something from the past

 written some time ago by "no-one"  You all remember "no-One" is NOT me, right? She's funnier.

Cooking With No-One: Vegetable Curry  

A few weeks ago I was watching a movie called Nina's Heavenly Delights and it inspired me to try making my own curry, without using any store bought curry pastes, or curry powders. It turned out really well, so I made it again, and this time I took pictures. **

First I pre-cut a mountain of vegetables. I used potato, sweet potato, carrot, cauliflower and green beans. Of course, these can be swapped out for other veggies depending on personal taste. (I've heard there's some degenerates out there that actually like to have peas in their curry. Horrifying, I know.)

Cut up 2 onions. Then go and sit somewhere else for a while, cursing the fact that scientists keep developing new treatments for erectile dysfunction, but haven't yet genetically engineered an onion that won't make my eyeballs feel raw. Damn onions.

Once the onion-induced tears stopped streaming, I started making my home-made curry paste. I began with an entire small jar of minced garlic. Woolworths brand, nothing fancy.

Add a big dollop of minced chilli.

A smaller dollop of minced ginger.

A bunch of chili powder.

Some ground cumin.

Garam Masala.

And finally a bunch of tumeric, (apologies for not having actual amounts here. When I cook with spices, I generally just keep adding stuff until it smells the way I think it should. It's worked for me so far.)

Mix thoroughly until you get a fairly unappetizing looking paste, that smells great.

Heat oil in a large pot. Add paste to hot oil and stir around for a while releasing all the flavours.

Throw in the onion. mix through paste and saute for a few minutes, stirring all the while.

Add the mountain of vegetables.

Mix them around until they are completely coated in curry paste. 

Add two cans of diced tomatoes. I like the diced Italian with basil, garlic and onion. I use it every time I have something that requires diced tomatoes. (Unless I'm using fresh ones.)

Mix well. It was at this point I remembered that last time I used my much larger stockpot, and had to swap everything from the pot I was using to the stockpot, as I was having trouble stirring and there wasn't going to be room for the yoghurt.

Add a large container of natural yoghurt. If you want to go vegan, or know someone who's vegan, you can use some kind of soy yoghurt or whatever vegans might use as a yoghurt substitute. I'm a firm believer in the magical powers of bacon, so I'm not sure what that substitute may be.

More mixing. I also added coriander, but I forgot to take a photo. Oops.

Simmer over a low heat for several hours, stirring occasionally so you don't end up with gross burned bits on the bottom of the pot. They're a bitch to clean off later. 

Served with Roti bread. Yum.


** There are no pictures, they were on her blog and all I found was this paper copy of the recipe.

Comments

  1. It does sound good - and she cooks the way I do. Keep adding things until it looks/smells right. I like the touches of humour through the recipe too. Not a curry for you I suppose with all that chili, but I would like it a lot. I would skip the coriander though. Bleah. I can cope with the seeds but not the leaf.

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    Replies
    1. Elephant's Child; I don't like coriander either and I would skip the chili, but maybe then it just wouldn't be right somehow. I'll never make this anyway, I so rarely eat even a mild curry because it flares the rosacea. I like he humour, she speaks the same way.

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  2. Sounds good. They must sell it at a store somewhere.

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    Replies
    1. joeh; the ingredients can be bought from stores, but she really does just mix and match stuff until it looks and smells "right". My two sons do the same, older daughter eats a lot more salads which she is quite creative with.

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  3. The Asian store I shop at sells packets of curry paste for .79 cents. Each packet is enough to season a 4-serving meal. All I have to do is open the packet and add it to whatever ingredients I want curried.

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    Replies
    1. Kathy G; I know about those and 'no-one' does too, but she says it takes the fun out of it.

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  4. Let's see, mountains to dollops, no problem I can do this:) Think no-one needs a cooking show.

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    Replies
    1. Arkansas Patti; no-one is far too busy working to have a cooking show and doesn't like being in the spotlight anyway.

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  5. Replies
    1. Susan Kane; I've never tasted it, but for fans of curry I imagine it would be good. Will you try it?

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  6. Replies
    1. Joanne; winter is a good time to try one, they are very warming.

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  7. No-one cooks as i do, you just keep going until you get it to taste correct. A nice curry does sound very good right about now.

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    Replies
    1. messymimi; I don't know where she gets it from, I don't cook that way, after one run through copying the recipe exactly I will sometimes tweak it a bit.

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  8. I don't measure when I cook. My hubby does.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

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    Replies
    1. Dora; I usually measure, then I might change things if it doesn't turn out as expected, but then I can never remember what I changed. I usually stick to the recipe.

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  9. I'm not sure if I've ever had a curry or not! I know curry is a spice though.

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    Replies
    1. Happy Elf Mom; Curries are generally "hot" tasting so you'd know if you had one, but there are degrees, such as mild, medium, hot and burn the roof off your mouth. Similar to chillies. And curry paste is always better than curry powder.

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  10. Replies
    1. Debra She Who Seeks; it probably is, I've never tasted it.

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  11. "unappetizing looking", LOL.
    My Mum ate Labskaus from a barf bag on a tourist boat to make people gag.
    We need some yummy fun in life.

    Hm, yoghurt, great idea, thank you, will remember that! And bacon, hmmm.

    Yeah, I had that "bit#h" the other day. Cheese can be as mean.

    Sounds yummy (minus the garlic) and all other stuff I think I do have. Upps. The Garam Masala is 3 years old, though!

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    Replies
    1. Iris Flavia; your mum must have been fun. I don't know what Labskaus is but I will find out. I love cheese, it is never mean to me and garlic also, we all love garlic in my family. You should buy fresh Garam Masala.

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    2. Labskaus is corned beef with mashed potatoes and beet root. Fish-Heads (as we call the people from the North-coast) add Rollmops and a fried egg. Looks like puke, but is really yummy.
      Yes, I need new Garam Masala!

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