Relish the American Table: Coconut curry mussels

Tag : thai curry sauce
Relish the American Table: Coconut curry mussels
By Jean Kressy
Relish magazine
Curry, from the word kari, meaning “sauce” in India,refers to spicy stews or the spices used to make them. Indian cooksgenerally mix their own curry powder, but we take the easy way anduse a store-bought version, which works well.

As the star ingredient in Coconut Curry Mussels, coconut milk iscombined with garlic, ginger and onion, some of the seasonings usedin Indian cooking.

“It’s a dish with a wide variety of ingredients,”writes Indian cooking expert Julie Sahni.

Before the food industry caught on to the idea that there was amarket for ingredients with less salt and less fat, anyone whowanted to cook with reduced amounts of either was out of luck.There was no such thing as low-sodium soy sauce or reduced-fatmayonnaise, and light coconut milk was out of the question.

But if you wanted to make an authentic Indian Yerra Moolee ofshrimp poached in coconut milk or Thai Chicken Soup, there was nogetting around it: you needed coconut milk. Besides the distinctivesweetness it adds, “Coconut milk enriches all otherflavorings,” Sahni writes.

However, at about 600 calories and almost 60 grams of fat per cup,coconut milk is a nutritional splurge that many cooks would ratherdo without. Happily, light coconut milk, made from a second orthird pressing of coconut meat and with considerably fewer caloriesand less fat, makes a good substitute. Coconut cream, from thefirst pressing, is so high in fat it’s sometimes used forfrying.

Coconut curry mussels

Serve this dish with jasmine rice. Serves two as a main course orfour as an appetizer. Recipe by Bruce Weinstein and MarkScarbrough.

Ingredients:

2 shallots, peeled and quartered

2 garlic cloves, halved

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup light coconut milk

2 pounds mussels, cleaned and debearded

3/4 cup chopped fresh pineapple

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Cilantro

Directions:

Combine shallots, garlic and ginger in food processor; processuntil finely chopped.

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallot mixture; cook,stirring often, until very fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add currypowder and salt; cook 1 minute.

Pour in coconut milk; bring to simmer, scraping up browned bits onpan’s bottom.

Add mussels; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until shells open,about 5 minutes. Discard any mussels that don’t open. Stir inpineapple and pepper before serving. Garnish with cilantro.

Makes 2 servings. Per serving: 430 calories, 29g fat, 24g protein,23g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, 790mg sodium.

Look for Relish magazine, celebrating America’s love of food,the first Tuesday of each month in the Democrat-Herald. For moreRelish recipes, to sign up for A biweekly newsletter or leave anote on Relish message boards, log on to relishmag.com .