Curry for Dinner and Lunch!

So, I made some more Indian curry tonight and I'll share the recipe but thought I would also share this tip. I like to divide the leftovers up into containers straight out of the pot, it helps with keeping track of the portion sizes and definitely creates ready to go lunches or other meals for the next few days. Who says lunch needs to be PB&J on wheat with celery sticks and an apple? I'll be showing up tomorrow with chickpea curry over basmati rice and well, a little yogurt because if you haven't figured it out yet...I like plain non-fat yogurt over my curry. It adds a bit of tartness and calms down the spice when I get a little over zealous with that cayenne!

For this dish, I literally walked in to the apartment at 6:15pm and had cooked and eaten by 7:00pm...Yeah, I was hungry and yes, it can be that easy!!!

Chickpea and Pea Curry

3 onions, chopped coarsely

4 cloves garlic

2 tsp olive or vegetable oil

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 cup fresh cilantro

1 cup crushed tomatoes

1 15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed

1 cup frozen peas

Very similar process to my earlier vegetable curry recipe, so please feel free to refer back for variation on ingredients. Puree the onions and garlic in a blender. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion garlic paste and cook down until thick (the water will evaporate). Add all the spices, stir for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the crushed tomatoes and cilantro. Stir for 2-3minutes. Add the chickpeas and peas and simmer for 10 minutes. Voila...quick and easy curry. Serve over basmati rice, quick recipe below.

Basmati Rice

1 tsp olive or vegetable oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup basmati rice

1.75 cup water

Heat the oil in a pot, add the cumin seeds and salt, they will start to sputter. Add the rice and water. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes or until water is gone. Note, you can also just cook the rice according to the package directions or in a rice cooker! Whatever makes your cooking easier, because that's what people tend to stick to! Healthier eating is hard enough without the added work.

The meal is a great rice and beans type meal and has a lot of great flavours! Nutritional value is very similar to Kichdi with about 17 g of protein and more carbs because of the rice (approximately 70 g). You could easily serve without the rice and substitue with quinoa or a whole grain pita or chapati. Yum!

Curry for Company

Ever been to an Indian dinner party and thought, wow, this must have taken forever? Well, guess again! Some curry staples like mixed vegetable curry is much easier and less time consuming than you would imagine. Unless of course, you start with fresh spices and pull out the mortar and pestle...

You also may not know all the health benefits to the spices contained in a curry powder or garam masala mix. Tumeric, for example, has been associated with healing properties and has been used to heal cuts and burns. It's also thought that it may be helpful in treating, possibly curing, Alzheimers! So many other spices in the Indian store spice blends to think about - cinnamon, black pepper, anise, allspice, asafoetida, cardamom, chili pepper, clover, coriander and cumin. I encourage you to google the healing benefits of each of these spices and think - "Holy smokes, this one Indian dish will combine them all!" Here's a start - http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Health-Benefits-of-Curry&id=423844 Now on to the food. Here's a simple recipe for a vegetable curry. Add whatever beans/vegetables you like. You can even get paneer (homemade Indian cheese) from the market, should that be desired.

Vegetable Curry - This makes a lot! It freezes well and lasts a while in the fridge, the spices actually act as a preservative...interesting little tid bit, huh?

3 Onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cayenne

1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup non fat yogurt
4 cups of mixed vegetables and beans (I used, potatoes, carrots, frozen corn, frozen green beans, frozen peas and chickpeas)

Puree the onions and garlic with a little bit of water in a blender. Heat oil in a large saucepan. When oil is heated, at the pureed mixture (careful of splatter). Cook, stirring for about 5 minutes. Mixture will start to change colour. Add the cumin seeds, cook and stir for a minute and then add the remaining spices, the crushed tomatoes and the yogurt. You can alter the spice combination to make it a little spicier or less spicy depending on your preference. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the "hard" vegetables like potatoes, turnips, carrots, etc. Add water to cover the top of all the vegetables. Simmer until the vegetables are tender. Then add the beans and frozen vegetables and heat through. Serve on top of brown rice, basmati rice, quinoa or maybe with a little naan bread. I usually top with some nonfat yogurt or nonfat cottage cheese and a mint chutney. Chutney recipes to follow shortly, promise!

When you add a starch (e.g., rice, naan) to serve with the carb count will go up. So I tend to do more curry, less starch. Sometimes no starch at all, especially if I add the potatoes. This curry on it's own has some good ratios - 22g carbs; 10g protein; 5g fat.