GIVING IN AND COOKING A CURRY....

Waste Not and Want Not

Many love curries, but do not necessarily want to wake up to the smell of one.  However, they are missing out, because lots of curries taste fantastic the following day.  They are also easy to heat up when coming home after a hard day at work.

With the house up for sale, I have been avoiding cooking a curry, just in case the estate agent rang and had somebody wanting to come for a viewing.  But nothing keeps forever and as we know, even the refrigerator can only keep food fresh for so long.  My carrots were leaving me no choice, either I boiled, roasted or threw them out.  None of those appealed so I decided to use them in the easiest and most
flavourful way I knew.

Normally I cook without measuring and weighing, (my mother's way), but because I was struggling with my novel, it seemed a good idea to note everything down and then put it onto my blog.  Thus turning it into a legitimate addition to my word count.

The following Carrot Curry makes enough for 6 people, of course it does depend on appetite.  For a hotter taste, the amount of chilli can be increased, but be wary.  Accompanying it with some chilli pickle or hot mango pickle can work just as well.

Unfortunately, without a camera there cannot be a picture :(.

Ingredients:

3  large white chopped onions
5  cloves garlic very finely chopped
10 oz  carrots peeled and finely chopped (not overly sweet)
7 oz  peeled and finely chopped potatoes (similar size to the carrots)
4 oz  frozen petit pois peas
1 of 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 heaped tsp  ground ginger
1 heaped tsp  ground coriander
1 heaped tsp  ground cumin
1 heaped tsp  sea salt (to taste)
1 level tsp   ground tumeric
Half tsp of  garam masala (some do not add this but I think it adds depth to the taste)
Half tsp  chilli powder or flakes (to taste)
Olive Oil or Butter (will give a creamier taste but adds to the calories)

1. Put onions and the garlic into a large pan (that has a lid) with just enough olive oil or butter for frying, ensuring that it isn't sticking or swimming. Fry until lightly golden brown.

2. Add tin tomatoes and stir in. When sizzling, add ginger, salt, coriander, cumin, chilli, turmeric and garam masala. Stir. Mix well. Turn heat down if it is sticking.

3. Add potatoes and carrots. Turn up heat, stirring thoroughly.  Once mixture is sizzling, turn heat down to a simmer and cover pan with the lid. 

4. After 5 mins, give it a thorough stir. Cover.

5. After 15 mins, test. If potatoes are almost done, add peas. If not, wait another 5 mins. Stir mixture thoroughly and cover.

6. After 5 mins stir thoroughly. Cover.

7. After 10 mins, stir and test.  If texture of potatoes and carrots are to your preference, it is ready. Turn off heat.

This can be had on its own, with plain boiled rice, yoghurt, chapatti, naan bread, on toast, or even just plain bread and butter.

When there is some left over, I often freeze it, but usually pick out the potatoes because they do not freeze well.