GREAT HOME COOKS : Where in the World Is Curry O’Brien?

Standing in Irene O’Brien’s neat, U-shaped kitchen, you’d never know that she is in the middle of preparing a feast. There’s not a dirty dish in sight. The only clue that something wonderful is going on is that the entire house is fragrant with garlic and curry, the scents of the Indian cuisine she loves to cook. “I clean up as I go along,” explains O’Brien as she lifts the cover to taste the sauce that has been bubbling on the stove, pausing to adjust the seasonings.

Adding more chicken stock to the sauce, O’Brien grabs a wooden spoon and begins to stir. “My real satisfaction is in the cooking of, as opposed to the eating of food,” she says. “Of course, I do nibble on the way. After all, you do have to taste what you’re cooking.”

“If there’s a problem, Irene,” her husband, John, says dryly, “I’ll go down and pick up a couple of hamburgers.”

Irene, a retired grade school teacher, became interested in Indian cuisine when she and her husband lived in Singapore for a year. While John was busy setting up an electronics plant, Irene occupied her time taking cooking classes. “That’s where I met one of the Indian women who give cooking lessons in their homes,” says O’Brien. “So I signed up for this Indian cuisine class and we became friends. I took some Chinese classes too.”

Although O’Brien spent a lot of time in the kitchen while growing up in a small town in Massachusetts, she didn’t do much solo cooking--she couldn’t; she was surrounded by experts. There was her Polish grandmother and her mother; even her father was a deft cook. “I was always the sous chef at home,” says O’Brien. “I peeled the apples and cracked the walnuts.”

It wasn’t until she got married that she really became interested in cooking. Of course, that was 40 years ago. Her taste is for basically simple, but spicy, garlicky recipes. “The smell is what turns me on,” she says, “especially if it’s got garlic in it.”

She is also health-conscious. But she doesn’t believe in substituting margarine for butter, or milk for heavy cream in recipes. “It just doesn’t taste right,” she says. “Besides, a little fat once in a while isn’t going to hurt.”

“We are not fanatics,” adds John. “We’re fin-and-feather kind of people.”

While she occasionally prepares a few of the Polish dishes she grew up on, O’Brien still hasn’t mastered pierogi, the light, meat dumplings her grandmother taught her to make. “The silly things just sink to the bottom of the pot,” she says. “Some day I am going to learn.”

Today, the O’Briens entertain at least once a week in their stylish, comfortable Westlake Village home. Often, dinner is served on “the porch,” as their son, J.F., calls their landscaped patio, lush with exotic flowers, potted plants, succulents and moon-shaped stepping stones. Surprisingly, there’s not a fruit tree in sight.

“I don’t grow herbs or plant fruit trees,” says O’Brien. “I know so many people who are inundated within a two-week period of time. They go absolutely crazy trying to fix the stuff, give it away, and having to be careful of not being attacked by bees. I just grow flowers.”

Once a week she makes the rounds, shopping at the local markets. She buys cans of cannellini beans at a local gourmet grocery; grape leaves, garlic and pita bread at a Middle Eastern store. She gets garam masala and hot curry powder at an Indian market, and right next door is an Italian deli where O’Brien picks up mortadella and anchovies.

“I hate to start cooking and then discover I’m out of a chile or an onion,” she says. “Although lately I’ve become somewhat lax. Now I make out menus only if we are going to have guests. And then I’ll make everything I can ahead of time and freeze it.” She even makes her own chicken broth because, simply, “it tastes a lot better.”

O’Brien reads cookbooks the way other people devour novels. Her favorite--”The Asian Cookbook,” by Charmaine Solomon--she picked up in Singapore. “Ethnic food,” she says, “is very interesting, very healthy and very delicious.”

Even when things go wrong--like the time she accidentally added two cans of chipotle chiles instead of two dried chiles--O’Brien doesn’t panic. She was trying out a new chili recipe clipped from a newspaper. “For some reason,” she says, “I kept thinking two cans, two cans.” Irene simply added more tomatoes, made a huge pot of rice and served the chili as a topping. In the end it turned out fine, though some of her guests still found it a tad too hot. “There’s no reason to feel intimidated,” she says. “Everybody knows I experiment.”

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For years, this has been one of the O’Brien family’s favorite recipes. The curry sauce makes eight cups but freezes well. For a quick dinner, O’Brien thaws some of the leftover sauce and serves it over lamb or chicken.

