One recipe really caught our eye on tonight’s episode of MasterChef Australia: Curried Carrots!
We’ve seen a number of divine dishes featured on MasterChef Australia recently, but this one had us immediately racing to find out exactly how it was created.
Luckily, we’ve come up with the goods! Without further ado, allow us to present to you MasterChef Australia’s Curried Carrots recipe.
Serves 4
Curried Carrots Ingredients
Curry Sauce
8 large carrots
40g fresh turmeric
1 tbsp ghee
1 brown onion, peeled, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3cm piece ginger, finely diced
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 whole dried chilli
2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
2 tsp chilli powder
3 tbsp coconut cream
Charred Carrots
1 tbsp ghee
12 baby carrots, washed and trimmed
1 tsp garam masala
½ cup reserved carrot juice
Carrot Pangrattato
Reserved carrot pulp
1 cup grapeseed oil
2 sprigs curry leaves
Smoked Yoghurt
3 tbsp Greek style or natural yoghurt
½ tsp liquid smoke
Temper
Reserved cooking oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds
Salt, to taste
Coriander leaves and lime cheeks, to serve
Curried Carrots Method
1. Prepare a hibachi if using.
2. For the Curry Sauce, wash the carrots and juice them along with the turmeric. Reserve ½ cup juice for the Charred Carrots and 1 cup pulp. Place the remaining juice in a small saucepan over a medium heat and simmer to reduce slightly.
3. Place the ghee into a medium frypan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and sauté until softened and browned.
4. Add garam masala, coriander seeds, chilli and chilli powder. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the coconut cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and process with a stick blender until completely smooth. Pass through a fine sieve, season to taste and keep warm until serving.
5. For the Charred Carrots, preheat a grill pan if using.
6. Place the ghee in a large frying pan and place over a medium high heat. Add the carrots, garam masala and a pinch of salt to the pan and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the reserved carrot juice and cover with a lid. Cook until just tender, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer the carrots directly onto a very hot hibachi or grill pan and char all over. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil.
7. For the Carrot Pangrattato, place two sheets of paper towel over a ceramic plate, sprinkle carrot pulp evenly across. Place into the microwave and cook in 20 second bursts for roughly 1 – 1 ½ minutes, until partially dry.
8. Place a fine sieve over a small saucepan and set aside. Heat oil in a frypan. Add the dried carrot pulp, swirl the pan around and allow the carrot to slowly brown, taking care as the oil may spit. Once the carrots have just started to brown, pour through the sieve set over the saucepan. Spread the browned carrot pulp over paper towel to remove excess oil.
9. Return the saucepan of oil to a medium heat. Add the curry leaves and cook until just crisp, about 30 seconds. Remove curry leaves and allow to drain on paper towel. Once the carrot and curry leaves are cool, combine in a small bowl with a generous pinch of salt and reserve until ready to serve. Reserve the oil.
10. For the Smoked Yoghurt, combine all ingredients in a bowl and reserve in the fridge until ready to serve.
11. For the Temper, return the cooking oil to a medium heat. Once hot, add spices and cook for 30 seconds, the spices should start popping and release their aromas. Pour the oil and spices into a heatproof bowl to avoid burning. Reserve until ready to serve.
12. To serve, cut the charred carrots into 1.5cm rounds and place in a circular shape in 4 shallow serving bowls. Cover the carrots with a generous amount of curry sauce. Spoon a tablespoon of temper over the curry sauce. Dot the yoghurt over each dish, sprinkle generously with pangrattato. Finish with some coriander leaves and lime cheeks.
MasterChef Australia: Innovative Appliance & More Recipes
Shop a selection of the innovative cooking appliances featured on MasterChef Australia, both online and at your local Harvey Norman store. One of those innovations, featured on this episode, is Breville the Big Squeeze Juicer – an appliance that comes with our highest recommendation.
For more recipe ideas, check out some more of the latest creations featured on MasterChef Australia.