Delicious foodz
Feb. 12th, 2009 05:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labellementeuseI'm rather proud of dinner tonight even though it didn't come out quite perfect, so have a recipe! But please take note: a significant part of this recipe is an unduplicable work in progress, and I'm at least partly recording it for my own note-making purposes, so. Also, I didn't come up with the concept, I stole it from a friend.
YOU WILL NEED:
Pumpkin - half a small one or so
Kumara (sweet potato) - a couple of big ones
- You can substitute any root vegetables you like for these (potatoes, yams, etc), but I think the pumpkin-kumara combo is very nice.
Chickpeas
Onion
Silverbeet or spinach or other leafy green
Coconut milk or milk or both
Oil
Curry paste*
Rice*
**Notes: 1. Curry paste: EITHER shopbought curry paste, which is A-OK, or you can make one up yourself. There are lots and lots of recipes on the internets, and unfortunately I can't give you my one because mine is a WIP. However, mine is a combination of cumin, coriander, tumeric - essential for that gorgeous colour, IMO - chili power, garlic, ginger, and mustard powder. And salt, obviously. Tonight I basically mixed together a teaspoon and a half of each of these. This produced a very mild-tasting curry that was WAY too hot - so next time I'll dramatically reduce the chili powder and increase more or less everything else.
2. Rice: your favourite rice. White rice is popular and probably traditional. I like a 2:1 ratio of brown rice: whole wheat (and plenty of salt). This produces a pretty healthy, really tasty rice; cook it just like you would cook normal rice, but it will take about 40 minutes, so start it early.
ACTION STATION:
1. Drain the chickpeas. Depending on how long your rice is going to cook/how fast you peel vegetables, you might want to put your rice on now.
2. Peel kumara and pumpkin, and chop into pieces - smallish, say roasting size is fine. Chop the onion too, to the size you like your onion (my father likes rings; I like diced finely.)
3. Put your rice on now if you didn't do it at #1.
4. Heat a little oil in a large saucepan - one that you would cook a stew in. When the pan is hot, throw in your spice blend/spice paste and blend it around a bunch until it smells good - about 30 seconds.
5. Throw in your pumpkin, kumara, and onion. Stirfry for about 3 minutes.
6. Pour in 1 can of coconut milk (I am assuming here that you don't have access to fresh coconut milk, right?) or coconut cream, and add EITHER milk OR water OR more coconut cream/milk until it just about covers the veges. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
7. Throw in a can of chickpeas - or a similar quantity of precooked chickpeas, if you have that kind of time, which I don't. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes, or until everything is tender and soft and the curry has thickened a little.
8. Slice up some spinach or silverbeet - most people probably prefer spinach, I used silverbeet because we have a freakin' forest of silverbeet in the garden right now. You could use whatever you have. Pop it in on top of the curry and cover with a lid and let it steam for a few minutes while you set the table (or bully someone else into doing it) and take the rice off the heat.
9. Stir the silverbeet into the curry and let it rest while you roust everyone to the table.
10. Yum! Serve curry hot over the rice.
Here are some good things about this recipe: it's vegetarian, and it could be made vegan pretty easily by using extra coconut milk instead of milk, but it doesn't taste like a vegetarian meal. That would make it dairy-free, too. Use plain rice and it's gluten-free and wheat-free and egg-free and soy-free (BUT CHECK YOUR STORE BOUGHT CURRY PASTE) and potato-free, which I bet you thought was a -free you didn't have to worry about, but my BFF is intolerant to all of those things. It's hard to screw up - put just about anything in coconut milk and simmer for half an hour and it tastes fine, trust me. Use light coconut milk and it's pretty healthy - especially if you use brown rice. It's quick and low-maintenance - there's plenty of opportunity to check your email or fix your makeup. And it's great for rainy days, which today is. GO TO AUSTRALIA, RAIN.
YOU WILL NEED:
Pumpkin - half a small one or so
Kumara (sweet potato) - a couple of big ones
- You can substitute any root vegetables you like for these (potatoes, yams, etc), but I think the pumpkin-kumara combo is very nice.
Chickpeas
Onion
Silverbeet or spinach or other leafy green
Coconut milk or milk or both
Oil
Curry paste*
Rice*
**Notes: 1. Curry paste: EITHER shopbought curry paste, which is A-OK, or you can make one up yourself. There are lots and lots of recipes on the internets, and unfortunately I can't give you my one because mine is a WIP. However, mine is a combination of cumin, coriander, tumeric - essential for that gorgeous colour, IMO - chili power, garlic, ginger, and mustard powder. And salt, obviously. Tonight I basically mixed together a teaspoon and a half of each of these. This produced a very mild-tasting curry that was WAY too hot - so next time I'll dramatically reduce the chili powder and increase more or less everything else.
2. Rice: your favourite rice. White rice is popular and probably traditional. I like a 2:1 ratio of brown rice: whole wheat (and plenty of salt). This produces a pretty healthy, really tasty rice; cook it just like you would cook normal rice, but it will take about 40 minutes, so start it early.
ACTION STATION:
1. Drain the chickpeas. Depending on how long your rice is going to cook/how fast you peel vegetables, you might want to put your rice on now.
2. Peel kumara and pumpkin, and chop into pieces - smallish, say roasting size is fine. Chop the onion too, to the size you like your onion (my father likes rings; I like diced finely.)
