My friends at Cooking Light Magazine, and the super talented food writer David Joachim, have just come out with a new cookbook entitled Cooking Light Global Kitchen: The World's Most Delicious Food Made Easy
He starts his culinary adventure in "East Asia and India" where Spring Rolls, Sui Mai, and Samosas rule. Then travels to "South East Asia and Australia" for some Lemongrass Shrimp, Masaman Curry, and Lamingtons. From there he jets to "The Middle East and Africa" to sample their Baba Ganoush, Dukkah, and Chocolate Baklava. "Europe and Eurasia" are next where he samples their Spanakopitas, Hungarian Goulash, and Beef Bourguignon. Hardly taking a breath he's on to "South America" where he tries some Bolivian Empanadas, Peruvian Beef Kababs, and Venezuelan Tamales. He finishes his travels in "North and Central America" where he tempts us with Huevos Rancheros, Lobster Rolls and Canadian Meat Pie.
All told there are 150 recipes in the book, some from the Cooking Light archives, some developed by Joachim specifically for this project. Each "region" of the book offers insight into the culture and cuisine of that part of the world, and each recipe comes with full nutritional information….hey, this is a Cooking Light publication after all.
It took me forever to decide, but I finally settled on the Indian lamb curry dish, Roghan Josh, to be the first recipe I tried from the book. SO HAPPY that I did, because this recipe is super easy and just packed with flavor. It does require a few items that you MAY not have in your pantry (the complex blend of spices is what makes Indian food SO amazing), none of them are hard to find or expensive, and I promise you'll be happy you made the investment in a few jars of spices once you taste this flavor bomb of a dish.
Cooking Light shipped me two copies of this wonderful cookbook, one for me and one for one of my lucky readers. If you're interested in winning your very own copy of this book leave me a comment below telling me which of the culinary "regions" that Joachim calls out in his book that you are most anxious to explore through his recipes. I'll randomly choose a winner in two week's time, on Friday, April 25th.
Good Luck!
Cheers – Steve
Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced, peeled fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup plain greek 2% yogurt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons garam masala, divided
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 (3 inch) cinnamon stick
- 6 cardamom pods (whole)
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon freshly minced cilantro
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups hot, cooked basmati or jasmine rice
Instructions
- Combine garlic and ginger on a cutting board. Sprinkle with the salt, and mash into a paste by dragging and pressing the broad side of knife over the mixture several times. Combine garlic mixture, yoghurt, and 2 teaspoons garam masala in a large zip-top bag. Add lamb; seal and marinate in refrigerator 8 to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.
- Add 1 1/2 cups water ti bag; seal and shake to rinse lamb. Remove lamb from bag using a slotted spoon or pair of tongs, reserving marinade in the bag. Pat lamb dry with paper towels.
- Heat a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add half of lamb, cook 5 minutes or until well browned, stirring occasionally. Remove lamb to a bowl, repeat procedure with remaining half of lamb.
- Reduce pan heat to medium. Add cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and bay leaves to pan; saute 30 seconds. Add onion; saute 4 minutes or until well browned. Return lamb and juices to the pan. Add paprika, ground red pepper, and saffron; cook 15 seconds. Add reserved marinade and tomato paste, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 hour or until lamb is tender. Remove from heat; stir in remaining garam masala, cilantro and black pepper. Serve over rice.