Hello friends.
I have something I need to get off my chest. For years, I have been intimidated by curry. I don't know a Vindaloo from a Tikka Masala. What I do know is that I always enjoy an authentic Indian meal, I just want to be able to cook one myself!
Last night a friend put on a fantastic Indian spread...butter chicken (none for me!) a delicious vegetable curry and a chick pea curry. There was of course naan bread and basmati rice. Delicious. Today I was inspired...I entered the grocery store without a list or any concrete plan. I just knew I wanted a curry dish, I knew what I wanted in it and how it should look and taste. Brave I know...but this story has a happy ending.
I grabbed all my vegetables first. Onion, garlic, red pepper, cauliflower, potato and peas. I moved on to organic chick peas, light coconut milk and brown basmati rice. A great base...but then the curry conundrum. I approached the Asian Foods section with much trepidation. I know, I know many of you probably mix your own curries! My hat is off to you!!! I do have a yellow curry powder in my spice drawer...but it's not really inspired. I looked at different varieties of curry, some in jars, some pastes. All had added fat and ingredients I couldn't pronounce. Then I spotted this!
All natural, real ingredients. Perfect!! The directions on the back are very straight forward if you're making a straight Chick Pea curry...I however had something slightly different in mind. I know many of you are probably shaking your heads...a mix might be cheating, but it did taste really good. I chopped all the veggies and didn't worry too much about which ones would cook faster...I just threw everything in the pot.
I started with coconut oil (I love fats that make your belly flat!) grated in two garlic cloves, added the spice mix and cooked for about a minute.
I added the diced tomatoes, veggies then chick peas and coconut milk. Coconut milk was not actually called for...but it was part of my vision!
I brought it all to a boil, then covered and simmered for about 45 minutes.
Viola! My amateur curry! I served it with brown basmati rice and coleslaw. Coleslaw you say?? Well, if you've read my past posts, you know my kids wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole...so I also made pulled pork in the crockpot for the rest of the family. Coleslaw goes nicely with the pork...and, as it turns out, just as nicely with the curry...cooled it off a bit!
I am sharing this story because I love it when 'winging it' turns into a meal that could become a staple. Do you have any experiments that turned into signature dishes? Let's share!
Happy cooking!
Toby
I have something I need to get off my chest. For years, I have been intimidated by curry. I don't know a Vindaloo from a Tikka Masala. What I do know is that I always enjoy an authentic Indian meal, I just want to be able to cook one myself!
Last night a friend put on a fantastic Indian spread...butter chicken (none for me!) a delicious vegetable curry and a chick pea curry. There was of course naan bread and basmati rice. Delicious. Today I was inspired...I entered the grocery store without a list or any concrete plan. I just knew I wanted a curry dish, I knew what I wanted in it and how it should look and taste. Brave I know...but this story has a happy ending.
I grabbed all my vegetables first. Onion, garlic, red pepper, cauliflower, potato and peas. I moved on to organic chick peas, light coconut milk and brown basmati rice. A great base...but then the curry conundrum. I approached the Asian Foods section with much trepidation. I know, I know many of you probably mix your own curries! My hat is off to you!!! I do have a yellow curry powder in my spice drawer...but it's not really inspired. I looked at different varieties of curry, some in jars, some pastes. All had added fat and ingredients I couldn't pronounce. Then I spotted this!
All natural, real ingredients. Perfect!! The directions on the back are very straight forward if you're making a straight Chick Pea curry...I however had something slightly different in mind. I know many of you are probably shaking your heads...a mix might be cheating, but it did taste really good. I chopped all the veggies and didn't worry too much about which ones would cook faster...I just threw everything in the pot.
I started with coconut oil (I love fats that make your belly flat!) grated in two garlic cloves, added the spice mix and cooked for about a minute.
I added the diced tomatoes, veggies then chick peas and coconut milk. Coconut milk was not actually called for...but it was part of my vision!
I brought it all to a boil, then covered and simmered for about 45 minutes.
Viola! My amateur curry! I served it with brown basmati rice and coleslaw. Coleslaw you say?? Well, if you've read my past posts, you know my kids wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole...so I also made pulled pork in the crockpot for the rest of the family. Coleslaw goes nicely with the pork...and, as it turns out, just as nicely with the curry...cooled it off a bit!
I am sharing this story because I love it when 'winging it' turns into a meal that could become a staple. Do you have any experiments that turned into signature dishes? Let's share!
Happy cooking!
Toby
Don't be intimidated, Toby!I love cooking Indian food...Two of the greatest books out there are by a woman named Mridula Baljekar and you can find them on Amazon.ca (or Chapters.ca - can't remember which I ordered my books from)...Secrets from an Indian Kitchen - the best book! And Indian Cooking without Fat...Also good..Indian cooking is very inexpensive, but can be a wee bit time consuming - still, it's easy. Helps to have a coffee or spice grinder and a food processor (even a mini one is fine) - and you don't HAVE to roast and grind your spices - it is perfectly OK to use ground spices, but grinding them freshly if you have a few extra minutes is a pretty yummy way to cook..I keep my Indian spices in three rubbermaid containers, I have so many! Staples are corinader seed, cumin seed, ground cumin, garem masala,and tumeric. Everything is pretty readily available and cheap, cheap, cheap...I love the Masoor Masala (spiced red dahl) recipe in my Secrets from an Indian Kitchen book.
ReplyDeleteShawna! Such great tips! Thank you for the advice and encouragement!!!
ReplyDeleteToby
You are most welcome! There are so many wonderful recipes to try and so many healthy ones, too. I'm really glad I discovered Indian cooking - thankfully my husband and kids like it, too. I love that it is so flavourful! By the way, one thing I learned is that ghee is just clarified butter ..So don't bother looking for it, if you do decide to cook with it - just melt some and then throw it back in the fridge to re-harden. Or, do what you are doing and use coconut or olive oil instead...For peppers I use Jalapeno or Serrano...And if you can't find curry leaves, you can use bay leaves instead...
ReplyDelete