leftover curry (wink)

I love curries and challenged myself to learn to cook it last year. It was a bumpy road (why, oh why?) but I finally became confident enough to share one with you. This was made of items I already had on hand and isn't based on any established recipe. This combo relies heavily on winter vegetables and mausman curry paste. Bon appetite!

Leftover Curry

1 T. grapeseed oil (or other high smoke point oil)

1 small onion, chopped (100 g)

1 large potato, chopped (285 g)

1 carrot, sliced (70 g)

1 inch ginger, grated (11 g)

4 large cloves garlic, minced (16 g)

1 c. coconut milk

1 c. water

50 g. curry paste, mausman

150 g. chickpeas, cooked

75 g. spinach, frozen

1-2 T. fish sauce

2 T. honey

1. Open windows to get a cross breeze (my smoke detector usually goes off when making curry). Prepare all ingredients - dicing, mincing, and measuring. I like to use my mini chopper for garlic and ginger. You don't have much time when using a wok and need to prepare everything in advance!

2. Preheat wok. When hot add grapeseed oil (one of the highest temp oils) and 'roll' around interior of wok. Add onions and cook until soft. Add potatoes and carrots and cook until until browned. Add grated ginger and minced garlic (or using mini-chopper!). Cook briefly until scented.

3. Add coconut milk and an equal amount of water. Stir well and add curry paste. Stir to dissolve into liquid. Add chickpeas and spinach. Add fish sauce (which smells awful, but adds umami) and honey. Most recipes call for sugar, but I prefer honey. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Serve with brown rice.

chana punjabi

You already know that I love Chickpeas, so it should be no surprise that I love this recipe for Chana Punjabi. A friend sent me the recipe (as posted in the NY Times) months ago. Despite all appearances of deliciousness, it was the beginning of the summer and each week I was busy eating my CSA box and never seemed to find time to make this dish. The last several days have been rainy and winter-like and I decided this was the time (also I have a 3.5 lb. bag of dried chickpeas). I chopped, stirred, and simmered this yesterday and fell in love. Yum. Yum.

Chana Punjabi

1 T. safflower oil

1 onion, chopped

2 t. garlic, minced

1 t. ginger, minced

1 red chili, chopped (or other as desired)

1 can diced tomatoes (or 2 fresh large ones)

1 1/2 t. paprika

1 t. sea salt, or to taste

1 t. ground coriander

1/2 t. garam masala

1/4 t. turmeric

1 t. lemon juice

1 1/3 c. dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (or 2-15 oz. cans, rinsed)

2 T. cilantro, minced

cooked rice for serving

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, heat oil and add onion. Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic ginger and chili, and saute until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1/4 c. water. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Puree mixture with hand blender in pot until smooth. Return to pan and place over medium heat. Add spices (paprika, salt, coriander, garam masala, turmeric) and lemon juice. Add pre-soaked and rinsed chickpeas and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low.

3. Start to prepare brown rice for serving.

4. Cover and simmer until sauce is thick and chickpeas are soft (45 min-1 hour). Stir pan periodically and add water (up to 1 1/2 c.) to prevent burning. When ready to serve remove lid and reduce sauce until it's thick (if not already). Stir in cilantro. Adjust salt. Serve with cooked rice

Serves: 2- 4

lemon mustard dressing

Salad dressing is a great intro food to cooking. They are easy to make and because they are so flavor rich you really notice your effort. I started regularly making my own dressing in college and always get compliments on them. You just need a few condiments to start making dressings ... which is especially shocking when you look at the ingredient list of your favorite store bought dressing. It probably has at least 15 ingredients, most of which you don't recognize and of the ones you do recognize are sugar and salt and cheap oil.

Lemon mustard dressing

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 t. wholegrain* mustard

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix garlic, wholegrain mustard, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt & pepper. You can add the olive oil to this mixture or to emulsify (therefore the dressing won't separate and seems creamy) grab a whisk (I have an attachment on my hand-blender) and slowly pour the oil into the dressing while constantly whisking (why the electric whisk is so handy). Pour the dressing into a saved jar and refrigerate.

Notes: If the dressing is oil rich, it will solidify in the fridge (this dressing doesn't) so pull out when you start making dinner and it will be ready by dinnertime.

* wholegrain mustard is a mustard with whole mustard seeds - you'll find it with the other mustards.

dried chickpeas

Chickpeas (aka Garbanzo beans) are one of those foods that I eat in cycles: a bunch and then a break. Right now I'm eating a bunch (and have a potful on the stove), besides being tasty they are very high in protein. A few years ago I heard that dried chickpeas are so much better than canned (which isn't surprising since that's true of all dried beans) and since then I've looked for them. The healthy food and local grocers I frequent didn't carry them, nor the mass grocers, and then one sunny day at the farmers market I saw bins of dried beans. I bought a pound and haven't seen them at the market since, but luckily I found them at another grocer (Fred Meyer). Their prep is similar to other dried beans and they aren't slimy as the canned ones tend to be. I've been eating them cold, sprinkled with chili powder.