Spicy Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Hot

There are certain places that you travel to where the use of spices is quite abundant. Needless to say, with rare exceptions all food has some sort of spices in it, even if it is just salt and pepper. Some places, though, go way beyond a few common ingredients and use a wide variety of spices in them. We really enjoy eating foods that have a variety of spices and have a sense of being exotic. Clearly it isn’t for everyone and we also enjoy foods that are spicy in the sense of heat as well. Since we try to recreate dishes from places that we travel, here are a few of the spicy dishes that we have previously prepared, in no particular order.

  1. Asian Roasted Duck – Not as complicated as it sounds and truly delicious.

    Asian Duck
  2. Spicy Chicken Curry – Definitional a traditional favorite.

    Spicy Chicken Curry
  3. Indian Butter Chicken – Cooking it in a slow-cooker makes it tender and flavorful.

    Indian Butter Chicken
  4. Tandoori Chicken – An exotic reminder of our trip to India.

    Tandoori Chicken and Fried Eggplant
  5. Spaghetti Arrabbiata – One of our favorite meals from, of all places, Frankfurt.

    Our Version of Spaghetti Arrabbiata
  6. Lamb Biryani – Well worth the effort and we decided to give it a little bit of heat.

    Lamb Biryani over Basmati Rice
  7. Moroccan Chicken – Cooked in a tajine, it is a one pot meal that is perfect for two.

    Moroccan Chicken in a Tajine

 

Delicious Lamb Biryani

This is a sponsored post on behalf of The Spice House. The recipe and all opinions are our own.

Our favorite meal when we visited India was Lamb Biryani. It isn’t a particularly difficult dish to create, but it does take a bit of time and preparation. One of the reasons that it is so flavorful is that it uses a variety of spices, some of which can be difficult to find. We used several spices from The Spice House and created our own take on Lamb Biryani. It turned out to be quite delicious and very fragrant. Depending on how spicy you like your food, you can control some of the heat by changing the amount of cayenne pepper or type of green chili that you use. We served ours over Basmati rice, but regular rice would be just as good.

Spices from The Spice House

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lb Lamb Shoulder Chops – cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 8 Whole Cloves
  • 4 Black Cardamom Pods
  • 4 Cinnamon Sticks
  • 1 Large White Onion – sliced thinly
  • 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
  • 1 tbsp Minced Ginger
  • 3 tbsp Fresh Mint Leaves – chopped
  • 3 Tomatoes – chopped
  • 3 Serrano Peppers – chopped (and deseeded for less heat)
  • 2 tbsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 tbsp Harissa Spread
  • 4 tbsp Plain Yogurt
  • 2 tbsp Lemon Juice – fresh squeezed
  • 1/2 tsp Saffron
  • 2 tbsp Warm Milk
  • 1 cup Basmati Rice – cooked to package directions
  • 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
  • Salt to taste
Onion, Spices, and Mint

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium heat and, once the oil is heated, add the cloves, cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks for about 1 minute until they are fragrant. Add the onion and cook until lightly brown stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Stir in the mint and cook for 1 minute more. Add the lamb to the onion and spice mixture and cook until the meat begins to brown on all sides, about 15 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, serrano peppers, and cayenne pepper and cook for about 10 minutes. Finally, stir in the yogurt, milk, saffron, harissa spread, and lemon juice and cook for about 15 minutes. Serve over the rice.

Sautéed Onions and Spices
Lamb Mixture
Add the Tomatoes and Peppers
Lamb Biryani over Basmati Rice

 

The Food of Ecuador

We definitely enjoyed a variety of food during our time in Ecuador. Similar to other places in South America, having both rice and potatoes with a meal was a common occurrence. There was also a variety of seafood and ceviche that is definitely worth trying. We mentioned prior to our trip that we weren’t sure if we were going to try the guinea pig, which is called cuy. In the end, we ended up giving it a try and we actually enjoyed it very much. The restaurant district of Quito is called La Mariscal and there are a lot of wonderful choices for trying Ecuadorian food. One of the best was a restaurant called Achiote, which is where we tried the guinea pig that had a bit of a curry flavor.

Quarter Cuy
Shrimp and Pasta
Ceviche
Lamb with Rice and Potatoes

Some of the other specialties that we tried was the potato and cheese soup called Locro de Papas as well as a soup of beef feet and hominy called Caldo de Patas. Honestly, neither of those were our favorites, but we wanted to give as many local dishes a try as we could. No visit to Ecuador would be complete without at least having empanadas once, so we made sure to have a nice variety of them. Another interesting thing that we tried was Tamal de Gallina, which is a corn pastry with chicken that is steamed in an “achira” leaf. Almost every meal is served with a spicy salsa that you can add to your dish if you enjoy a little extra heat and they were all quite tasty.

Potato and Cheese Soup
Steamed Corn and Chicken
Ecuadorian Delicacy
Trout

We also had a lot of wonderful food at the eco lodge in the jungle, but we were too tired from our long days of exploring to take pictures of the buffet. If it wasn’t for all of the walking that we did during our time in Ecuador, we probably would have put on a few pounds from all of the delicious food that we tried. It didn’t stop with the food either, we also tasted several Ecuadorian wines and beers to accompany our meals. We definitely tried some foods in Ecuador that we haven’t seen anyplace else and were glad that we tried so many different options.

Empanadas
Beef with Fried Potatoes
Fried Fish
Chocolate Mousse with Foam
Sizzling Beef