Fortunately I love the smell of curry and that's good as there's no escaping it anywhere after my cooking adventure last night. There are two brands of curry paste that I particularly enjoy, Patak's and Sharwood's. Last night I used the latter and I used a lot of it (laughs). Cooking can only mean one thing: blood. Yep, of course I cut myself again but it wasn't a bad one this time. It could have been quite a good shot as I slipped while I was cutting a potato and it really tried to nail a lot of fingers but just managed a nick. Unless the cut is enough for Neosporin and a Band-Aid, it's no score but this one was a hit (laughs).
If you're not interested in how to cook Indian food for cheap, now would be a good time to bail-out.
I am a vegetarian by circumstance not choice but in this dish you won't miss the meat at all. It's very flavorful, has great texture, and even looks pretty cool with all the colors of the stuff in it. If you decide to make it with meat then lightly brown whatever you will use (chicken, beef, lamb, snakes, whatever) and add that before you chuck in all the vegetables, etc.
So last night's adventure was simple, cheap, and made a lot of stuff, all key ingredients for cooking in my poverty-stricken world! Start with olive oil (of course) and soften up a big ol' onion in there. Then add at least a couple of tablespoons of whatever curry paste you like. I didn't have any stewed tomatoes or the like so I just chopped up a couple of whole ones and then chucked them in there after that. Before you add any type of tomato, give the curry paste some time to 'open up' as it wants to breathe a little bit so it can lay waste to whatever else comes.
The tomatoes need some time to soften up as well and I bring this all down to a simmer while I'm doing this as keeping it on a hot boil will just burn the onions. After I'm satisfied everything has nicely softened, I start chucking in there anything I can find. No way there's any meat in the budget so that means potatoes and any vegetables at hand as in peas, carrots, corn, green beans.
(Ed: you didn't put frozen mixed vegetables in there, did you?)
Well, yah, I did. Kill me! (laughs)
You may have noticed that one of the key initial ingredients was missing and if you have to ask what it was then you really shouldn't be reading about cooking as that was the fresh garlic. I didn't have one so I used (gasp) garlic powder. Yah, I know. Kill me again (laughs).
With all this stuff simmering nicely and doing its lovely curry dance, it was time to start the rice and, no, I don't use a fookin' rice maker as get this, kids, rice makes itself; all you have to do is boil it. Get yourself some Basmati rice and measure two cups of water to one cup of rice. Bring the water to a boil and then add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of butter (skip that part if you care about heart attacks). After it boils, pour the rice in there and bring it to a simmer. Cover the pot with a plate or whatever and don't look at it for eighteen minutes. DO NOT look at it or you will screw it up. (The eighteen minutes will vary by altitude and you may need more if you are higher up. I'm at sea level.) You won't have to do anything with the rice except to fluff it up with a fork and then put it on a plate.
All the while the rice is cooking, the vegetables and potatoes will be simmering in the curry sauce and absorbing that marvelous taste. You need only stir it a bit once in a while to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
Note: I have used rice makers and I find the process above works a whole lot better with very little stuck to the bottom of the pot.
(Ed: Get on with it! What the hell did it taste like?)
Well, yah, I used Sharwood's Hot Curry Paste and they aren't kidding about hot! However, I found it wasn't as hot in the eating as it was in the taste testing. No idea why that would be but it made for one hellaciously good meal. It's all a very simple thing as you just ladle the vegetable curry mix over the rice and then stick your face into it.
Things I could have done better were that I used too much olive oil. That's useless as it just gets drained off for the eating so try not to be too excessive with it. The stuff is cooking gold so don't waste it! I also could have used a little more time letting the potatoes simmer but they still did well.
Something I did right was to make a vat of it as I now have AT LEAST two more meals in the fridge all mixed with the rice. The total cost of this venture couldn't possibly have been more than three to five euros (not sure of the cost of the curry paste) and it made a ton of food.
So this morning I can eat it again without even opening the fridge. All I have to do is breathe the air!
If you're not interested in how to cook Indian food for cheap, now would be a good time to bail-out.
I am a vegetarian by circumstance not choice but in this dish you won't miss the meat at all. It's very flavorful, has great texture, and even looks pretty cool with all the colors of the stuff in it. If you decide to make it with meat then lightly brown whatever you will use (chicken, beef, lamb, snakes, whatever) and add that before you chuck in all the vegetables, etc.
So last night's adventure was simple, cheap, and made a lot of stuff, all key ingredients for cooking in my poverty-stricken world! Start with olive oil (of course) and soften up a big ol' onion in there. Then add at least a couple of tablespoons of whatever curry paste you like. I didn't have any stewed tomatoes or the like so I just chopped up a couple of whole ones and then chucked them in there after that. Before you add any type of tomato, give the curry paste some time to 'open up' as it wants to breathe a little bit so it can lay waste to whatever else comes.
The tomatoes need some time to soften up as well and I bring this all down to a simmer while I'm doing this as keeping it on a hot boil will just burn the onions. After I'm satisfied everything has nicely softened, I start chucking in there anything I can find. No way there's any meat in the budget so that means potatoes and any vegetables at hand as in peas, carrots, corn, green beans.
(Ed: you didn't put frozen mixed vegetables in there, did you?)
Well, yah, I did. Kill me! (laughs)
You may have noticed that one of the key initial ingredients was missing and if you have to ask what it was then you really shouldn't be reading about cooking as that was the fresh garlic. I didn't have one so I used (gasp) garlic powder. Yah, I know. Kill me again (laughs).
With all this stuff simmering nicely and doing its lovely curry dance, it was time to start the rice and, no, I don't use a fookin' rice maker as get this, kids, rice makes itself; all you have to do is boil it. Get yourself some Basmati rice and measure two cups of water to one cup of rice. Bring the water to a boil and then add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of butter (skip that part if you care about heart attacks). After it boils, pour the rice in there and bring it to a simmer. Cover the pot with a plate or whatever and don't look at it for eighteen minutes. DO NOT look at it or you will screw it up. (The eighteen minutes will vary by altitude and you may need more if you are higher up. I'm at sea level.) You won't have to do anything with the rice except to fluff it up with a fork and then put it on a plate.
All the while the rice is cooking, the vegetables and potatoes will be simmering in the curry sauce and absorbing that marvelous taste. You need only stir it a bit once in a while to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
Note: I have used rice makers and I find the process above works a whole lot better with very little stuck to the bottom of the pot.
(Ed: Get on with it! What the hell did it taste like?)
Well, yah, I used Sharwood's Hot Curry Paste and they aren't kidding about hot! However, I found it wasn't as hot in the eating as it was in the taste testing. No idea why that would be but it made for one hellaciously good meal. It's all a very simple thing as you just ladle the vegetable curry mix over the rice and then stick your face into it.
Things I could have done better were that I used too much olive oil. That's useless as it just gets drained off for the eating so try not to be too excessive with it. The stuff is cooking gold so don't waste it! I also could have used a little more time letting the potatoes simmer but they still did well.
Something I did right was to make a vat of it as I now have AT LEAST two more meals in the fridge all mixed with the rice. The total cost of this venture couldn't possibly have been more than three to five euros (not sure of the cost of the curry paste) and it made a ton of food.
So this morning I can eat it again without even opening the fridge. All I have to do is breathe the air!
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