Joy of Curry

As promised I recently dug out Joy of Cooking, which hasn’t had much use except for an annual red velvet cake. The book’s weight intimidates. So tonight I opened it again, and I plan to leave it on the counter for a while. We'll see what becomes of this.

Tonight we ate a chickpea curry. Here’s what to do: heat 2 t of cumin seeds with ¼ c olive oil in a large pan, adding 2 cloves of garlic and 1 t of ginger. Add 2 c of pealed and cubed sweet potato, 2/3 c of cooked chickpeas, 1 c of green beans, and 2 c cauliflower, along with 1 t of salt, black pepper to taste, and 1 c of water (unless you have vegetable stock on hand). Let it cook on medium for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Then stir a cup of plain yogurt with 2 T of all-purpose flour, adding it to the vegetables and letting it cook on medium for a while longer – never bringing to a boil.

The curry was pretty thick at this point, so I diverted from Joy of Cooking…and…added ½ c of orange juice! And a half of an onion I diced and sautéed in oil. I’ve done it before with a Mollie Katzen curry recipe, so I thought it would be okay. It was.

Then top with peanuts and serve with basmati rice.

The verdict: I missed carrots and broccoli in my dinner tonight. My husband loved this dish, however, or claimed he did. He is hardly the hearty goat that eats everything.