Old Father Hubbard.

August 30, 2009 4:49 PM

Lazy Last Minute Dinner Help: So I forgot it was my turn to cook dinner and all I have in the house are some scraps of cooked meat (chicken, lamb) and a bottle of Loyd Grossman's pre-made Korma sauce. How can I jazz this up while using up the scraps in my cupboard? Preferably stuff I can add while it simmers?

I was planning on making coconut rice to go with it, but I was wondering what else I could do to make it *pop* a little better than out-of-the bottle sauce? I've got scraps of onion, cucumber, some dried mushrooms, and random spices and sauces. I do have some slivered almonds, but no jalapeno.

posted by The Whelk to food & drink (6 comments total)

Brown the onions first and then the mushrooms, in whatever spices you have that you think would be good. Then simmer the korma sauce in the same pan for a nice while. Generally, a small amount (start with half a teaspoon) of lemon juice or vinegar will give sauces a bit of punch.
posted by lunasol at 5:05 PM on August 30

Do you have chili powder? Coriander? Cumin? Tumeric? All will make it tastier if it's a little bland. (Of course, go easy on the chili powder and tumeric, especially.)

Check the ingredients in your korma sauce...if there's not already a lot of cashews in it, grind the almonds up in your food processor or with a mortar and pestle and cook 'em in.

If you want the sauce to be thicker you can make some paste with flour and water and that will do it without being all funky like corn starch gets sometimes. I'd definitely saute the onion and then toss some of that in there too.

Some of my fave dinners have come about just this way. Enjoy!
posted by nosila at 5:05 PM on August 30

Don't forget to add some garlic and ginger, if you have them.

Also, peas in the rice? Some whole spices in the rice too, if you're feeling adventurous. Bay leaf. Cinnamon stick. Allspice. Clove. Those would all work.
posted by geekhorde at 5:11 PM on August 30

Almonds, and raisins if you have any, are good additives for taste and interest in "curry-ish" dishes (they don't need to be ground). So are apricots and/or a bit of yogurt.
posted by anadem at 5:23 PM on August 30

Peas!
posted by jeffamaphone at 6:59 PM on August 30

I ended up taking the entire bag of almonds and smashing it with a hammer (under paper, of course) cause I was in a rush and True Blood was coming on. I dumped it in just as the onions browned (in clarified butter), stirred it around, and the dumped in the meat in, got it to heat, then dumped the Korma sauce in. Stir madly, taste, added cinnamon, cover and tend to rice, microwaved some frozen peas I found in the far, far back of the freezer, dumped them in the rice, removed the cover, and served, with beer, in time for the show.

It turned into almond-paste sauce with a bit of spice, but that was more than enough. Very good. Thanks again AskMe!
posted by The Whelk at 8:50 PM on August 30