which_chick | (no subject)

I'm waiting for the snow to stop. We're only supposed to get two to four more inches by morning and the way this thing has been moving through, I'm betting on the 2 side of the equation. While I'm waiting, I'm trying out another indian recipe. Suprise dinner tonight? You betcha.

The eggplant thing was better on the second day and sweet-diluted with half a cup of plain yogurt per serving. I might actually make it again. Purists can stop cringing. It's my food and I will do what I gotta do to finish the eggplant. Damn stuff costs too much to waste. Today's Surprise Dinner comes from one of my new favorite things, Tastespotting. It's the curried cauliflower here (scroll down past the pictures). I also want to try the lentils but I don't have a spare onion. The grocery has stopped carrying the nice white onions that do not make my feet hurt so I'm stuck with the yellow ones that do, so I'm only buying one at a time. (I don't want to have them on hand if the white onions ever return, see. I may give up on this approach if the white onions stay gone more than a year or so.)

Since we all know I'm incapable of following a recipe as written, here's what I did to this one:

Grated Cauliflower Curry (Gobbi Matar ki Sabzi)
* 1 head Cauliflower (about half a head. It had been partially used.) Grated. Way easy.
* 1 cup frozen Peas or Green Garbanzo beans (I used frozen peas because I can buy those.)
* 1 large Onion, chopped (Half of a big yellow onion)
* 6 cloves Garlic, chopped

* 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds (a little on the heavy side)
* Olive Oil (and some butter. I like butter.)
* 1 tsp ground Coriander seeds
* 1/2 tsp ground Cumin
* 1/2 tsp (or more) Cayenne (about half that much, given smaller amount of cauliflower and my wimpy tastebuds)
* 1/2 tsp Turmeric
* 1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon (a little less)
* 1/2 tsp Black Pepper (a quarter teaspoon)
* 2 Bay Leaves broken into large pieces
* 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
* 1 hot dried Chile Pepper (omitted)
* Salt
* 1 tbsp Lemon Juice (omitted)

Place a glug of olive oil into a very large sautée pan over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and let heat through about one minute. Add the onions and garlic. Fry quickly until just becoming golden. Add the spices and cook a few minutes until highly fragrant.

Add the cauliflower and the peas or beans. Stir to coat with the onions and spices. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cover with a lid. Allow to cook, stirring a few times, 20 minutes. Remove the lid and boil off any remaining liquid. This is a dry curry. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice.

Serve with basmati rice cooked with cardamom and gingered lentils.

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Roxxor. I will be having this one again.