A quick curry cook off reminder and seafood curry recipe to get you in the mood!

Seafood curry recipe to get you in the mood
Seafood curry recipe to get you in the mood

On Saturday, April 6th, Springfield Retail Centre will be once again hosting their annual Curry Cook off competition which will see 9 amateur home cooks vying for the top spot in each of the 3 respective categories – that of seafood, chicken and meat.

Each contestant will have a set time to prepare and cook their dish, with ingredients supplied by the Food Lovers Market from Springfield Retail Centre.

Judging the competition will be seasoned professionals who have all been involved in the food industry: Ramola Makan from Elba/Totai Appliances and renowned cook book author; the Executive Chef from the Endless Horizons Group, Gordon Manuel;  Frank Chemaly – Independent Media food critic and journalist and lastly, Guy Gorrie, the Executive Chef from The Royal Palm Hotel.

As part of the judging process in selecting the finalists as well as the final decision of the winners, the creativity of the dish, team name as well as the taste of the dish will all be taken into consideration.

Prizes up for grabs in each category include R5000 in cash for 1st place, as well as a 2 plate gas stove sponsored by Totai, our 2nd place winner will receive R2000 and R1000 will go to the team that comes in 3rd place.

Entertaining the crowds is one of Durban’s top comedic stand-up artist, Masood Boomgaard, who will be your host during the cook–off!

To provide some inspiration for dishes, Food Lovers Market shares their favourite Food Lover Seafood Curry Feast recipes to help spice things up. The recipe below is super quick, simple and delicious as well as can feed up to a family of 4-6 people!

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp (45 ml) vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) mustard seeds
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped Curry powder with curry leaves 1 tbsp (15 ml) turmeric
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 fresh chillies, finely sliced
  • 3 onions, chopped
  • 1 x 400 g can of chopped tomatoes 2 cups (500 ml) chicken stock 8-12 queen prawns
  • 500-600 g mussels
  • 250 g calamari
  • Fresh coriander leaves

Directions

  1. Heat the oil in a pan. When hot, add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to pop, and then add the garlic, curry powder, curry leaves, turmeric, bay leaf, fresh chillies and onions.
  2. Fry until onions are soft and translucent.
  3. Add the canned tomatoes.
  4. Add the chicken stock and stir through. Cook to a thick creamy consistency.
  5. Add the prawns, mussels and, a few minutes later, the calamari. Remove from the heat and toss in the chopped coriander leaves.
  6. Serve with poppadums, sambals and fresh lemon wedges.
  7. Feel free to add to or replace the prawns, mussels or calamari with whatever seafood you have at hand.