How to Make Eggplant and Okra Curry

Erik — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:50:31 +0000

Continuing with my series “Husband Alone with the CSA“, this recipe was critical to using up the ingredients that the CSA gave me. I don’t like eggplant. I don’t like okra. I don’t like their taste. I really don’t like their texture. There. I said it.

Luckily, Lindsay and I have made this recipe before, and not only do I love curry, and not only does it reheat well (important because I was cooking for one for a few weeks), but it completely disguised the taste and texture of the eggplant and okra!

I know that the picture above isn’t super-appealing. That’s one thing about curries. It turns all the color into a muted yellow-reddish-brown (or a brownish-yellow-red?). It’s all the turmeric and other spices. Look how much more vibrant it looks in the pan! In any case, cook it. Eat it. Love it. Use up the CSA vegetables that I hate most . Another thing about curries is the enormous quantity of spices involved and the sometimes quick timing that things need to be added back-to-back. For this reason I added a new column to the ingredients list called “Group”. Everything in “Group 1″ goes in at the same time, and so on. Before I added the “Group” notations to our curry recipes I would use like 10 extra prep bowls, or accidentally mix ingredients that need to go in at different times.

This recipe did make me reorganize and label our spices because they were such a mess, but that’s a different blog post…

Eggplant and Okra Curry

Makes 4 servings

Group	Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it
1	2 TBsp	Olive oil
1	3	Garlic cloves	Minced
1	2	Yellow onions	Finely chopped
1	0.5 tsp	Fenugreek seeds
1	0.5 tsp	Fennel seeds
1	3	Cardamom pods	Leave whole
1	0.5	Cinnamon stick	About a 1 inch; leave whole
1	1	Bay leaf	Leave whole
2	0.5 tsp	Turmeric (ground)
2	0.5 tsp	Chili powder
2	1 tsp	Coriander (ground)
2	1 TBsp	Tomato paste
3	2	Tomatoes	Finely chopped
3	2 cups	Water
4	6 oz	Okra	Cut into 0.5-inch rounds	10-15 pods
5	6 oz	Eggplant	Chopped into half-inch cubes	5-10 “fairytale” or 1 medium to large
5	1 tsp	Kosher salt
6	2 TBsp	Cilantro	Finely chopped	About 6 sprigs (and optional)

Directions

Preparation: it’s important to be prepared for this dish. Some of the prep can wait (such as chopping the eggplant and okra), but the first three “Groups” need to be read because that part will move fast. Measure out the spices for “Group 1″ into one bowl, and those for “Group 2″ into a separate bowl. Chop the onions and mince the garlic; these can go into the same bowl. Chop the tomatoes and put them in a separate bowl. Measure out the water.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet that has a cover, preferably cast iron. Once the oil is hot, add everything from “Group 1″ (spices, onions, garlic). Stir occassionally, and cook until the onions caramelize to a golden brown. (Don’t confuse this with the fact that they are covered with brown spices!)
Add the ingredients from “Group 2″ (spices, tomato paste) and stir well. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in “Group 3″ (tomatoes and water). Turn the heat to high and bring the sauce to a boil.

While waiting for the sauce to boil, chop “Group 4″ (okra) and “Group 5″ (eggplant). Once the sauce is boiling, add “Group 4″ (okra) and cook for about 3 minutes on high heat. This cooking at high-heat will evaporate out most of the gelatinous goo that is associated with okra. Turn the heat back down to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sauce has started to thicken. If your okra is a bit past its prime and extra slimy, increase the time on high heat and sample the okra until the goo has evaporated out, then reduce the heat and simmer.
Add “Group 5″ (eggplant, salt) and lower the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, until the okra and eggplant are tender, but not mushy.

Fish out the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and cardamom pods if you can find them (otherwise be sure to watch out for them!). Let it sit to cool and thicken for 5 minutes. If desired, plate over rice. Garnish with the cilantro.

Working Through the Potato Bags: Potato Peanut Curry

Lindsay — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:52:58 +0000

Our winter CSA gave us SO many potatoes this winter. All sorts of varieties and colors, too. I’m not sure why, but potatoes are never top of mind when I’m meal planning. I’ll be better prepared next winter, but I let too many of them spoil this year. Does anyone have a good method for storing them? We’ve tried lots of things, but without success.

Anyway…we had two paper sacks of potatoes (some purple and some white) and a couple of random sweet potatoes. The purple ones were starting to sprout and the sweet potatoes were drying out. Never fear! Curry is here! Super delicious, super easy curry, that is.

This recipe is from Wildly Affordable Organic by Linda Watson, the genius behind Cook for Good. Erik and I tried to take the Cook for Good Challenge a couple of years ago, but had to bail due to some unexpected business travel. We got some great recipes out of it, though. This is one of them and I’d definitely recommend it for the night you get home late from work and are tempted by the takeout menu. It only takes about 25 minutes and is made from ingredients you probably have already.

This is filling enough that I don’t think rice is necessary, but put some on before you start the curry if you want it.

Potato Peanut Curry
From the book Wildly Affordable Organic by Linda Watson. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2011. www.dacapopresscookbooks.com

Serves 4 (or 3 if you’re really hungry)

Amount	Ingredient	Preparation	Where we bought it (SWM = Somerville Winter Market)
1 pound	Potatoes	Feel free to use different types. Peel them if they’re not organic or if the peels feel tough. Cut out any eyes or bad spots.	Red Fire Farm
14 ounces	Canned tomatoes	We used half a quart jar of home-canned tomatoes instead.	Home-canned
1 cup	Water	We used some of the liquid in the tomato jar and topped it off with enough water to make 1 cup.	Somerville Public Works
2 TBsp	Vegetable or olive oil		Stolor Organics
1/4 tsp	Salt
2 TBsp	Tahini	Give it a good stir to distribute the oil.
2 TBsp	Peanut butter		Teddie (made close by!)
1 tsp	Cayenne pepper
4 cloves	Garlic		Red Fire Farm CSA
1/2 tsp	Turmeric	Optional
2 TBsp (or so)	Fresh parsley	Chopped or torn up	NorthStar Farm

Directions

Dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes.

In a medium pot, add the potatoes, tomatoes, water (or water/tomato juice mixture), and salt.

Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, turn down the heat so that it simmers gently.

While the potatoes are cooking, chop the garlic finely. You could also put it through a garlic press, but I prefer to mince it with a knife, since I already have the cutting board out.

Put the garlic, vegetable oil, tahini, peanut butter, and cayenne pepper into a microwave-safe bowl. (Note: I accidentally put the turmeric in, too, which I wasn’t supposed to do. It turned out great.) Microwave on medium-high (80%) for two minutes.

Add the turmeric to the tahini-garlic mixture, if you didn’t already, and stir it into the cooking potatoes.

Let the curry continue to simmer until the potatoes are tender. This will take about 15 minutes, if you made the tahini-garlic sauce at an average speed, or 5 minutes, if you, like me, had to run to the store for tahini you though you had, but didn’t.

Garnish with a little sprinkle of parsley. I think this would be good with a dollop of yogurt, too.

EatLocal365 » curry

How to Make Eggplant and Okra Curry

Working Through the Potato Bags: Potato Peanut Curry