By: Hannah Feldman
One of the aspects that make Kibbutz special is that they make two out of three of their meals a day. The campers are divided up into work groups at the beginning of the summer. Throughout the session the groups rotate and all the campers get to spend a week of the session cooking the meals for the rest of Kibbutz. What makes this summer even more special is that they are cooking meals in a brand new kitchen on the eco-village.
Some nights for dinner Kibbutz has a Kibbutz chef, a visiting faculty member, that comes up to Kibbutz and helps the campers make the meal. It provides a different interaction with the faculty other than through them leading services or leading a limud (lesson). Last night Kelly Finkel was the guest Kibbutz Chef who planned an unusual meal that you may not see at summer camp for the kids, Indian food. For some campers it was the first time ever trying it and it was a huge success, most of the campers went back for seconds!
“I love it [Kibbutz chef], it’s great! The kids are working to create their own meals, they kept asking me what can I do next, what more could I ask for its great? I would do this every day I was here if I could. I’m not drenched in sweat like last summer, we were all dripping [last summer there was no air conditioning]. It’s a comfortable very professional kitchen and very pleasing to work here.”
Here are the recipes that they used last night for the delicious Indian meal. Of course we had to multiply the amounts to make it work but if you are interested in trying it check them out!
DAVID’S FRUITY CURRY – Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
| 2 Tbsp. oil (recommend canola, sunflower, or peanut) 2 large chicken breasts cut into 1” cubes 1 large onion. 1 large apple (any variety). 1 ripe (overripe is fine) banana. ½ pint stock. 1 13 ½ oz. can light coconut milk. 3 Tbsp. curry powder. 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, peeled and minced very fine. Approx. 5 large cloves garlic minced fine. Juice of ½ lemon. 1 8oz can tomato sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. 2 bay leaves. 2 cardamom pods. |
Optional: Chili powder to taste (approx. ½ tsp) Optional: 1 Tbsp. garam masala (a fragrant spice blend added to finish some Indian dishes) Optional: ¾ cup raisins (other dried fruits such as apricots, figs, or dates may be substituted). Garnish (optional): |
Directions:
Heat a medium – large pot (that has a lid) with a couple of tablespoons of oil.
Sweat the onions, garlic, ginger, apples for a few minutes until the onions are translucent. The pot should be over a low-medium heat with little to no sizzle. Keep the pot covered, but stir occasionally.
Add the curry powder and cook approximately two minutes when you should smell a fragrant aroma.
Add the tomato sauce, stock, cardamom pods, dried fruit, lemon juice, banana, 1 tsp salt, and ¾ of the coconut milk. Stir until combined. Taste, adjusting the seasoning if needed.
Add the meat. Note: to save time, sauté the chicken in a separate pan until mostly cooked through. Sprinkle a little curry powder on the pieces as you sauté them in a small amount of oil with a little garlic and fresh ginger. If you pre-cook the chicken, add it to the sauce and simmer the combined sauce and meat for 10-15 minutes over a low heat. If using raw chicken, add it to the sauce and simmer approximately 45 minutes.
When simmering, keep the lid slightly off to one side over a low heat, stirring occasionally.
Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the remaining coconut milk and garam masala and stir for about two minutes. Taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Serve with white rice. Hint: To make your rice more aromatic and flavorful, add a few cloves and some cardamom pods (typically 1/person of each) before cooking in the normal fashion. Remove at the end of cooking, or tell everyone to look out for them!
Lay out garnish items on a separate plate or platter.
Carrots, Peas & Potatoes flavored with Cumin
From Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey – Serves 6
Ingredients:
2 large or 3 small carrots
2 small potatoes that have been boiled, drained and cooled
2 medium onions
1 scallion
3 Tablespoons mustard oil – other vegetable oil can be substituted
1½ teaspoons whole cumin
2 whole, dried red hot chilies
1½ cups shelled peas – frozen peas work well, but they will need to be thawed
About 1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar
Directions:
Peel the carrots and cut them into ½ inch square pieces.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into ½ inch pieces.
Peel the onions and chop coarsely.
Cut the scallion into very, very thin slices, all the way to the end of its green section.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium flame. When hot, put in the cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 3-4 seconds. Now, put in the whole chilies and stir them about for 3-4 seconds. Put in the chopped onion. Stir and cook for 5 minutes or until onion pieces turn translucent. Put in the carrots and peas. Stir them about for a minute.
Cover, turn heat to low, and cook for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Uncover and turn heat up slightly. Add the potatoes, salt and sugar. Stir and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the scallion. Stir and cook for 20 seconds.
N.B. Remove the whole chilies before serving.
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