Vegetable curries are a mealtime staple in many countries. Filling and affordable, curries are easily adapted to please any palate. A plethora of curry pastes and powders are readily available in any local grocer or major supermarket, making it possible for the everyday chef to create hearty and exotic curries at home.
The Origins of Curry
The word curry no doubt evokes visions of spicy meats and vegetables in various sauces and packages. More precisely, curry is a "fast-growing deciduous shrub or small tree with deep roots and scented leaves." Curry leaf is a common ingredient in Southeast Asian cuisine, often combined with numerous other spices to flavor meats and vegetables.
Today, curry often acts as a catch-all term for a variety of Indian dishes. Curries are usually comprised of a protein, vegetables and sauce and are often served over rice. Madras, Tandoori, Thai Green: these are just a few of the complex spice mixtures available to flavor curry dishes.
Cooking a Curry
The methods for cooking curries are as varied as the spices that flavor them. Curries can be slow cooked for hours to mature flavors or thrown together in a hurry after a busy day at the office. Traditional cooking methods often call for sauteing the spices and onions in oil first to create a thick and pungently fragrant paste, the origin for today's quick and convenient jarred pastes.
Curry and Rice Were Meant to Be
As most vegetarians will concur, there is nothing so satisfying as the hearty and heart healthy combination of beans, rice and spices. Combining whole grains and legumes to achieve a complete protein is an affordable and tasty way for herbivore and omnivore alike to create filling and nutrient dense dishes to share.
Easy Vegan Curry
This recipe is easily adapted to suit the tastes of any household. Substitute favorite vegetables or spices to please the pickiest of eaters. Add 1 tsp of dried red chilies to give this low-fat, vegetable curry some heat.
- 4 and 1/4 cups (1 litre tetra pack) Sweet Potato Soup (Try Imagine Sweet Potato Soup, Knorr, or any commercial or homemade soup. Vegetable stock will work too, but add a diced yam or sweet potato to thicken up the curry if using stock or water)
- 1 small (1/4 large) onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 2 heaping tsp Madras curry powder
- 1 large eggplant, diced
- 3 medium carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 cup dried red lentils
- 1 cup brown rice, uncooked (2 cups cooked)
- 1 cup water
- 4 Tbs soy sauce or Tamari
- 1 heaping Tbs curry paste (such as Patak's Tandoori Paste)
- 4 Tbs lemon juice
- More soy sauce to taste
- yogurt (soy or dairy) or sour cream to garnish (optional)
- In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic in a little oil or stock over medium-high heat until onions become translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add spices and cook for an additional 2 minutes, adding more stock if mixture becomes too dry.
- Add about a cup of the Sweet Potato soup and heat until bubbling. Stirring constantly and adding more soup as needed, begin adding diced veggies.
- Add remaining soup, lentils, water, soy sauce and curry paste. Cover and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve over brown rice and garnish with yogurt or sour cream.
- If using a rice cooker, simply add a little stock or water to the cooking vessel, turn the rice cooker on and add all the ingredients (including rice, but excluding lemon juice) as listed. Increase water from 1 cup to 3 cups.
- Cover and cook until the machine shuts off or about an hour if machine does not have automatic shut off. Add lemon juice and adjust spices as necessary.
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