Ghanaian One Pot Curry

or stew. I will already tell you this "recipe" is a gem; quick, healthy, and you would have to try real hard to screw up.

I came across this while researching a couple from BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing (it broadcasted last year as The Restaurant on regular BBC) who cook Ghanaian food.

I stumbled upon a volunteer's site about traditional Ghana culture and food.

And there was the Universal Method for cooking one-pot stews and curries.
It gives very easy instructions and some example recipes.



I have done this twice in the past week, using up veggies and adding different liquids. Mine turned out more Indian, as I used Indian spices and curry paste for the base. (And MaMa Ronin proclaims it's better than our yummy Indian restaurant's!)

The picture above is made with onions, garlic, spices, veg bratwurst, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, & peas.

The picture at the end is made with onions, garlic, spices, veg bratwurst, tomatoes, potatoes, spinach, mushrooms & peas.

You will need:
A big pot
Any veggies you have!
Spices (such as garlic, cumin, paprika, etc) or something like curry paste
Fake meat or tofu (opt)
Liquid (opt) (like water, broth, coconut milk, etc)

Start chopping your onion while the oil is heating. While that sautees, start chopping the next batch to go in, while that sautees, start with the next batch, etc. No time is wasted, it's great.


-I started with a little oil on low/med heat, chopped onion and garlic, spices (I used a couple of spoonfuls of curry paste). Sautee.

-Add the "meat category" & sautee. I used chopped Tofurky's Bratwurst.

-I add chopped potatoes now too to soak up some of those lovely spices. I also add chunks of tomatoes so they can start to simmer and stew. (Now would be the time to add the rest of your "Class B" food like beans, carrots, broccoli, eggplant, etc.). Sautee just a minute or two for the spices to start to coat and absorb.


(Shown: 1 onion, 2 med potatoes, 2 tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, 1 brat)

-Add your liquid now if you choose. Try to add just enough to cover the potatoes. From here on out the pictures are with coconut milk. In the picture at the top I used water to finish as a stew. Or add a little and have the potatoes steam to have more of a dry curry.

-Simmer about 10 minutes (more or less depending on your chunks) or until potatoes are done.

-At the end of the cooking time add the veggies in "Class B" that cook quickly, such as frozen peas and mushrooms. I would stir in spinach right before serving.


Isn't that color amazing!?

It takes around 20 minutes from start to finish. That's just about the same time it takes to cook some rice to go along with it! I used Basmati rice cooked with saffron threads.




Full of veggies and flavor, you can't go wrong!

Mild Coconut Curry

From Vegan: Over 90 Mouthwatering Recipes for All Occasions.

I said I liked this book, and there is more to come!

This is really good. After always hating Thai food, within the past six months I have been slowly coming around to it. Coconut curry doesn't taste like coconut at all! But it gives it such a creamy taste, almost reminiscent of mac & cheeze.

NOTES: I had no Thai ingredients lying around, and in fact, what I made is completely different from the book.
I did NOT use: potatoes, lemon grass, lentils, coconut oil, cumin, green beas, peppers, or corn. I used lime juice from a bottle.
I DID use tofu, onions, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, and eggplant. I used spinach instead of parsley. Goes to show, use what ya got!
I simmered the tofu in the coconut milk while the other ingredients were sizzling. I used a boat load of Yellow Thai Curry powder and salt.

2 med potatoes
1 lemon grass stalk
4 Tbsp Puy lentils
1 T coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
4oz/125g green beans
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped (courgette)
8oz/250g frozen sweet corn
1 (300ml) can of coconut milk
juice of one lime
1 Tbsp chopped parsley (coriander)

1. Put the potatoes, lemon grass and lentils into a medium saucepan and add enough boiling water to just cover the tops of the potatoes. Retuen to the boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion, garlic, mushrooms, turmeric and cumin until the onion is soft. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the parsley, and stir well.

3. Remove the lemon grass from the lentil pan, then add the lentil mixture to the onion mixture.

4. Simmer everything for about 10 minutes, or until the lentils are soft, then add the chopped parsley.

5. Serve with brown basmati rice cooked with a few cardamom pods, plus warm naan bread.

YUM

Indian Curry

Since the turn of the millennium, there has been an epic battle.
Which do I like better, Indian or Mexican?
In the motherland, I could make my own Mexican food if I had a craving.
But Indian food is a bit trickier with its wonderful blended spices. The more often I ate Indian, the more my cravings drove me mad until I could get my next fix. I suspect much like nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

I had a nice vegetable curry the other day and decided to do something where the base was pureed veggies to give it the nice "thick and creamy" texture.

