Current Mood: Happy

I have a secret: I have a love affair with Indian food. It’s delicious with all of the complex spice blends and (yuuuum) curry. Many people cringe at curry, and I’m not quite sure why. It is a very nice spice if used properly. This recipe is very mild on the spicy level, and also kind of sweet. My husband says that this is the best korma he has ever had… even better than our favorite Indian restaurant! I would also recommend this to people experimenting with cooking Indian food and introducing it to someone not familiar with it. And it’s vegan.

So first things first… You are going to have to have a certain ingredient. You can’t just get it anywhere. I fortunately have a store nearby that carries it, but you may not have any stores in your area. So before you dive into this recipe, get some Madras curry powder. I also like to use coconut oil in my Indian cooking, so get some of that too if you like. It’s expensive, but healthier for you.

This recipe looks difficult, but I just have it broken down to make preparation simple. It is really very, very easy.

Rice:

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp Madras curry powder
• 3-4 bay leaves

Cook rice according to package (or put it in a rice cooker) with all of the ingredients listed. Start this first, as it takes 20 minutes to cook.

Paste Ingredients:

• 1 cup flaked coconut (I used regular baking coconut)
• 1 cup lightly salted/unsalted cashews (bits n pieces are fine)
• 3 cloves or 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp Madras curry powder (or more if you like it to be spicy)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger (or a bit of fresh ginger)
• 1/4 cup + water

Put all of the above ingredients into a food processor and grind down, adding water until it is a smooth paste. The water is not an issue, it’s more to check the consistency of the food processing. Get it as fine as possible, as we don’t want any crunchy bits in the finished product!

Veggies (fresh or frozen):

• 1/2 head (2 cups?) cauliflower, broken down into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup sliced carrot
• 1 cup peas

Steam the veggies by adding a bit of water to the bottom of a pot and putting the veggies in then putting a lid on it. 5 minutes over medium heat (after the water has heated to steaming).

• 1 tbsp coconut oil, veggie oil, or (fake!) butter

Once your paste is made and your veggies are steamed, add the paste to the veggies and add a cup of water and your tbsp of oil. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, and continue to add water until it is a sauce of medium thickness. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Serve over the rice (dig the bay leaves out of the rice, you don’t want to eat them), and you have a delicious, healthy meal for 3-4 people.

Okay, so I didn’t have any peas. But this was TOTALLY delicious.
Really, really, really delish.