It seems like ages since I've posted here! I've spent quite a bit of time this week trying to force my blog into a 3 column layout, and slowly pulling my hair out... Hence my earlier rant post!
I have also been sticking to my store cupboard challenge pretty well - I've limited eating out to a minimum, and even had four friends round for curry on Wednesday to help me out! However, a lot of the time, eating from my store cupboard seems to mean there is very little of interest to tell you about!
On Wednesday I invited the girls round for dinner - and there was only going to be two options... either pasta (to use up the kilos of the stuff I have discovered lurking in my cupboard) or curry (to use up the rice & tins of coconut milk) For either option, my kitchen was full of possibilities - frozen chicken or beef, lentils and other legumes, tinned tomatoes, a million spices and pastes so I knew I'd work out something. I was also ready for some vegetables and healthiness, so when I finally chose curry I decided that one of them would vegetarian - and here it is!
- 2 cups lentils - washed (I used a mixture of red and yellow, if you use any other type note that it will probably affect the cooking time.)
- 1 onion, thinkly sliced or chopped - it's up to you!
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1" piece ginger, grated
- 3 thai red chillies - stalk removed, and halved lengthways
- half head of cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
- handful of green beans, washed and cut in two
- 1/2 courgette, cut into chunks and fried over a very hot heat for a few minutes
- 1/2 aubergine, cut into chunks and fried over a very hot heat for a few minutes
- 1 tin coconut milk
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp madras curry powder (Not what I would usually use, but I was using stuff up!)
- 1 tsp tumeric powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1" piece of stick cinnamon
- Either coconut oil/ ghee/ normal oil for frying - in that order of preference!
- Fish sauce(opt!), salt and soy sauce to taste
* if you have them, chuck in a few curry leaves here - I thought I had some, but I had run out!
Add the lentils, chillies and chopped tomatoes and stir well. Add the rest of the spices and mix thoroughly.
Next mix in a little bit of water - just enough to make it properly wet. Hmmm.... I realise how rubbish that instruction is - but basically we're going to cook the lentils for a few minutes and they need water to expand into! I think I added about a cup overall. It doesn't really matter too much :)
Bring to the boil, turn to a simmer, and leave to cook for 10 minutes. (If you are using other types of lentils - extend the cooking time as appropriate here)
Add the cauliflower and the tin of coconut milk, again bring to the boil, turn to a simmer, cover and leave for 10 minutes.
Almost there!
I would fish out the cinnamon stick here - but feel free to leave it in if you want a more cinnamony flavour.
Add in the rest of the vegetables, taste and adjust seasoning with fish sauce, soy sauce and salt.
Simmer uncovered for another 5/6 minutes - or until the lentils and vegetables are cooked to your liking.
Serve with steamed rice and/or rotis.
5 comments:
:) your curry reminds me of my grandma's "sambhar" - which is kinda like an indian vegetables and lentils stew.
p/s: why'd u name it malaysian?
HI Kavs! When I went on a Sri Lankan cookery course the tutor had also lived in Malaysia - when I asked him the difference between the two he said that Malay curries were almost a cross between Thai and Indian - so salty/coconut milk and earthy indian spices, esp turmeric and cinnamon. So that's what I was going for here! Am I barking up the wrong tree??!
heya kittie, sorry took so long to reply. Well, since the term "Malaysian" generally for us, denotes a hodgepodge of chinese, indian and malay cuisine... i guess you aren't too far off! :) I got my mom to make my grandma's recipe, and linked back to u!
This looks yummy, and since I was looking for a way to use up some stores as well, perfect. I will just need some cauliflower to whip it up tonight. thanks for the recipe.
I’m not that much of an internet reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back down the road indo chinese restaurants
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