Its Christmas time and you might be wondering why I’m writing about vegetarian dishes during this festive season. Yes, finally my husband agreed to take lent for this Xmas. Usually we take lent for Easter, but back home I used to take it for 25 days before Xmas also.So we are not having any meat items during these 25 days. Lent has been successfully running for last few days… let me see whether we will be able to continue it till Xmas.
Although am happy that we have taken the lent, it brings me extra work. I need to find out new veg curries as side dish for our main meal of the day, dinner. So I started exploring my collection of cookbooks and this time i found out one, which I’m sharing with you here. This recipe is different from what i usually make, the taste was kind of new to us for a veg curry. I got this recipe from one of my recently acquired cook books, 50 Great Curries of India by Camelia Punjabi. It goes well with chappathi, plain rice etc;
- Chopped fresh coconut - 1 1/2 cups
- Oil - 7-8 tbsp
- Onions, chopped - 300 gm
- Dried red chillies - 5
Corianders seeds - 2 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/8 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/8 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
Peppercons - 4
Cloves - 2 - Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Paprika powder - 1/2 tsp - Tamarind pulp - 1 heaped tsp
- Ginger,finely chopped - 1 tbsp
Garlic, finely chopped - 4 - Potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces - 200 gm
- Cauliflower, cut into large florets - 400 gm
Salt
Soak 1 cup cocnut in 400ml of warm water. Leave for 30 min, then put into a blender. Strain and reserve the coconut milk. In a non stick frying pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and saute the remaining chopped coconut for 2-3 minutes. Set aside. Heat another tbsp oil and saute red chillies, coriander, mustard, fenugreek and cumin seeds, cinnamon, peppercons & cloves for 30 seconds and remove. Now put the coconut, onions and spices to a blender. add turmeric, paparika and tamarind and 100 ml of water and grind to a smooth paste.
In a saucepan , heat 4 tbsp oil and saute the ginger & garlic for 15 seconds, followed by the balance of the chopped onions for about 7-8min, until translucent. Add the spice paste, saute for 2 min, then add a little water and the poatatoes and saute for about 5 min. Add salt & mix well.Add 100 ml of water , cover and cook for 6-7 min. now add the cauliflower, 400 ml of coconut milk and cook until done.
Fasting is good for health , healing can take place at every level, simply by letting go and allowing Mother Nature to do her work, however weight loss is a pleasant side effect