3. Put your rice on now if you didn't do it at #1.
4. Heat a little oil in a large saucepan - one that you would cook a stew in. When the pan is hot, throw in your spice blend/spice paste and blend it around a bunch until it smells good - about 30 seconds.
5. Throw in your pumpkin, kumara, and onion. Stirfry for about 3 minutes.
6. Pour in 1 can of coconut milk (I am assuming here that you don't have access to fresh coconut milk, right?) or coconut cream, and add EITHER milk OR water OR more coconut cream/milk until it just about covers the veges. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
7. Throw in a can of chickpeas - or a similar quantity of precooked chickpeas, if you have that kind of time, which I don't. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes, or until everything is tender and soft and the curry has thickened a little.
8. Slice up some spinach or silverbeet - most people probably prefer spinach, I used silverbeet because we have a freakin' forest of silverbeet in the garden right now. You could use whatever you have. Pop it in on top of the curry and cover with a lid and let it steam for a few minutes while you set the table (or bully someone else into doing it) and take the rice off the heat.
9. Stir the silverbeet into the curry and let it rest while you roust everyone to the table.
10. Yum! Serve curry hot over the rice.
Here are some good things about this recipe: it's vegetarian, and it could be made vegan pretty easily by using extra coconut milk instead of milk, but it doesn't taste like a vegetarian meal. That would make it dairy-free, too. Use plain rice and it's gluten-free and wheat-free and egg-free and soy-free (BUT CHECK YOUR STORE BOUGHT CURRY PASTE) and potato-free, which I bet you thought was a -free you didn't have to worry about, but my BFF is intolerant to all of those things. It's hard to screw up - put just about anything in coconut milk and simmer for half an hour and it tastes fine, trust me. Use light coconut milk and it's pretty healthy - especially if you use brown rice. It's quick and low-maintenance - there's plenty of opportunity to check your email or fix your makeup. And it's great for rainy days, which today is. GO TO AUSTRALIA, RAIN.
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no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 07:43 am (UTC)What do you mean by "it doesn't taste like a vegetarian meal"? Do you find something distinctive about vegetarian food other than the lack of animal? And why "obviously" salt? I've never put salt in a curry in my life. ;)
Ooh, and have you tried soaking your brown rice to start it sprouting? It gets about 10x better for you (produces an amino acid, GABA), and it cooks much faster. I've also found brown rice is easier to cook by absorption than boiling. Have you tried wild rice? I keep meaning to, but I just can't think of it as a rice (I know it isn't, but it's supposed to be good as part of a rice mix, and it just seems wrong to me).
My favourite spice mix for curries: 1tbsp each cumin and coriander, 2tsp each turmeric and paprika, 1tsp of chilli powder. I haven't tried mustard powder in a curry, sounds interesting.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 07:57 am (UTC)1. I should have put a ;) in there or something, because what I really meant to imply there is that as an enthusiastic carnivore I tend to find vegetarian cooking varies between OK and gross - due to vast quantities of things I really dislike going into it (tinned tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, etc). Obviously I know that this is not the be all end all of vege food and that many people find vege food delicious, but I usually don't. (I am trying to change this about myself and cook at least one vege meal a week because I have several vege friends and I'd like to be able to cook for them.)
2. I have never cooked anything without putting salt in it (except from-packet stuff because that tends to be salt-heavy, but I don't often use packets because as you may have noticed, I'm picky.)
3. I have never tried soaking brown rice! How long does it take? re: rice cookery: what do you mean by absorption vs boiling? the way we usually cook rice is rice in pot, 3-4x volume of rice in water, salt, put on stove on high til boils, stir rapidly, put lid back on and simmer til all the water is gone and it's cooked.
4. Thanks for spice mix tip! My proportions are obviously whacked because I just read a whole lot of different curry recipes and wrote down the most frequently recurring spices. Turmeric is my fave.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 08:11 am (UTC)2. Anything? Really? I use salt only to make water boil harder. If I want to cook my rice faster, and I always use it when I boil eggs (both to make the water boil harder and it does something to contain the whites if your egg cracks). This reminds me though, of when I lived in Thompson St, and my upstairs neighbour came and asked if she could borrow some salt. I didn't have any, and she just stared at me like I was made of tinfoil or something. ;P
3. That's absorption. With boiling, you bring your water to the boil (a lot, it doesn't matter what ratio you use), add your rice, stir it, cover it, and boil it hard til it's cooked (I don't time it, it just happens), then strain it.
Soaking brown rice (http://www.instructables.com/id/HOWTO-make-GBR-germinated-or-sprouted-brown-rice/)
4. Turmeric is awesome! Cumin is probably my favourite though. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 08:28 am (UTC)2. Um, I'm with your former neighbour, salt goes in EVERYTHING. Baking. Vege water. Potatoes (are you seriously telling me that you roast potatoes without salt? SERIOUSLY? omg.) Basically all of my starches I put salt in when I cook. And my sauces - OK, except custards. Um. probably custards and icings are the ONLY thing I don't put salt in. *boggles at you*
3. Right, I was doing that anyway ;) Straining rice seems like a hell of a pain.
4. I think it's probably at least partly because I think turmeric is *beautiful* in food, colourwise. I have a great yoghurt turmeric marinade for chicken which is just, sigh, beautiful looking.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 09:03 am (UTC)4. Oooh, that sounds yummy! Share! I don't like chicken much, but it tends to be on special so I like finding ways to make it yummy. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-13 11:21 pm (UTC)Want to come cook it for me? :)
I'll be trying it myself too, looks delicious.