I was more than just a little excited to learn that Masterchef’s Jimmy Seervai would be attending the CurryFest this year.

As I have stated previously, curry is not my specialty, so the knowledge that Jimmy “The Curryman” himself was going to give three cooking demonstrations throughout the day was music to my ears. The demonstration I was most interested in was the Prawn Curry. On Masterchef the Crab Curry was Jimmy’s signature dish.  The prawn curry he was preparing for the festival was an adaptation of this dish.

Jimmy was born in Indian and moved to Australia when he was just two years old. He grew up with the aroma of spices both at home in the kitchen, and in the family business, a spice store located in Ryde.

The family are marketing there own blend of spices for various styles of curry.  I sampled Jimmy's Prawn curry and I purchased a selection of the blends so I could recreate some of "The Curryman" magic at home.

In person Jimmy has a huge personality, more so than came across on the Masterchef program. Throughout the demonstrations he was chatting constantly about the show, letting tidbits of gossip out of the bag, and keeping the audience enthralled both in the cooking and the story telling.

I had been curious to know who actually cooks in the family. Seems that Jimmy is not only the Masterchef of the family, he is the only chef in the Seervai household. He said his wife has cooked about five meals in the time they have been together, occasionally she will make the announcement that she will cook, but Jimmy will come home only to find that the meal had not eventuated.

At that point in the story telling he would stop cooking and look over the audience heads and say, “oh no, I think she may be here…. I feel that death stare”

As he was speaking the rice was being put on to cook, and the Paratha's were getting underway.

Jimmy's assistant Harvinder

He told a story of coming home from work with a leg of lamb and announcing to the wife.  “I’m going to make lamb for dinner tonight.” He then went into detail about all the delicious things he would do with the lamb. Now I would suspect the usual response for most wives would be, terrific, thanks sweetheart. Jimmy said “not my wife, her response was, but I don’t feel like lamb”. There were laughs all round, and then more laughs when Jimmy check again to see that his wife hadn’t yet arrived at the festival.

Not all the jokes were at the expense of his lovely wife.  There were stories about mishaps on the Masterchef show, jokes about Indians v’s Australian cricket, it just kept coming and the audience appreciated the sense of humour whilst they salivated at the gorgeous aromas.

So here it is Jimmys Prawn Curry check out the family spice blends.

Jimmy's Prawn Curry

Serves: 6 – 8 (or closer to 200 if you are doing a cooking demo)

Ingredients:
1 kilo green prawns
600 ml coconut milk
300ml of fish stock
20gms palm Sugar
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp spoons soy sauce
5 whole dried Kashmiri chillies (mild)
1 bunch fresh coriander
¼ Tsp tamarind (block – found in Indian Shops)
2 tsp sea salt
2 large tomatoes
50 ml of mild peanut oil
1 fresh lemon juice

Curry Paste:
2 large brown onions
4 cloves garlic
1 stick lemon grass
1 bunch of coriander roots
1 small knob of fresh turmeric
6 lime leaves
2 small red chillies
4 large green chillies
1 very large bulb ginger
1 small bulb galangal
7 curry leaves

3 1/2 tablespoons of Jimmys Special blend curry

¼ cup water

Method:

Roughly chop all the ingredients for the curry paste.

In a large frying pan over a low to moderate heat add the curry paste ingredient and oil. Fry until a slight brown colour is reached.

At this stage Jimmy told another story which I particularly wanted to share because it highlighted to me the feeling of community that is Woolgoolga, and what I see as some of our non urban appeal as a town.

Jimmy telling the story about the missing ingredients

Jimmy commented that he always tries to buy local produce for these types of demonstrations.  He had been out sourcing ingredients at local stores only to find he was having difficulty locating some vital ingredients such as lemon grass, curry leaves, okra.  In desperation he said to a store owner. “Why can’t I locate these items?” the store owner answered, “because there is no need to stock them, everyone just grows their own.”

When I moved here from Sydney I had the same problem. I would complain to anyone who would listen “How can they not stock…” Now I find that I may not grow a particular item myself, but I always know who does, and I get it fresh out of the garden.

Seems Jimmy was privy to the same hospitality. Before the cooking demonstration a lady brought the remaining items Jimmy had needed for his dishes from her garden.