SPICY CURRY 8 cups hot cooked rice 8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, broiled and kept warm 2 cups Curry Sauce Raita Cilantro Chutney Toasted almonds, optional Currants, optional Radishes, thinly sliced, optional Green onions, finely chopped, optional Tomatoes, finely chopped, optional

Place rice on heated platter. Place chicken around outside edge. Spoon small amount of Curry Sauce over rice. Serve remaining sauce in bowl, along with individual bowls of Raita, Cilantro Chutney, toasted almonds, currants, radishes, green onions and tomatoes. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving, with Curry Sauce, Raita, and Cilantro Chutney, contains about: 1,003 calories; 1,297 mg sodium; 92 mg cholesterol; 17 grams fat; 164 grams carbohydrates; 43 grams protein; 1.33 grams fiber.

Curry Sauce 5 large onions, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1/2 cup butter 1/4 cup hot curry powder 1/4 cup regular curry powder 1/2 cup flour 5 cups chicken stock 3 cups applesauce 3 tablespoons tomato paste Juice 1 lemon

Saute onions and garlic in butter until tender but not brown. Stir in regular and hot curry powders and flour. Cook mixture by stirring over very low heat 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, applesauce, tomato paste and lemon juice.

Simmer gently 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Puree cooked sauce in blender or food processor. Makes 8 cups.

Note: Hot and regular curry powders are available in Indian grocery stores.

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When O’Brien first started making raita, she had to smuggle the garam masala through customs. Now the hot, spicy powder is easy to find at Indian grocery stores.

Raita 2 cups yogurt 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced 1 red chile, finely chopped 1 green chile, finely chopped 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro 1 clove crushed garlic Juice 1 lemon 1/2 teaspoon garam masala 1 teaspoon salt

Combine yogurt, cucumber, red and green chiles, cilantro, garlic, lemon juice and garam masala and stir. Add salt just before serving. Makes 2 servings.

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Cilantro Chutney perks up the curry, but it is also good served on the side with kebabs, or spooned into O’Brien’s endive and cannellini bean soup.

Cilantro Chutney 1 bunch cilantro 2 green chiles, seeded 1 small piece ginger root 6 green onions, including tops 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Finely chop cilantro, chiles, ginger and green onions in food processor. Through feed tube, add salt, sugar, lime juice and garam masala. Continue mixing until smooth. Makes 1 cup.

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This garlicky dip is great to serve to guests. Just don’t tell them how easy it is to make.

CAVIAR DIP 16 ounces cream cheese 4 cloves minced garlic, or to taste Juice 1/2 lemon 1 (2-ounce) jar lumpfish caviar Toasted pita points, optional

Process cream cheese, garlic, lemon and 1 teaspoon lumpfish caviar in food processor until smooth. Add remaining caviar, reserving 1 teaspoon for garnish, and pulse few times. Do not overmix. Pour in bowl and garnish with reserved caviar.

Serve with toasted pita bread cut into fourths. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about: 218 calories; 274 mg sodium; 104 mg cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 2 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.03 grams fiber.

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This quick soup may also be prepared in a food processor until smooth and served with a tablespoon of O’Brien’s cilantro chutney, or sprinkled generously with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

ENDIVE AND CANNELLINI BEAN SOUP 1 head curly endive Salt 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cloves minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon black pepper Salt 3 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained 4 cups homemade chicken broth Garlic toast or French bread, optional

Wash endive and trim tough ends. Place in large pot and add 1/4 cup water and dash salt. Cover and cook until tender.

Heat olive oil in separate pot and add garlic, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring until garlic browns. Add beans. Stir gently. Add undrained cooked greens and chicken broth. Simmer gently 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with garlic toast or French bread. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving, without bread, contains about: 582 calories; 862 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 99 grams carbohydrates; 39 grams protein; 10.54 grams fiber.

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The olive salad mixture also makes a fine topping on pizza, pasta and plain green salad.

MUFFULETTA SANDWICHES 1 1/2 cups cracked green olives, chopped 1/2 cup olive oil 1 cup black oil-preserved olives, chopped 1/2 cup minced Italian parsley 1 (4-ounce) jar pimientos, drained and chopped 3 anchovy fillets, mashed to paste 2 tablespoons capers, drained 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 loaf French bread 1/4 pound Genoa salami, thinly sliced 1/4 pound provolone, thinly sliced 1/4 pound mortadella, thinly sliced

Combine green olives, olive oil, black olives, parsley, pimientos, anchovies, capers, garlic and oregano in bowl. Pour into jar. Cover and let stand 2 to 3 hours. Then refrigerate. Serve at room temperature.

To assemble sandwich, drain olive salad and reserve marinade. Remove excess bread from inside of French bread. Coat inside of bread with marinade. Press olive mixture into both sides of bread. Layer with Genoa salami, provolone and mortadella. Wrap sandwich in foil. Top with heavy weight. Refrigerate 2 to 3 hours or overnight. Serve at room temperature. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about: 537 calories; 1,310 mg sodium; 32 mg cholesterol; 28 grams fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 16 grams protein; 0.27 gram fiber.