Vegetable Curry

Thursday 12 January

This is one of the few Indian dishes in the Larousse Treasury of Country Cooking, named there sabzi ka curry.  Holt once asked a bunch of Indian fellow-students if they ever ate brussels sprouts in curry sauce, and they were totally unfamiliar with the idea.  It's a big subcontinent, but this may be a memsahib dish; here's how you do it nonetheless.

1 large onion, chopped fine

1 garlic clove, minced

vegetable oil

a good squirt of tomato paste

a handful of tomatoes, puréed

2 Kennebec potatoes, diced

2 carrots, sliced on the diagonal

1/2 to a pound of brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved

a handful of raisins, to taste

3 zucchini, diagonally sliced (we didn't have these, so we used mostly brussels sprouts)

1 apple, diced

salt

a lemon's worth of juice

yogurt and/or rice, optional

On a plate, pile up your spices:

1/2 Tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 Tablespoon ground turmeric

1/2 Teaspoon ginger

1/2 Teaspoon fenugreek

1/2 Teaspoon garam masala (optional)

1/2 Teaspoon dried crumbled medium Chimayo Chile (to taste)

1 whole cardamom pod, ground

In a large pot or skillet, sauté the onion, then garlic, in oil over moderate heat until transparent.  Add the spices and stir until dark, about 3 minutes; then stir in and brown the tomato paste a bit.  Add the puréed tomatoes, and let simmer, covered, ca. 10 minutes.

While that's happening, parboil the potatoes in water until done, then drain and add them, carrots, sprouts, and raisins to the sauce, to simmer 5 minutes more.  Last, add zucchini if any, and apples.  Season with salt and lemon juice, and simmer 10 minutes more until everything's happy. 

Serve with or without a dollop of yogurt, on rice or not, for savory goodness.  It may not be genuine, but sure tastes good.