Fish Bowl Food Genre #1: Curries

Monday night’s dinner…

 

Ever since I got back in the habit of blogging about food, I’ve realized how much I’ve missed it.  So today when I made some off-the-top-of-my-head curries for dinner, I thought it would be a good chance to post some recipes.

 

A brief history here: My family’s pre-Korea diet consisted of about 4 food genres: (1) pasta (generally spaghetti, the cheapest food to make in the U.S. next to Macaroni & Cheese, also in the same genre); (2) pot roast (or other crock-pot meat and veggie mix); (3) Tex-Mex (including chili); and (4) Curries.

 

There are a few reasons why I like to make curries so often.  The first is that I love the flavor – in fact, for many years in my childhood, chicken curry was my birthday dinner of choice.  The recipe my mom used was passed down a generation or two, and it had a heavily Americanized flavor and texture.  However, after tasting authentic homemade curries and Indian dishes made by some of my friends post-high school, I knew my palate had not been tricked into falling in love with curries.

 

The second reason I enjoy making curries is that I used to cook them with PapaFish when we were dating.  I still have the recipe cards we used on those first few dining-in dates somewhere around here…

 

The third reason I enjoy curries is that they make for a quick, easy, delicious recipe.  They flavor vegetables well and make meats more savory.  Everyone in the family, TheFry included, loves the taste of curries and will eat just about anything that is curried.

 

Now, I have a confession to make: the recipes I’m going to post, along with most of the curries I usually make, are completely random and not really related to authentic Indian food in any way.  In fact, I regularly stock the sinful curry powder in my pantry, because I am too dang lazy to go to Itaewon (or wherever) and buy all the separate spices for authentic South Asian recipes call for.  In fact, all the ingredients in this list I bought at HomePlus or Emart, including the curry powder, which is made by Tesco (yay!).  (In fact the only thing I bought at Emart was the fresh parsley, which I promptly stuck in the freezer).

 

Okay, on to the recipes!  I hope you enjoy these family-friendly curry recipes. ^.^

 

Beef, Carrot and Apricot Curry

Ingredients:

200g ground beef

1/2 onion, diced

2T Curry powder

4 small apricots, pitted and diced

1/2 C chopped carrots

1 C diced potatoes

salt to taste

 

Method:

1) Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Brown the ground beef together with the onions.

2) Add the curry powder and stir.  Simmer for about 2 minutes.

3) Add the potatoes and the carrots and stir a little bit.  Cook on medium heat, covered, until the carrots and potatoes are slightly tender.

4) Add the apricots and stir.  Cook uncovered for a couple more minutes.  Add salt to taste.

 

Succotash Curry

I am probably the only blogger in the world who still takes pictures of their food with a point-and-shoot digicam. *^^*

Ingredients:

1 can (432g) kidney beans, drained and rinsed.

1 can (340g) sweet corn, drained and rinsed.

1C chopped spinach (fresh or frozen)

2T butter

1t cinnamon

1/2 t ground coriander

1/2 t black pepper (or to taste)

salt to taste

 

Method

1) On medium heat, melt the butter.  Add the kidney beans right away, stirring and simmering for about a minute.

2) Add the corn and the spinach.  Stir and simmer for about a minute.

3) Add the spices.  Stir and simmer for a few minutes, until the mixture is heated through and the flavors are absorbed.

4) Add the salt last, until the taste is right to you.  I used about a teaspoon.

 

Tomato & Parsley Chutney

Ingredients:

2 C diced fresh tomatoes

2 T crushed frozen parsley (or finely chopped fresh parsley)

1/2 diced onion

salt to taste

fresh lemon wedge (optional)

 

Method:

Mix everything together in a bowl except the salt. Sprinkle salt over the whole bowl, a pinch at a time, until the flavor is as strong as you like.  I recommend starting with 1/4 teaspoon, stirring the mixture, and letting it set for 5~10 minutes.  Then come back and add more salt if needed.

 

Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the mixture if desired.   

 

 

So…I hope you enjoy curries as much as I do, even something as inauthentic as this. *^^*  Until HomePlus starts stocking jasmine rice and garam masala, Tesco curry powder will have to do. ^.^