serenecooking: (Default)
I am not one of those people for whom food is love. I don't think that people who don't like my cooking are rejecting me. That said, there's something really happymaking about hearing the teenager say, "This is AWESOME" about the food I put on the table.

Today's curry was super-simple. I think it was actually more work to get the photo than to make the food (curry is notoriously hard to get a good shot of). I wasn't sure what I was making for dinner at first, but then [livejournal.com profile] lcohen started talking about potato and chickpea curry, and the die was cast.

What I made

Coconut curry with potatoes and garbanzos

Coconut curry with potatoes and garbanzos (and yellow rice)

[Note: This makes 8 generous servings. I made enough rice for 4 servings; the curry leftovers are excellent cold.]

2 tbsp oil (I used olive)
2 small onions, chopped
1 tbsp red curry paste
1 tsp ground coriander
3 carrots, cut however you want them cut
4 cups cooked garbanzo beans (about 2 cans, or cook them yourself)
1 lb tiny red potatoes (or larger ones, cut up)
1 14-oz. can coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce (or more to taste)

Sautee onions and curry paste in oil until onions are soft. Add remaining ingredients along with enough water to just cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20-30 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are cooked. Serve over yellow rice (below). I also served store-bought chutney.

Yellow rice

For 4 servings:

1 cup long-grain white rice
1 teaspoon each oil and turmeric

Sautee rice in oil and turmeric until the rice starts to smell a little toasty. Add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to the lowest setting. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes, then remove from the heat and let stand, covered, 5-10 minutes more. Fluff with fork and serve.

Cost per serving (approximate)

The curry: $.59
The rice: $.14
The chutney: $.32 (I used half of a $2.49 jar for the 4 of us)
Total: $1.05 per serving


How we liked it

[livejournal.com profile] wtfpotatoes: "This is AWESOME."
[livejournal.com profile] sogwife: "The curry was tasty, though I think I was expecting [punk rock chickpea] gravy, so the bite took me by surprise at the first taste."
[livejournal.com profile] someotherguy: "It was good. I think I would have liked it better with chunks of dead cow in it, but it was good. It wasn't very spicy."
[personal profile] serene: I loved it. It's basically my perfect curry -- coconut based; Thai flavors (as opposed to Indian or Korean); not too spicy.
serenecooking: (Default)
I liked the curry powder I made up yesterday, and I'm liking it again in the cold leftovers, so I thought I'd share.

Put the following in a small pan on a hot stove and toast until the mustard seeds start to pop, and then quickly remove from heat:

6 cardamom pods, or rather the insides once you've smashed the pods
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Grind in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Add the following (I would've used whole fenugreek and coriander if I'd had them):

1/4 tsp ground fenugreek
1 T ground coriander
2 tsp turmeric powder


That's it. It's a basic yellow-curry-powder kind of taste, but a little fresher for having come from the whole spices.
serenecooking: (Default)
Tonight's dinner was lovely. It was (once again) the chana dal with potatoes from the Madhur Jaffrey book, along with a cabbage-and-onion thing (recipe below). Snack tonight wasn't half bad, either -- jarred caponata on crackers, with a green olive atop each one. Yumma.

Oh, and I promised those easy appetizer recipes. That's coming up next.

Curry-fried Cabbage & Onions )
serenecooking: (veggies)
Again, not the most appetizing-looking food on earth, but yummy (and it did look better in person, but you'll have to take my word for it -- beige doesn't seem to photograph all that well).

Dinner Dinner

Clockwise from top: Curried garbanzos; green salad with homemade fat-free red pepper vinaigrette; leftover brown rice from Friday heated up with fresh zucchini.


(The vinaigrette was made by blending together a half cup of leftover great northern beans with some jarred red peppers, balsamic vinegar, seasoned salt, basil, and water. Totally yum.)
serenecooking: (Default)
Pics are at http://pics.livejournal.com/serenecooking/gallery/00001qgz

Today, we had a yummy (vegan, no added fat) lunch. Curried lentil soup, steamed cabbage with chili powder, and mango/avocado salad (it was yummy, but [livejournal.com profile] someotherguy thought it was weird, so I ate his, too. :-)

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November 2009

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