Influence from the East...

I have to admit...at first glance (and smell), most Indian, Middle Eastern, and Thai foods can appear quite odd.  This is especially if you are a "chicken finger" type person.  However, I prefer to think of these food genres as "rich", because of their blending of different flavors and spices.  Maybe not even blending, but layering, rather.  The ingredient that most often comes to mind when we think of Indian food is...CURRY. 

My sister lived for a full 6 weeks in Manchester, England.  She came back a bonified Brit...drinking milk in her tea and liking various dishes of the country: toad in the hole (vom), Yorkshire pudding, shepherd`s pie, etc.  Although I thought she`d completely lost her mind, I did learn one thing from her experience...there is a LARGE population of immigrants from the Eastern regions and, consequently, many pubs and restaurants offer curries.  In fact, this is one of the more popular dishes in England! My sis reported that the quarters where she resided smelled like curry and that much of the public transportation did too. She did not return to the states liking curry....big surprise, huh?  I`m actually still working on her in that aspect. 

So why exactly is curry so pungent?  The answer is in the mixture of spices.  There are different types of curry, first of all, that are variations on a basic formula.  To name a few...green, red, yellow.  The base ingredients of a curry powder are usually coriander, tumeric, cumin, fenugreek, and red pepper.  However, to make the curry distinct, any number of the following can be added: ginger, garlic, asafoetida, fennel seed, caraway, cinnamon, clove, mustard seed, green cardamom, black cardamom, nutmeg, and various types of peppers. When you think about it...how could a combination of those NOT be pungent?  No wonder it seeps into your clothes and stays in the air in your kitchen after cooking with it.  The sickening sweet taste that a non-curry-fan describes can most likely be blamed on cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and/or nutmeg.  I happen to love that taste, but it`s definitely only "aquired" through an open-minded foodie attitude.

Since I`m doing "this whole vegetarian thing" (as friends and family alike have been referring to it as), I decided to try a vegetarian curry.  These are pretty popular at Indian restaurants and I feel like this one mimics a restaurant-style curry.  I did not have any Bazmati rice, so I used brown rice and served the curry over it.  This turned out yummy, but if you have the bazmati then use it! Also, typically dishes like this use raisins.  However, I am not a huge fan of cooked raisins, so I tried dried cranberries and was happy with the result!

Vegetarian Curry

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2  large white onion, chopped

1/2 cup dry lentils

2 teaspoons chopped roasted garlic 

3 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Red pepper flakes (to taste...I like it super hot) 

2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, cubed (relatively small chunks so it will cook faster!)

1 (10 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 (8 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 (8 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)

1/2 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

Cooked Bazmati rice

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, and cook the onion until tender. Mix in the lentils, sweet potatoes, and garlic.  Season with curry powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Cook and stir 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, and craisins. Season with salt and pepper. Add water. Reduce heat to low, and simmer at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If mixture appears dry, add 1/2 cup more water.
2. Serve immediately spooned over rice.