Thursday 2 February 2012

Vegetable Curry


No matter how much you love to cook, there are times when you get to the end of the day and you just don’t want to make supper.  I love to cook—really, really love to cook—but, even so, there are days when preparing a complicated meal is more than I want to think about.

In the perfect world of my imagination, the nights when I don’t feel like cooking would be the nights when my husband whisks me off to a lovely restaurant or steps into the kitchen and cooks me a gourmet meal, sets a beautiful table, and then does all of the dishes. 

It’s good to have a dream, right?

In the real world, our budget allows for very few restaurant meals and when my husband steps into the kitchen I end up with so much clean up that it’s easier just to cook dinner myself.

I have two strategies for dealing with “don’t want to cook” nights:  I keep several easy-to-reheat meals on hand in the freezer, and I have a repertoire of very simple, very quick recipes.

One of those very quick recipes is my vegetable curry.  It’s so easy to make that I can’t even really justify calling it a recipe.  It’s just a method for throwing together what I have in the fridge and turning it into a simple meal, but the finished dish is very tasty.  

Curry paste is the secret to the dish.  Every grocer in our area stocks it in one form or another and, although it may seem a little pricey, a single jar will stretch over several meals.  We’re not big on heat in our dishes so I buy mild curry paste.  My favourite brand is Patak’s but there are lots of different brands, flavours, and temperatures to choose from. 

If you’re looking for something quick and simple to make this week, this might do the trick.

To make Vegetable Curry, you’ll need:


  • 4 to 5 cups of vegetables.  I used cooked cauliflower and chick peas, raw onion, and grape tomatoes from the freezer.  I ended up adding some cooked green beans (not pictured) too.  The only essential on that list is the onion. 
  • Cooking oil
  • Curry paste
  • 2 cups of vegetable stock, plus a little extra with which to make a slurry.  As you can see, my stock had quite a bit of tomato in it.
  • Cornstarch

Sauté the onions in hot oil until they’re translucent.  Stir in a heaping Tablespoon of curry paste and cook it for a couple of minutes more.  




Pour in the stock and bring it to a boil.

While the stock is coming to a boil, make a slurry with a little cold stock and some cornstarch.  I use about two heaping teaspoonfuls of cornstarch in about half a cup of cold stock and stir it until the cornstarch is completely dissolved.

When the stock in the pot has come to a boil, stir in the slurry until the stock thickens to the consistency you prefer.  Stir in the cooked vegetables, adding as many or as little as you want.  Continue cooking just until the vegetables are heated through.


I serve the curry over basmati rice, or with naan bread or chapattis to blot up the extra sauce.

___________________________________________

This post is linked to Delicious Dish Tuesdays hosted by Coping with Frugality, Mama Chocolate, and Full Time Mama and to Gallery of Favorites hosted by 21st Century Housewife and Premeditated Leftovers.

Gallery of Favorites

13 comments:

April J Harris said...

I like Patak's curry paste as well - we buy the Mild, and also the Balti. I love how you have used it here - this is such a delicious looking, frugal and nutritious dish - and it's nice that it is vegetarian too. Thank you for sharing this post with our Gallery!

Alea Milham said...

I love your "method for throwing together" what is in the fridge. It looks tasty! i am adding curry paste to my shopping list. Thanks for sharing this recipe with the Gallery.

Aunt B said...

Thanks for providing me the opportunity to share it. :)

I really like Patak's products. Have you tried their Korma paste? or their Tandoori paste? They're also very good.

Aunt B said...

Thanks Alea. :) It is tasty; a busy night favourite at our house. I hope you enjoy it too.

Amanda said...

What a great recipe! I always have an array of vegetables in the crisper at the end of each week and this would be a perfect way to use them up. Hubs doesn't like curry but I LOVE it. I usually make it hot but I think I will try making it mild next time and see if our daughter likes it :)

Aunt B said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aunt B said...

Sorry about the deleted comment. I'm much better at replying when I have my fingers on the right keys. ;) I'm glad you like the recipe. I hope your daughter enjoys the dish too. :)

Alesha @ Full Time Mama said...

I've never had this before, but sounds good! I'll have to get some curry paste and make this! Thanks so much for sharing for Delicious Dish Tuesday! Come back tonight and link up another yummy recipe!! =)

Aunt B said...

Thanks for hosting. I appreciate the opportunity to share my post. I hope you enjoy the recipe. :)

David Franklin said...

Tested and certified with A+ grade!! Good one it was :) Even your all Food Recipes are good :)

Aunt B said...

I'm very pleased that you liked it David. Thank you for letting me know that you've tried it. :)

Unknown said...

Hi! A new follower here. I'm Laurrie and I write the Baked Lava blog at www.bakedlava.com Great blog. I love how clear and precise your pictures are and just want to let you know that I think your blog is awesome...and this recipe, too! Thanks!!

Aunt B said...

Welcome Laurie. I'm so glad you enjoyed the post and I'm flattered that you like the photos.