15 Minute Meals: Keralan Veggie Curry

I went through the Vegetarian section last night in the hopes that I'd find a recipe for which I had all the ingredients.  I lucked out with this curry.  The only thing I was missing was the poppadoms and I figured I could live without them.  However, the next time I'm anywhere that sells them I plan to pick a pack up.  Jamie's method of microwaving them to make them fat free is intriguing and I'd like to see if they are indeed tasty prepared like that!

324. Keralan Veggie Curry, Poppadoms, Rice & Minty Yoghurt (Jamie's 15 Minute Meals, page 228)

JamieOliver.com recipe

I've never grilled cauliflower before.  It seemed kind of strange, but what the heck, so did adding pineapple to curry, and I was game to try that.  So I put my rice on to boil with about 10 whole cloves and a half a lemon.  I decided to use coconut oil in place of rapeseed oil for the curry.  It's supposed to be healthy, and the flavour worked in this situation.  So while my rice & cauliflower were cooking, I added the oil to a large soup pot with mustard & fenugreek seeds, ground turmeric & dried curry leaves.  The next step called for blitzing the aromatics in the food processor.  Well, apparently I was just not quick enough to be able to do that before the seeds started burning.  So I removed the pot from the heat while I prepared the garlic, chile, green onions, ginger & cilantro stalks.  The spices looked awfully dark but they didn't smell too bad, so I turned the burner back on and added the aromatics.

At this point the rice looked done so I turned it and the cauliflower off.  I added the wet ingredients to the curry:  tomatoes, canned chick peas, canned pineapple (with juice), and coconut milk (but I used plain soy milk instead).  Then I went in with the cauliflower pieces and covered with a lid to boil for a few minutes, while I made my minted yogurt.  Luckily I had some fresh mint to work with, so I used a pestle & mortar to grind it up.  I added plain Greek yogurt & lemon juice, and seasoned with salt.  I didn't set a timer but I probably made this in under half an hour.  No way it was 15 minutes though.

 

 

After I removed the curry from the heat, I added lemon juice & salt to season, and decorated with cilantro leaves.  I layered up a plate with rice, curry & yogurt and dug right in.  I was really pleased and surprised with how well the flavours went together!  I mean, cloves, mint, & pineapple on top of the Keralan curry flavours that I've used in the past....it was delicious.  I love discovering new flavour combinations.  I even fed a bowl to my son when he came in and he enjoyed it as well.  I love that he is branching out a bit.  Now the other two, forget about it.  They wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.  :p  However, I have a portion today for lunch and I am really looking forward to it!

 

This post has been linked to the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up at Gastronomical Sovereignty!