Sometimes I happen to eat mostly out of home for a couple days, or eat mostly junk food, for any other reason.
Then I just need to stop by the farmers market and buy a bunch of veggies and fruits, and eat only fresh food to compensate.
When I'm in that mood, and still very busy, this curry works wonders.
It's quick to prepare, can be done with almost any vegetable you like, and is comforting.
Works best in cold weather, but whatever. I like it in summer too.
For this curry I used:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (can be substituted with olive oil)
2 cloves garlic
3 tiny white onions
2 large slices of japanese squash (tetsukabuto)
5 small taros
3 small potatoes
3 small carrots
1/2 zucchini
Hot water as needed
Cumin seeds
Garam masala
Powdered turmeric
Curry powder
Powdered cayenne pepper
Ground black pepper
Red pepper in flakes
Ground cinnamon
Salt, toasted sesame seeds and olive oil to taste, to serve
The first thing I did was to put a kettle of water on the fire. I let it over slow heat, so until the time I need it, it will be warm and won't evaporate too much.
With the help of a flat bladed large knife I smashed the garlic cloves, cut out the bottom part, then removed the peel with my hands.
A few days ago a friend told me that if you remove the green sprout in the center of each clove, you won't have to worry as much about bad breath later.
I melted the butter in a large skillet, with high rims, sautéed the garlic over medium-high heat, leaving the skillet covered. I added the onion, cut into 0,5cm strips, and let it sauté.
I washed the squash throughly, cut two large slices, removed the seeds, and chopped into rough dices, leaving the peel on it. I added it to the skillet to sauté, keeping the temperature kind of high and the lid on.
The idea is for the vegetables to get a bit toasted on the outsides and start to soften on the insides. It's nice to stir every now and then, to make sure they won't burn on one side only.
So I peeled the taros, potatoes, carrots, and chopped in the same way I did with the squash, sautéing in the same way too.
As for the zucchini, I just washed and chopped it, and set aside.
When I thought the vegetables were nicely browned on the outsides and kind of soft inside, I poured the water, just enough to cover the vegetables, and also added the spices (the quantities are very much subjective. I put more or less 1/8 teaspoon of each, except for the cayenne pepper, which is stronger, so I used less of it), leaving the salt for later.
At this point, I stirred everything so that the spices didn't remain concentrated in a few spots.
Then I let the curry cook until half of the liquid had evaporated, over medium-high heat, without the lid, and not stirring at all. This favors the formation of a thicker broth.
When half of the liquid had evaporated, I added the zucchini to the pan and stirred a bit to mix it with the other ingredients.
I raised the temperature to high and let it cook for 5 more minutes, so the zucchini got soft and the broth liquid evaporated a bit more.
I suppose people who like meat could adapt this easily to include some chicken.
I served it warm, with a drizzle of olive oil on top, salt and sesame to taste.
Makes enough for three people.
0 comentários:
Post a Comment