courtesy of the Joshi Family
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. Vegetable Oil ½ tsp. Cumin Seeds ½ tsp. Fenugreek Seeds 6 c Fresh Vegetables of your choice ¼ tsp. Turmeric 1 tsp. Cumin, ground ½ tsp. Garam Masala ½ tsp. Dark Chili Powder 2 large Tomatoes, chopped Fresh Chopped Cilantro to garnish
1 – Heat the oil in a large pan and fry Cumin Seeds and Fenugreek Seeds until they sizzle and brown. Roughly 2-3 minutes. 2 – Add vegetables and salt to pan, stirring until your vegetables reach your desired firmness. 3 – Add Turmeric, ground Cumin, Garam Masala and Chili Powder. Stir to coat. 4 – Add chopped Tomatoes and cook down until tomatoes reduce to a sauce. 5 – Garnish with Fresh Chopped Cilantro and serve with rice on the side.
So what exactly is curry? We here at Half Moon Tea & Spice like to start out by drawing the analogy by telling our customers it is like trying to define what is Chili. Everyone knows what it is but there is always a heated debate as to who or what region of the USA makes the best Chili. Thus the main ingredients of a curry can vary enormously and two highly dissimilar dishes can be equally deserving of the name “curry”, so you can have the soup like curries known best in Thailand to the lighter tomato based curries of Nepal fall under the same category.
The region of India and the neighboring countries of South-East Asia evoke mystery, magic and romance for many of us Wisconsinites. They are lands that have had exciting discoveries and great empires and dangerous enemies. Central to the dramas that have unfolded in these regions over time are the exotic spices that have been grown there for centuries. The Dutch, for example, once controlled a large percentage of the spice trade in the 18th century; they destroyed and burnt an entire neighboring island so as to ensure their monopoly on the clove trade.