Curry, pasta sauce, and a new cast-iron frying pan

This frying pan is my new favourite person. Such a joy to use. I used it last night to make a curry with broccoli and asparagus in coconut milk and tonight to make an onion and methi pasta sauce. Both dishes were greatly enhanced by onions that caramelised so well and so easily in our lovely lovely pan.

I made up both these recipes as I went along, trying harder to use up vegetables in the fridge than to achieve culinary perfection. The results were tasty enough that the recipes are worth recording, but I don't think either of these is a local maximum. So tweak away!

Broccoli and asparagus coconut curry

Slice finely:

one large onion.

 

Heat in a brand-new cast-iron frying pan:

ghee and/or vegetable oil.

Add:

a stick of cinnamon

whole peppercorns

cumin seeds

and when the spices have popped and browned but not burnt add the sliced onions. Cook over medium heat until the onions are a beautiful golden colour. Now add chopped:

broccoli

asparagus

and stir-fry till tender. 

Salt.

Add a just a little

coconut milk.

Add water if you want to thin the gravy out a bit. This dish should be more vegetables than gravy, and the gravy should not be too coconut-y heavy. Season with:

garam masala

and add an unreasonably large bunch of:

chopped mint.

Serve with rice.

Rigatoni with caramelised onions and methi leaves

Heat 

olive oil

and add

fennel seeds.

Once the fennel seeds have browned a little, add

finely sliced onions

and cook till deeply golden. Deglaze (yay!) with white wine or water. Season with:

salt

sugar  

black pepper

paprika.

Add:

a splash of whole milk

cooked pasta (I used rigatoni)

and cook until the pasta has absorbed most of the liquid in the pan. Serve with a sprinkling of:

parmesan cheese.