stir fried strips of lamb with peppers and pineapple

August 14, 2010

This is easier if you’ve already been to the Indian Market and bought coriander powder and mango powder. I don’t know what you’d substitute for that.

To know if a pineapple is ripe, pull on one of the inner leaves. If it gives easily, it’s ripe. But the core might still be too hard to use. If you have time, leave it on the counter for a couple of days. If in doubt, when you are cutting the pineapple, stab a fork into the core. If it penetrates easily, you can use it. If not throw it the core away.

Stir fried strips of lamb with peppers and pineapple,
Healthy Indian Cooking, by Shehzad Husain, pg 96

8 oz boned lamb, cut into strips

1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mango powder
½ cup pineapple juice
1 tsp hot chili sauce (Sriracha—with the rooster on the label)
1 tsp garlic pulp
1 tsp ginger pulp
¼ tsp tumeric
sea salt

Combine all the ingredients. Add the lamb slices and marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

2 T corn oil

½ red bell pepper
½ green bell pepper
12 chunks of pineapple
2 T fresh chopped cilantro

1 T sesame seeds (optional)

Heat the corn oil to very hot. Add the lamb. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Add 2/3 cup water. Simmer for 7-10 minutes until tender and the liquid is reduced (longer if too much liquid). Increase the heat and add the peppers and pineapple. Cook until crisp-tender. Add the cilantro. Serve with sesame seeds.

How I did it: I have been unhappy with the ginger puree over many recipes, so I substituted chopped fresh ginger. I also substituted chopped fresh garlic for the garlic puree. I liked it much better.
There seemed to be too much liquid, so I let it simmer longer, but after it cooled, the liquid was absorbed--also a good reason to serve it with rice, it absorbs the liquid. I like more vegetables with everything, so I used one whole green pepper and one whole red pepper and doubled the pineapple. I bought the pineapple today at Trader Joes and juiced what I needed. The core was not ripe enough and I should have tossed it. I served it over rice (below) with steamed green beans.

African (inspired) rice (from a refugee family I knew):

4-6 cardamom pods
2 shaves of cinnamon (cinnamon sticks)
4 whole cloves
1 tsp sea salt
1 T olive oil

1 cup long grain rice

Heat the oil, add the spices and cook until fragrant (about two minutes). Add the rice and sauté until coated. Add 2 cups of water. Boil for one minute. Reduce heat and cook until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove the spice bits and crush or chop them. Add them back into the rice. Good on day one, better after it sits for a day and absorbs the spices.