Vegetable Curry

Whenever I make a curry I consult Camellia Panjabi's book 50 Great Curries of India . She gives a really good introduction to curries, describing the various ingredients, what they are used for and some great photo's as well. There is a large variety of different curries, from meat & poultry, to fish and vegetable, as well as the various side dishes used in Indian cuisine. Her curries are authentic and I've never been disappointed in any of the recipes.

A while back, I invested in a spice grinder, which has made making curries an absolute joy. Now, instead of buying ground cumin or coriander, I buy the seeds and grind them myself. The smell of the various seeds as they are being ground is sublime. The flavour of freshly ground spices is so much more intense than that of powders that have been hanging around for who knows how long. I have a much better understanding and knowledge of the different spices since I started to grind my own.

There is a spice shop near me where I buy all my spices. I've come to know all sorts of spices such as fenugreek seeds with their savoury aroma and methi leaves. Also nigella seeds and mace (the lacy outer shell of the nutmeg). And the tart yet earthy taste of Tamarind. And Asafoetida. Also known as Hing. Great if you're cooking with beans as it helps prevent flatulence.But keep it at a distance as the smell is quite unpleasant (the asafoetida, not the flatulence  hehe). You only need to add a very small amount. Did you know that Nigella Lawson was named after her father whose name was Nigel, and the fact that there's a spice with her name is just coincidence? One of life's happy accidents. Nigella seeds, by the way are fantastic on potatoes.

Last night I made a vegetable curry. Although I got the basic recipe from Camellia's book I adapted it a bit. This is a Hindu Goan curry. Goa is a very interesting part of India because it was occupied by Portugal for about 450 years and this has obviously had an influence on it's culture and cuisine.

This is quite a lot of curry. Enough for 4 people, or even 5. Ron and I had it last night with brown basmati rice and tonight we will have it with roti's. It will probably taste even better tonight as the flavours have had a chance to meld. Curries are always better the next day.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Onions
• 4 Tablespoons oil
• 1 Cup grated coconut - this must be either fresh coconut or else the dried coconut you buy for curries. Don't use the desiccated coconut they sell for baking cakes.
• 3 Dried red chillies. If you want it really hot you may add more to your taste. The original recipe said 6.
• 2 Tablespoons coriander seeds.
• 4 cloves
• 10 peppercorns
• 5 cm piece of cinnamon stick.
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• third of a teaspoon asafoetida
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 blade of mace
• About 500 gm of Vegetables. I used zucchini, green beans, sweet potato, brown mushrooms, red pepper, aubergine and frozen peas which I put in right at the end. I also added a can each of chickpeas and Borlotti beans.
• Coriander leaves.
• 1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice.

METHOD

• Slice one of the onions. Finely dice the other one.
• Put one tablespoon of the oil into a frying pan, and saute the coconut until it's light brown. Do not turn the heat up too high and keep watching it, otherwise it will burn. This takes about 3 minutes. Set aside in a dish.
• Using the same pan, saute the red chillies and coriander seeds for a couple of minutes. Then add the cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon and stir for another couple of minutes. Add to the coconut.
• Blend together the sliced onion, coconut and spices you've just pan roasted together with a cup of water until you have a paste.
• Heat the rest of the oil in a pot or large pan big enough to hold the curry and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder.After about a minute, add the bay leaf and the chopped onion and fry on a lowish heat with the lid on until the onion is light brown. 
• Add the spice paste and the mace and fry for about 10 mins stirring every once in a while. Pour in 2 cups of water and mix well.
• Now you can add the vegetables, bearing in mind that different vegetable vary as to how long they need to cook for. Carrots can go in first and peas right at the end. Also, do you like your green beans soft or crunchy? If you are using canned beans and chickpeas, you can put those in 10 minutes before serving as they are already cooked and just need to heat up in the pot/pan.
• Cook uncovered for as long as it takes for all the vegetables to be cooked. 
• Now you can add the coriander leaves and lemon/lime juice.

Serve with Basmati rice.