This is really three recipes in one. Don't be afraid of the ingredients listed or the steps in the process. Each recipe could be paired with lots of things, and two of the three could be enjoyed totally on their own. All of them are inspired by fond memories of the wedding we celebrated for our son last year, our No More Grocery Shopping Experiment, and The 52 New Foods Challenge.
First, the wedding!
A year ago, I'm sitting at the table with Brennan, our oldest child, and Marissa, his fiance. Their wedding is less than two months away and it is time to get serious about the menu for the festivities.
"We were thinking curry," she says. Bren and Marissa are both vegetarian and Indian food is one of their favorite cuisines.
"Yeah, remember when we made a huge pot of Tikka Masala curry for the homeless kids?" Bren asks. "We could just do something like that. Right?"
"Yeah," I laugh. "Feeding the homeless and feeding a bunch of wedding guests are pretty much the same thing." But, I don't laugh too hard, because, with this thrifty pair and their' taste for delicious, inexpensive food, we really don't need to switch our culinary gears to get wedding-worthy results out of homeless shelter fare. I'm glad about that, and I know they are, too.
"The thing is, we only made one recipe for the homeless shelter. What are you hoping to do for your wedding dinner?"
"Well, we have several kinds of curry we love. I guess it would come down to what is cheapest and easiest to make," my daughter-in-law-to-be says. She's a keeper. No trace of BrideZilla here.
"Okay, what would you say are your very favorites? Let's list them out and go from there." We make a list of curries and other Indian cuisine. Tikka Masala is at the top. After weeks of experimenting we have a bride-and-groom approved recipe. It was amazing, and many people left saying it was the best wedding food they had ever eaten. This recipe is just part of what we did, it comes in three parts and it is worth replicating!
Garlic Ginger Jumble
20 cloves garlic, peeled
6 inches ginger root, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp coconut oil
Salt and pepper
1. Peel all that garlic. As an easy tip, break all the cloves away from the bulb and throw into a large bowl that has a tight lid. Cover the bowl with the lid and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. The skins will slip right off. It may take a minute or two of additional shaking, but it's good exercise and way quicker than standing there peeling each clove.
2. Peel the ginger root and cut it into one inch pieces.
3. Add the garlic and the ginger, along with the oil, into a blender or food processor and grind to a paste or poultice.
4. Saute up and use in curries, lentils and rice dishes. Refrigerate for up to two weeks.
Second, The 52 New Foods Challenge
I love this book. I hope you buy it, read it, practice its precepts and slowly convert your family to a renewed habit of conscious eating. You have 52 weeks to do it in, for crying out loud. Jennifer Tyler Lee inspires me to look at old favorites in new ways (ever try Brussel Sprout Chips, for instance?) in fact, the garlic ginger jumble above came as a result of asking how other cultures use these familiar additions to their food. A Pakistani friend you'll meet at the end of this post says that is a regular recipe in his kitchen. Now, it is a staple in mine as well.
After reading the book, I should say I made a discovery, and it is this: there are ways to prepare an old standby so it seems new. Take butternut squash, for instance. Not usually my favorite of the squashes. And, my kids don't like it either. My husband, on the other hand, will eat it any way he can, but he usually falls back on soup or mashed butternut. YUCK! No offense butternut soup lovers of the world. It might as well be pumpkin pie soup If you ask me. Always too sweet and creamy to believe it should be a main player at the dinner table.
However, the 52 New Foods Challenge inspired me to try something new with butternut. I wanted it to be so savory it could stand on its own or be a meat substitute in tacos, curries or pastas. I wanted it to be something easy enough for an 11-year-old to make. I was honestly doubtful every step of the way until they came searing hot out of the sauté pan into the serving dish. One taste and I knew we had hit on something we were going to look forward to in many meals to come. Thanks, Jennifer. Here is the recipe:
Curry Peppered Butternut Squash
2 cups butternut squash cooked and cubed
1 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp yellow curry
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1. Cut Squash lengthwise, deseed, lay face down on a cooking sheet. Cook for 30 minutes at 350*. When it's finished peel squash, and cut it into one inch cubes.Toss cubed squash in a bag with spices, shake to coat well
2. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil in a medium sauté pan.
3. Sear squash in the pan with oil until all sides are browned
4. Set aside and try not to eat it all before you get the rest of your meal done. Serve on top of rice, in curry, or on its own.
Finally, No More Grocery Shopping.
We were 25 days in to our 40 day grocery store fast when we have Hedar, a friend of KC's, came over for dinner. Hedar is a Pakistani exchange student. Pakistanis love curry. Hedar, homesick for food from his homeland, especially loves Tikka Masala. When I realized he was coming on the day of my photo shoot of all these great recipes, I sort of panicked. What if I didn't have a key ingredient? What if I couldn't get the curry just right with whatever I had on hand? What if he hated the whole meal? I confronted the first question with my Trusted Advisors - could I go to the store just to get a few items for this special meal for the photos, and for the Pakistani boy. "No!" Was pretty much the resounding answer. "You can barter for your missing ingredients." I traded a whole meal in exchange for some yellow curry powder, ginger and coconut. The caramels I bought at the gas station for the dessert I made later were declared a cheat by every kid, my husband and my trusted advisers. I thought the loophole was clear.
When our guest arrived, he could smell all the garlic, ginger and curry in the air. "What did you make for dinner?" was his first enthusiastic question when he came in the door.
"Well, I made a bunch of stuff. Syrian rice, Babaganouj, Hummus, and Tikka Masala."
"You made Tikka? I love Tikka!" He said, wonder and homesickness in his voice. I was immediately intimidated by the prospect of having screwed it up.
"No! Actually, it is just a random curry sauce. See this one over here?" I ask, lifting the lid of a different pan, trying to divert his attention from what may be a very disappointing version of his beloved dish. "This is Syrian rice. Have you ever had this?"
"Yes. We have this. But, why do you say this is not Tikka?" he asks, wondering if I know my own mind.
"Well, because, it probably isn't the tikka masala you know. Maybe it's too American. I have never fed this curry to a person who would really KNOW. Here," I say taking the lid off of the curry pot, "see what you think."
Before I even hand him the spoon, he takes a big whiff of the steam coming off the curry. He smiles broadly. "THIS IS TIKKA!" he exclaims. "I know it is! I can smell this in the air. I smell the masala spices."
He is so excited. I hand him the spoon. He tastes. "TIKKA!" is all he says.
So, with bartering and bargaining, and no trips to the grocery store, I was able to pull of a very authentic dish. Yay!
Butternut Chickpea Tikka Masala
1 onion, diced
2 tbsp garlic ginger jumble (recipe above)
1 hot chili, minced
2 cups veggie broth
3 potatoes diced
1 lb baby carrots whole
1 tbsp yellow curry
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp red pepper
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1 28oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 c cream
2 cups prepared butternut squash (recipe above)
1. Sauté onions and garlic ginger jumble and pepper in a large pan over medium-high heat.
2. In a separate pan, potatoes and carrots in two cups of veggie broth. When veggies are steamed but still firm, add them, along with the broth to the onions and garlic.
3. Add spices and stir well. Reduce heat to medium. Add all additional ingredients.
4. Simmer to a gentle bubble for 15 minutes. Serve piping hot over rice.
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