It’s been a few weeks since my last post, mostly because I’ve been making some old favorites that I’ve already posted and otherwise enjoying the nice weather and summertime.

Today’s post is a new off-the-top-of-my-head vegetable curry with a lot of color. I’ve done a number of indian and thai curries, but this one may be something of a haphazard fusion of the two, as I just chose my ingredients by whim.

Ingredients for the rice:

• jasmine rice
• cumin seed
• bay leaves
• cinnamon stick
• hot curry powder
• salt

Ingredients for the raita:

• yogurt (I was lucky to have been given some homemade, from cow’s milk)
• garlic, minced
• carrot, julienned
• green pepper, finely chopped
• tomato, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
• garam masala
• saffron threads
• salt

Ingredients for the curry:

• canola oil
• water
• carrot, peeled and sliced
• red potato, skins intact, small-diced
• broccoli, bite-sized pieces, steamed
• red onion, sliced (top to bottom) into thin strips
• garlic, minced
• habanero pepper, seeds and veins removed, finely minced
• cumin seed
• turmeric
• garam masala
• salt and pepper
• coconut cream/milk
• cilantro (chopped fresh or crushed dried)
• thai bird peppers (one per serving)

I chose coconut cream for sweetness; you could substitute coconut milk (or even a yogurt) if you prefer.  Here’s one discussion of Coconut Milk vs. Cream.

Preparation:

First, to prepare the rice, I simply put the ingredients in a rice cooker and let it do its thing; afterwards I removed the cinammon stick and bay leaves and added them to the curry.

While the rice was cooking, I prepared the raita.  (Of course, if you want a vegan dish, you’ll have to skip the yogurt-based raita.)  Simply mix all the ingredients together, and let sit.  (This is also nice to make in advance, and refrigerate, as the flavors mellow and blend together.)

I prepared the curry in a 12 inch cast iron skillet; first toasting the cumin seed, then mixing the spices and oil, garlic, onion, hot peppers, and cooking the potatoes.  I added the sliced carrot later, as it was sliced thinner and would cook faster.  Add water occassionally as necessary to avoid sticking to the pan, and add the (separately steamed) broccoli and the coconut cream after the potatoes and carrot are cooked to suitably tender.

I served the rice, curry, and raita sprinkled with some crushed dry cilantro leaf and a (cooked) whole red thai bird pepper.  (This hot pepper makes it easy for each diner to spice it up to their own taste.)

That’s it! I hope this inspires some colorful cooking for you to share to likewise share with the wonderful people that color your life. :)

By the way, WordPress tells me this is my hundredth post!
(Now the money will start rollin’ in, right?)