Though I love my meat, I can always go for a super tasty vegetarian dish. I made this simple and delicious curry over the weekend and posted it on my
Facebook. My friend, Xyla, saw it and requested the recipe. I don't really have a recipe (as usual) but here's how you do it. Remember you can always add more or less of the flavors you like and especially the chili to get the amount of spice you like.
Curry might seem like an exotic dish to many people, but it's super simple. It's a Pan-Asian stew like dish popular in India, Thailand and Japan among other countries. There are many variations of curry and it's hard to put a thumb on what makes a curry. There are curry leaves used for spice as well as many forms of curry pastes and powders in many wonderful colors. This curry I'm making is more of a Thai variation of yellow curry.
You probably have everything you need except for a few ingredients that you can find at your local supermarket or speciality Asian market. You will need a can of coconut milk and yellow curry powder. Other unique spices you can add are turmeric and coriander.
Ingredients:
1 White Onion
3-4 Medium Size Carrots
6 medium size Red Potatoes (any potatoes will work)
3-4 cloves of garlic
1-2 Thai bird chilies (you can use any type of pepper, jalapeño works fine too)
1 can coconut milk (look by Asian food, Thai brand, low fat is cool too)
3 tbsp Yellow Curry Powder
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 cup stock (vegetable or chicken)
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
squeeze of lemon or lime
add more salt to taste
Optional Ingredients, if you want to add some more twists:
1 Tomato cut into wedges
Add some Mushrooms
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
Directions:
Over medium heat, add butter and olive oil in med sauce pan until butter in melted. Add onions chopped in large pieces. I usually cut onion in half first, then cut into sixths. Saute onions until translucent. Add garlic and cook for about a minute, until you can smell it. Add carrot, potatoes chopped in large 1 inch pieces. Also add chilies. Saute for about 4-5 minutes. Add stock and stir tomato paste until dissolved. Add coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Stir in curry, salt, pepper, paprika and any other spices. Add squeeze of lime. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 35-45 minutes until potatoes are tender.
Enjoy alone or serve over rice.
Trader Joe's also sells a great naan bread you can find in the frozen food section. You heat for a minute in the oven. It's great to sop up the curry.
