Curried Sausages: Traditional Australian Dinner

Ask any Australian of my generation what their Mum used to make them growing up, and a lot of them will include curried sausages with Keen's curry powder in their list.  It is a nostalgic Australian classic.  Every family has their own recipe, and the official Keen's recipe is here.  Mine differs from Keen's because I use stock and no cream, no peas (yuck) and include more veggies.  It is beautiful.

To be honest - unlike half of Australians, I stumbled upon this traditional recipe as an adult.  My Mum did her best to get me interested in food as a child, but (and this may sound odd given my diverse and expansive taste now) I didn't really like food growing up.  My poor Mum had very few meals she could tempt me with, and I was routinely sitting at the table for who knows how long (it felt like forever as a child but was probably not that long) after everyone else finished, pushing my partially eaten cold food around my plate disinterestedly, waiting for permission to leave the table.  Peas were the worst. The WORST.  I will occasionally eat peas now but only if it is in something really worthwhile.  My own favourite food memories of childhood were Spaghetti Bolognese, cheerios and baked beans (a real treat meal combo), and something Mum called a "picnic" which was a sliced apple, a slice of cheese, a boiled egg, ham and something else (fuzzy memory of Sunday nights).  Mum tried all sorts of other meals but I didn't eat much.  Poor thing had a terrible time making me eat.

But all that has changed now - perhaps too much!  Now I love pretty much everything, barring a few specific items.  Despite not having grown up with this beautiful dish myself, I adore it as an adult as ultimate comfort food.  Who could not? You know it is Australian - because after we finished I found myself saying to the Dragon - "It was bloody good wasn't it?"

Ingredients

• 8 beef sausages
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 carrots, chopped roughly
• 2 celery stalks, chopped roughly
• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped into approximately 1.5cm cubes
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbs Keens curry powder
• 1 1/2 cups beef stock
• 1 tbs corn flour
• 1 tbs water
• Salt and pepper
• parsley, to serve (however much you like!)
• Rice (optional)

Potential Spins

Add capsicum and/or peas.  Swap potato/carrot for any root veggies you like.  Wilt spinach through it for some green.  Use low fat sausages or vegetarian sausages if you are watching your waistline.  Add a tablespoon or two of cream at the end if you like it creamy.  Serve over rice if you like, or serve over mashed potato rather than having potato in the mix...my garlic mashed potato recipe may be good with this.  Keens curry powder is very old school Australian, so bring it into the 20th century with whichever curry paste you like - karahi, red curry, yellow curry, korma, anything.  Bear in mind that this will no longer be an Australian meal if you use anything but Keen's, though.  You can also add chilli flakes if you want a bit more kick.  We did but didn't include it in the recipe because it is not traditional.  A lot of recipes use chicken stock but I think beef is best.  Keeps it hearty.  Add a knob of butter to the mix.......yum....

Method

1. Fry the sausages in a non stick fry pan for approximatley 5 minutes or until just cooked through.  Remove from the pan and slice into 2cm chunks, or whatever sized chunk takes your fancy.  Cover with alfoil.  Tonight we used thin slices because the Dragon's jaw is sore and I didn't want him to have to open his mouth too much
2. Cook the sliced onion in the same pan, with a drizzle of oil if your pan requires it, or not if it doesn't. Fry over medium heat until soft. Add curry powder and garlic and stir until fragrant.
3. Add the vegetables and chopped sausages, stir through to coat in the curry powder and garlic mixture.
4. Top with beef stock - you want it to just cover the veggies.  
5. Mix the cornflower and water and stir through - this will be the thickener for the sauce.
6. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer.  Cook with the lid on for 10 minutes, then with the lid off for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened sufficiently to your taste and the veggies are soft and beautiful.  Top with parsley, serve over rice and enjoy!

Our Take Aways

I asked the Dragon what his takeaways were and he just gave me one word: "noms!". It WAS bloody beautiful.  A hearty Australiana meal.  Comfort food for the win!  Sadly we decided upon this meal after the shops closed so couldn't include celery, but it was still beautiful without it.