If you were a fan of the Gilmore Girls, you may remember the line when Lorelei (the mom) was ordering take-out for the night when Rori (the daughter) said something to the effect of "having to burn the house down after"--well, not my house--we love curry! I cannot tell you the number of times I have lingered in the aisle of my global grocer taking in the smells. I also can tell you that I am the proud owner of such exotic seasonings as cardamom pods and funugreek. (Alright, maybe not exotic to most, but to me, I did not grow up with much beyond ketchup, A-1 and some Season All--thankfully my blood pressure and sugar count are still in check!) If my memory serves, I thought exotic was chop suey, polish sausage or stuffed cabbage--that about does it. Wait, there was my world-traveling maternal grandmother (seriously, she did some major frequent flying--she was a widow at a young age), bless her soul. She made this amazing "muzetti"--if that is not the real name, well. . . I said memory. Anyhow, this rocked my world and it was from this dish of small elbow macaroni, peas, tomato sauce, onion, garlic and celery--and maybe some canned mushrooms and "oleo" baked--of course--until the top pasta part was nice and chewy and a bit crunchy. It was casserole heaven in the 60s, right?--Well, that was my exotic. So, from a young age, the exotic enticed me.
Curry love was on tap last night. I had to rush it, so it is not the kind that Madhur Jaffrey (the queen of Indian cooking to me) would approve, though there is a hefty amount of curry powder(the expensive kind from one of those seasoning stores--it was a Christmas gift, and I love it!). I would love to have an Indian take-out joint here in my small community--but you'd have to fit in between the pizza, taco and dairy/frozen custard dessert joints. This ingredient list looks long--don't let it deter you--just make it--it's a drop and stir kind of dish.
Cool Vegan Curry
1 package seitan or tempeh (if tempeh, dice into small pieces and steam first, if seitan, slice thin)
Noodles or rice--I used spaghetti noodles
1 onion diced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 8 oz. package shitake or portobello mushrooms sliced thin
1 cup water
1 cup regular soy milk (not vanilla!)
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup carrot chopped
1 broccoli head chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon Braggs Liquid Aminos
2 tablespoons Shoyu or light soy sauce
1 tomato chopped (reserve some for top)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
dash of cayenne
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (for topping)
Start the rice if using. Otherwise, heat some water for about 4 oz. Heat 2 tablespoons of safflower oil or canola in a medium pan. Add onions, garlic and cook until onion is translucent--about two minutes. Add the seitan or tempeh. (*If you use tempeh, steam it for 10 minutes to get rid of the bitterness). Cook until browning begins on your seitan/tempeh. Stir frequently. Add the rest of the ingredients--liquids through chopped veggies and seasonings. Mix well.
Let simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes. Stirring often. Curry is something that you should taste while cooking--use the spoons! Is the heat right, salt right? Let the flavors blend. Serve over the cooked noodles or rice--YUM!
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