For as long as we've been cooking together, which is now almost three years(!), we've talked about making curry. From scratch of course. We would be mixing spices for a Mediterannean dish, or some cumin would sneak into another recipe, and we'd say "mmm.... we should really make curry one day".
Well ladies and gentlemen - that day has finally come. We made curry. The only thing to note about making curry at home is that it's a commitment. If you're like me and cook with garlic, salt, and black pepper, you're going to have to go on quite the spice scavenger hunt - but believe me, it's worth it.
Main Ingredients:
4 medium white potatoes, cubed
1 green bell pepper, cubed
2 medium or 4 small zuchinni, cubed
2 smaller onion, chopped into chunks
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup (or more, if you really like them) canned chickpeas
1 can coconut milk
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp "minute" tapioca to thicken (optional)
1 package extra-firm tofu (optional)
Spices:
1 tsp paprika
3 tbsp curry powder
1 stick of cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp ground fresh ginger (optional)
1/4 tsp dry ginger
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp fresh lemongrass finely chopped (can probably substitute with 1 tbsp dry lemongrass, but we're not vouching for it)
2 fresh lemongrass stocks about 2 inches long (optional)
Directions:
Boil potatoes until they get just soft enough to stick a fork in (not too soft, they'll fall apart later). Set aside. In the same deep pot, heat some oil and saute onions and garlic until they start getting browned. Add a little vegetable broth to help cook them. Push onions to the sides of the pan, creating a round space in the middle of the pot. Pour a tbsp of olive oil in the middle and add all spices. Stir all the ingredients together with onion/garlic and bloom the spices with the garlic.
Add the pepper, zucchini, chick peas, potatoes, veg stock and coconut milk and let the mixture cook for about half hour. Don't let it boil too hard or the vegetables will overcook. If you like, fry some tofu in a seperate pan (or some chicken for that matter, but we used tofu) and add to your curry towards the end. Because we added more vegetable stock than we should have, we thickened our curry with tapioca. To do that, pour some of the curry liquid into a seperate cup with 2 tbsp of "instant" tapioca and stir until it's all dissolved, then dump into your curry.
Tips:
If you don't want tapioca in your curry :) (although you can't taste it at all) use less vegetable stock. Also, the level of spicyness is completely in your hands so use more or less of the cayenne pepper to your taste. Serve over whatever you like - we used instant rice (5 minutes and it's ready baby) - you can also use "real" rice.
To use tofu, slice it into sheets and let drain under pressure for at least half hour. Then, cut into cubes and fry in at least a half-inch of vegetable oil. Leave tofu until it's a nice golden brown, then turn over to cook the other side. Tofu should be mostly if not all the way cooked before being dumped into your curry.
For chicken cooking tips, see different blog.