Yesterday I noticed bananas were $12 per kilo in the supermarket.  Naturally I couldn’t justify the purchase. When I got home I found a large hand of locally grown banana’s on my doorstep.

Back to the recipe, add the chopped tomatoes, dried chili, chopped fresh chili and half the coriander, allow the dish to cook down further.

Now did I mention the Seervai family has their own blend of spices on the market?? The next step is to combine the “Jimmy’s Curry Spice” with water to form a paste.  Add the paste to the frying pan, allow it to cook whilst stirring occasionally.

Pour 300mls coconut milk, fish stock, palm sugar, tamarind, fish sauce and soy sauce. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook the curry until the mixture starts to thicken slightly.

Jimmy hamming it up for the camera & entertaining the audience

Add the peeled and prepared prawns and cook until the prawns are just coloured.

Squeeze the juice if a lemon into the curry and add the remaining coconut milk and chopped coriander just prior to serving.

Serve with rice and paratha.

For more recipes from Jimmy http://www.jimmysspicekitchen.com.au/

Now pretending I am a Masterchef judge… the presentation may not have been quite up to Masterchef standards, given the paper plates and plastic utensils... just joking!

I didn’t hear a single complaint as everyone lined up to sample “the curry mans” dish. I would have liked to get a final image of the Prawn curry but as the masses swarmed I quickly retreated to safety.

The mid North Coast area of Port Macquarie and surrounding districts is showcasing the best of what the area has to offer in their 8^th Annual “Tastings of the Hasting” food and wine event.  This is the ideal time to visit Port Macquarie to sample the premier local chefs, producers, vineyards, brewers and gourmet providores at a range of events to be held over a three week period.

The “Tastings of the Hastings” promotes the “Journey of Flavour,” an initiative which aims to highlight local product to local consumers, and the gourmet traveller.  The “Journey of Flavour” facilitates this by creating a recognizable brand for the Hastings region. This brand represents quality local products and services in the food and beverage industry.  Through the journey of flavour the area is evolving into a gourmet destination for foodies.

Even the renowned pastry chef Adriano Zumbo has joined the festivities this year.  Adriano was a special guest of Cassegrain wines at their “Savour the journey of Flavour” evening. Guests were treated to a four course meal with matching wines designed by head chef Lisa Ryan, using hand picked local produce. The finale of the evening was a dessert spectacular from Adriano Zumbo, utilizing more wonderful local produce.

Image courtesy Of Bago Vineyard

Jazz in the vines, at Bago Vineyard is another popular event which participated in the “Tastings of the Hastings” calendar.  Families and couples spent a relaxing day in the vines enjoying sumptuous food and wine.

Another regular highlight of the “Tastings of the Hastings” is the 4^th Annual “6 Degrees of Degustation Charity Dinner” This event has been held each year at Rydges Hotel in Port Macquarie.

This unique event showcases creations from six of the leading local chefs from some of the best local restaurants.  Rydges opens their kitchen to these chefs, and the chefs in turn, donate their time and skills for the evening to help raise money for the Salvation Army. Each chef is responsible for one course in the six course degustation menu. Matching local beer and wines accompany each course. 6 Degrees of Degustation Charity Dinner Review.

There are plenty more events still to come over the next two weeks such as “The Little Brewing Company’s” Beer Diva evening, “High Tea on the High Rise” a roof top champagne high tea at Rydges Resort, a “Taste of the Hastings dinner” at Panthers Club, and the main event, “The 2010 Holiday Coast Credit Union “Tastings of the Hastings” to be held at the Port Macquarie Race Course on the 24^th October.

This event has something for everyone, amusements for children, an eclectic range of entertainment for all ages, great prizes and of course the best the region has to offer in food and wine. Entry is by gold coin donation, inside there will be a farmers market, quality gourmet product made from local produce, leading chefs selling a wide variety of freshly produced meals made from local produce, tastings and sales by vineyards and breweries, cooking demonstrations by leading chefs demonstrating their culinary skills using fresh local produce, a variety of Indoor and outdoor dining and entertainment areas where patrons are encouraged to wine dine and relax and enjoy what the day has to offer.

Here is a full schedule of events for the three weeks of the “Tastings of the Hastings”