Boil:
potatoes
onion
broccoli stems
carrots

When potatoes are nearly ready, ladle half of the veg and broth into a blender with part of a tomato. Blend! (I also added a can of drained white beans for a thickener. Good, but I think I'll leave it out next time and just up the potato ratio).
In the meantime add broccoli and cauliflower florets to cook. Throw in any other veg you want. (I also threw in some tofu burgers for kicks, to be like paneer?)
Stir in a couple spoonfulls of Curry paste, along with the blended goodness. Mix until everything is heated through.

I served it with saffron rice and some cashews on top just to be kinky.

Curry Udon

Curry Udon is probably my favorite food ever.
It's indulgent, succulent, full of fat and calories and all that bad stuff that makes it tastes so good.
Japanese curry is very different from Indian curry*. It's smooth, savory, thick and mild (if you want).

You will need

-Veggies. Staples are onion and carrot chunks. Broccoli is nice too. No more than 3 veg, it'll clog up the soup.

From your local Asian market:
-Box of curry. Comes in mild to hot. Not all are veg, but Golden Curry is (has MSG in it though).
-Bag of udon. This is PREMADE udon. Big thick noodles, either refrigerated or frozen. No dry noodles, those are blasphemous.


Sautee half an onion and a carrot for about 3 minutes.
Add about 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, then let simmer for about 10 minutes. (Add broccoli at the 5 minute mark).
Take off heat.

In your curry box, there will be two sections. each of those can break into 4 chunks. Break off one chunk, and stir in until dissolved.
Return to heat for about 5 minutes.
You want it to be soupy, so if it gets a little thick, just add some more water.

Frozen udon boils in a few minutes, and refrigerated udon noodles only take a minute.

Add to your curry, and then a big soup bowl!



As I transfered it to my bowl I added sliced age tofu- flavorless fried poofy tofu. Cuz yknow, I didn't feel there were enough calories in this.



For curry rice, do not use as much water, so it is like a very thick gravy to ladle over your rice. Add potatoes to the cooking process, as well as any other veggies. I love this a lot too! It is a treat for me, I don't eat this bad all the time =p

* ok food snobs, I'm just using the term "curry" for the generic main stream meaning. I know Indian food can have many different types of curry.

Dinner for two

Have something nice to celebrate, or just want a nice dinner?


Mushroom Stroganoff*, Himalayan Curried Soup*, fresh bread and salad with hummus. And of course, 1993 sparkling wine. mmm!




*I knicked the base idea and edited these from Dr. McDougall's site.

I think the soup was my favorite part. I usually hate rice in soupy bases, but my-oh-my it was real good! Beans would have been good in this too.

Edits
Mushroom Stroganoff:
Macaroni, 3 unknown types of mushrooms I got in the sale bin. Needed more cornstarch. No cayenne or wine.

Curried Soup:
no coriander or celery. Used up all sorts of veggies. Zucchini, carrots, broccoli, green pepper, etc.

Curry Burgers

I stayed in a bit sick today, but thankfully I whipped up some patties last night and froze them in my time of need! And I can't stop eating them!

I used:
BASICS
a can of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
1/4 chopped onion
handful of mixed frozen veggies (corn, peas, and carrots)
a couple shakes of Garlic Tabasco

DRY
curry powder
garlic powder
salt
italian seasoning mix
flour (to bind) (about a small handfull)

OTHER
cornmeal

BEGIN!

sautee the BASICS until soft. Transfer to bowl and add DRY ingredients.
SMASH IT UP!

When it's sticking together because of the flour, its good. SEASON TO TASTE. Make into patties, your choice of size. Dust in cornmeal.

FREEZE!
When frozen, they are ready to use! I have only pan fried mine, so I do not know how they would come out in the toaster oven.

Delicious!


Shown on some baguette bread with onions, lettuce and cherry tomatoes. Left over potato soup (see previous entry) and a side of potato chips.

***You could use any type of beans or bean combination, along with any type of spices or veggies. I made more of a Curry patty. Maybe try a Southwestern patty with black beans and corn and cilanto!