Lola’s Kitchen: Leek in Curry Sauce Recipe

Lola’s Kitchen is a feature on Lola’s Reviews where I talk about all things related to food, cooking and baking. These posts can be recipe posts, tens list posts about food or recipes or more discussion type posts about food. I love cooking and spend some time in the kitchen almost every day, so I wanted to give it a place on my blog as well. The banner for this feature is designed by Michelle from Limabean Designs.

I rarely cook with leek, not sure why, but I am not really a fan of the vegetable usually. But there was this dish my mom used to make with help of a package that was really good. It had leek in curry sauce and vegetarian minced meat and then pieces of potato on top. Recently I saw a recipe in a magazine that seemed very similar, so I gave it a try. I really liked the sauce, but the rösti on top didn’t quite work for me and the dish has a bit too fluids. I decided to make a twist on it, make the sauce, but instead of putting it with potatoes in the oven and then eggs and creme fraiche on top of it, I just added some rice. And it turned out great. So I decided to share the recipe with you today. The curry sauce has such a good flavor you almost don’t even notice it has leek in it, but it does add to the dish. And as you probably know by now, I love curry sauces. The rice was a great addition to the sauce and I like this variation much more than the oven version, but I’ll also include the oven version for those who want to give that a try.
This recipe is loosely based on Jumbo their Rösti-preischotel met Quorn gehakt recipe. It’s a dutch recipe.

Ingredients

• Leek – 3
• Red Bell pepper – 3
• Garlic – 5 cloves
• Vegetarian minced meat – 2 packages/ 350 gram
• Low salt bouillon cube – 2
• Curry powder – 4 teaspoon
• Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
• Mustard seed powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Masala powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt – to taste
• Cornstarch – 4 teaspoon
• Water – about 1 liter/ 4 cups

This approximately is enough for 4 people. I recommend to serve the sauce with rice.

Method

1. First cut the garlic in small pieces or use a garlic press. Put the garlic in a wok with some olive oil, but don’t bake it yet. Then slice and dice the red bell peppers into small pieces. Heat the oil and bake the garlic for a minute, then add the red bell pepper and bake for a few more minutes.
2. Add about half a liter or 2 cups water to the wok with two bouillon cubes and let it boil softly. In the meantime slice the leeks. Slice the bottom of the leek then make two slices along the length of the leek so each cut makes four pieces. Repeat until all three leeks are cut. Put the leek into a colander and wash well.
3. Now combine the curry, cumin, masala and mustard seeds and add it to the wok. Add a bit more water and then add the leek. Let it boil for about 5 minutes.
4. If serving with rice start cooking the rice now. Have the sauce boil for another 10 minutes. In the meantime add the vegetarian minced meat and stir well. Once the ten minutes are almost over mix the cornstarch with some water. Add it to the sauce and stir well.
5. Now you can eat your sauce, serve it with rice, potatoes, flat bread or tortilla wraps.

Variation Tips

• Leek casserole with potato. Instead of a sauce you can also make it a casserole. While you’re making the sauce, peel some potatoes and boil them for 10 minutes. After that pour the sauce in an ovenproof bowl and put the potatoes on top of it. Then mix 2 eggs with 200 gram creme fraiche or cream cheese (you can add another egg or some milk if necessary), add a bit of curry and salt and pour that over the dish. Then bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
• Leek casserole with Rösti. Instead of a sauce you can also make it a casserole with rösti on top. While you’re making the sauce, peel some potatoes, then grate them. After that pour the sauce in an ovenproof bowl and put the potatoes on top of it. Then mix 2 eggs with 200 gram creme fraiche or cream cheese(you can add another egg or some milk if necessary), add a bit of curry and salt and pour that over the dish. Then bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
• Leek in curry sauce with minced meat. Ofcourse you can substitute the vegetarian minced meat with real meat. In that case you might have to bake it first before adding it to the sauce. or bake it first and then add the veggies.

Do you like Leek? What’s your favorite dish with leek?