NOTE: you need to start the day before you want to serve it.
The meat becomes very tender when marinaded and cooked this way.
If there are leftovers, blend the marinade and juices assembled in the pan, dice the meat and add , to make a lamb curry. When reheated the meat becomes even more tender.
A 3-3.5 kg leg of lamb (in Berlin easiest found in Turkish supermarkets or butchers).
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 heaped tblsp coriander seeds
1 heaped tsp black pepper corns
Seeds from 6 cardamom pods
3 cinnamon sticks (Ceylon or Sri Lanka – NOT cassia)
3 dl yoghurt
8-10 garlic cloves
8-10 cm fresh ginger
150 g ground almonds
Juice of 1 lemon
Chili – any way, shape or form, whatever you have in the house, and to taste
2 tsp salt
The day before you want to serve the dish, cut deep slashes in the meat on all sides.
Grind the spices. Blitz the ginger and garlic in a small food processor with a bit of water.
Mix all ingredients together and rub all over the meat and into every cut and cranny. Put in a solid plastic bag suitable for storing food, or a snugly fitting bowl and cover. Refrigerate over night.
Preheat oven to 180 Celcius. Place lamb in a deep baking tray. Add about 1.5 dl water to the bottom of the pan. Bake for 2.5 to 3 hours.
I wish I had known BEFORE I did the research and completed the two gallery walks outlined below that there is actually a website which maps out the contemporary art galleries in Madrid. It did not come up in a google search, and either the art group in InterNations Madrid did not know about it, or they decided it should remain a well-kept secret. Anyway, for next time (for example the gallery weekend in September, which unfortunately coincides with the Berlin Art Week), here it is, and the Facebook group is here.
My relatively short art walk on day 1 started in La Casa Encendida, Ronda Valencia 2, and continued to C/ Doctor Fourquet with six galleries in the numbers as follows: 5 – Joaquín García, 8 – Sin Fin, 9 – Juan Risso, 12 – Bacelos, 17 – Espacio Minimo, and 35 – Alegria. However, be aware that they have very limited, and very erratic opening hours. Heaven forbid that they attract visitors by coordinating their opening hours like galleries in the rest of the world logically do. Also, the numbering seems to be a complete mess. The walk ended in CaixaForum – a must visit, especially for the architecture.
Note to self: Many tapas restaurants in C/del Leon.
(Click photos to expand and for slideshow)
Streetart ….
…. not only in Berlin
Statue
CaixaForum
Fountain outside Caixaforum
Ditto
Wall of plants
Silhouettes
Street photography is fun …..
… and ….
….. I guess it is a form of voyeurism
I do love trees
Trunk
Day 2
This is (more or less) the map of my gallery walk on day 2. There were more galleries to visit along the way, for example Gallery Antonio Suner, but for some reason, google maps cannot cope with more than ten destinations in one map.
Some steetart early on the walk
Matching colours
Reflections
More reflections
A random church in random street on a random walk
Gallery “Art U Ready”, C San Lorenzo 11
There are at least three galleries in C San Lorenzo 11 ….
Also Gallery Heinrich Ehrhardt
Joan Miró in …..
Gallery Elvira Gonzalez
I still love trees
Gallery Cristina Lucas
Day 3
Impressions from a long walk:
Below the cathedral
Leaning trees
Exotic plants
The cathedral
They tried to improve this building ……
Old temples …..
…. I guess
..
..
“Refugees welcome”
“The wedding cake”
That’s better
Trunk
Trunk
Ladies in pink
And later visited a new international fair for contemporary art: Urvanity. Not the biggest fair I have ever visited.
The Berlin-based gallery Collectiva had a stand there (the last two photos above).
Some more walking:
And finally, a visit to the botanical gardens:
On my final day in Madrid I walked south to the river. Through the whole city, both sides of the river are now a recreational area with walking and biking paths, playgrounds etc.
1 kg pumpkin or butternut sqash, cut into large chunks
Olive oil to drizzle
1 tblsp garam masala
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 green chilis, slit lengthways
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
500 g (after soaking and cooking) black-eyed beans
150 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 x 400 ml tin coconut milk
Place pumpkin pieces in a bowl, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with garam masala, salt and pepper. Mix to coat evenly and arrange in an oven-proof plate in a single layer. Roast at 180 degrees until the pumpkin is soft and tender.
Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add the chilies and the onion and cook till the onion is soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the beans, mix well, and add the tomatoes. Cook for another couple of minutes.
Now add the turmeric, a good pinch of black pepper, 1 tsp salt and the coconut milk. Heat gently and add the pumpkin. Cover and heat through, checing for salt and chili.
For one kilo of chicken thigh meat (without skin and bones – METRO has it)
3 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 (real) cinnamon sticks
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
6 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
6 cloves garlic, crushed
Chili to taste, for example 1 tsp chili powder, or 2 fresh chilies
1 tsp salt
200 g tinned tomatoes or tomato passata
2 tblsp tomato concentrate
1,5 tsp ground cumin
A half tsp ground turmeric
3 tblsp full-fat yoghurt
1 tsp garam masala
Heat the oil and fry cumin seeds and cinnamon sticks shortly. Then add the onions and cook on medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.
Blend the ginger, garlic, chilies and salt with just enough water to make a coarse paste.
Add the paste to the onions and simmer for a couple of minutes. Then add the tomato and cook for a few minutes to a thick paste, stirring occasionally.
Then add the tomato concentrate and the rest of the spices. Simmer.
Whisk the yoghurt and incorporate it, once tblsp at a time. Cook through and let all the flavours meld.
Add the chicken and simmer for arund 30 minutes. Before serving, add the garam masala and heat through.
