round the bins getting cardboard
boxes to put on the ground for people to walk on.
Despite this, we still had a good show and look
forward to seeing you in September.
Colin and Rosemary
How to make Thai curry and curry paste
Ingredients
2 lemongrass stalks
2 shallots
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tbsp coriander and 1 tsp cumin seeds
Kaf r lime peel or leaves
Bird’s eye chillies – to taste 2.5cm/1in sliced galangal
2 tsp shrimp paste
Small bunch of fresh coriander Chicken and chicken stock Can of coconut milk
To make a Thai green curry paste, put lemongrass and lime juice into a small bowl and leave to soak for 30 minutes to soften.
Put a small pan over a medium heat and dry-fry the peppercorns, coriander and cumin seeds for about a minute until fragrant.
Pulse the lemongrass, spices, shallots, kaf r lime peel, Bird’s eye chillies, sliced galangal, shrimp paste and coriander in a small food blender. Scrape down the sides from time to time. Try to get as smooth a paste as possible.
To make the curry, open the cans of coconut milk and carefully remove the thick cream and put it into a warm wok or large frying pan. Cook it slowly, stirring all the time, until it reduces to a thick paste and the oil starts to separate. Add the green curry paste and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the chicken and stir until well coated in the paste.
Slowly add the coconut water from the cans together with the chicken stock. Add all the remaining ingredients and cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Add more stock if necessary - the sauce should be slightly thinner than single cream.
To serve, spoon some rice into a bowl, pour over the curry and sprinkle with coriander leaves, sliced chilli and spring onion. Add a wedge of lime on the side. www.bbcgoodfood.com
The Sowing New Seeds project by Garden Organic has A4 fact sheets to download giving detailed growing information about growing unusual crops. http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/sns- resources includes many of the plants mentioned in this article.
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