Cooking on a tiny boat with only a single burner stove has taken a bit of trial and error, but I’m getting quite handy with it now. I thought I’d post this, my step by step guide to making a rather tasty curry.

On with it

Mushrooms and Chili

 

 

 

 

 

The first job is to slice up a couple of large mushrooms, as well as a single green chili. Put them both in a bowl, and chuck it on the chart table for later.

 

 

 

Next, chop up a couple of turkey fillets. I got mine for £2.88 at Tesco after a walk to Limehouse. The local Waitrose offered the same thing for over a fiver!!

Put a splash of olive oil in the pan, then put the turkey directly in to it. Then put a large heaped tea spoon of curry spices and it mix up.

You can mix your own spices (cumin, garam masala etc) but there’s no reason to do so. Just buy some ready mixed madras powder since it’s both cheaper, and better suited to small boats. Spice racks don’t seem ever so seaman like to me  :)

DON’T light the stove just yet.

 

 

Chop up a medium onion. The one here was quite small, and I almost put an extra one in, but decided not too. You can be pretty varied in the amount of onion you put in to be honest.

Also slice (thinly) a clove of garlic and leave them on the chopping board.

Now, swig a gulp of grog and light the stove. I have an Origo 1500 meths burner, and it’s bloody brilliant. Super safe, very controllable, and dead efficient on fuel.

 

 

Once the pan is sizzling the turkey, keep stirring it for a few minutes. Not until cooked, but until most of the surface as whitened off (still seeing some small pink bits is fine). If at any point the turkey looks dry, add a bit more olive oil. I use that spray bottle stuff since it make things easier and neater, which is important on my little boat

Now, add the onion and garlic from the chopping board, and give it a mix up. Stick a lid on the pan, and continue on with the rest of this feast, but remember to lift the lid once in a while and give it all a stir.

 

 

Coriander is essential for a decent curry. You can substitute it for dried coriander, if you must, but there’s nothing like fresh coriander leaves to give a curry a boost of tasty freshness.

Rip off a hand full of the stuff, and chop it up. I love the smell of this stuff.

It’s probably time for another swig of grog, so go for it.

 

Don’t forget to keep mixing that turkey and onion. Smells great doesn’t it.

 

 

 

Now, grab a tin of chopped tomatoes and open it. Tomatoes are tomatoes, there’s really no need to spend any more than this 19p tin from Tesco. Good cooking for the credit crunched yachtie

Empty the whole tin into the pan, and then throw the coriander in after it. Give it all a good stir, then pop the lid back on the pan. 

Now, sit back and let it simmer away for a while. As long as you don’t be too silly, you can’t really over cook this. Just make sure you keep it on the simmer with an occasional stir, as boiling will not to it any favours whatsoever. Oh, an important point, here, add another large teaspoon of curry powder mix. It will make the hotness just right, but if you like hot curries, add two. If you’re a weirdo, repeat until satisfied.

 

 

Now, since we only have one burner, you’ll need to put your finished curry somewhere while you cook the rice. If, like myself, your boat is so small that you are rarely capable of convincing anybody to sit in it for long, then you’ll be eating alone. Since this is the case, and you have just made a curry for two, I recommend using a sealable food storage effort. That way, it’ll give you a good meal for two days, even without a fridge.

So, cook the rice (two good handfuls per person) then empty half (or all if you have a guest) of the curry mix into the cooked rice. Stir it all up and put the heat back into the curry, although it should have lost much by now. Eat from the pan to save washing up, unless you have a guest, of course.

The following day you can just cook up some more rice and empty the other half of the curry into it.

So there you have it, both an insight into an evening on Kudu, as well as a recipe for a kick ass curry.

Bon App!