We shove an onion, two/three cloves of garlic, tsp of chilli powder/paprika (or to taste), tsp fresh ground ginger, 2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 chilli and some tomato paste into a blender and fry the paste in oil (or just chop onion and add all to pan) with 2 tsp cumin seed, 2 tsp coriander seeds for at least 5 minutes.
Add whatever veggies you want and fry them for a few minutes. Add one can tomatoes (2 if you need more to cover the veggies). Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes (if you add root veg and want a bit of bite, you are better off adding these 10 minutes before end of cooking time) or longer, for a more intense flavour.
(We then actually leave the curry for a day in the fridge...I think second day curries are SO much better)
Season with salt and pepper and add fresh chopped coriander.
Hi ra1nbow, and welcome!I just merged some vegan curry threads - here.
If you find a curry recipe you think look good, and can't have coconut milk, you could try some of these alternatives instead (try several of them in the same dish!):
• Other milk/cream alternatives (oat, rice, soy and so on...).
• Tomatoes. They make curries a little more... refreshing (especially when used with fresh lemon juice just before serving), and also serve as a thickener. If you use fresh tomatoes, add them as early as possible in the process. You can combine fresh and canned tomatoes.
• Mashed, soaked cashew nuts. They add some of the creaminess people use coconut milk for, and also add some richness to the taste. Soak them for an hour or two, and let the taste of the cashew nuts melt into the other ingredients.
• Mashed.... anything! You can mash potatoes, chick peas, lentils, bread... anything, actually, and use as an element in a curry sauce. The main taste in a curry dish doesn't come from the coconut milk anyway, the coconut milk or cream rather rounds off the taste from garlic, ginger, chili, onions, chili, spices etc. If you make twoo different dishes, you can even mash one cup of one of the dishes and use as a thickener/'cream' in the other.
• Tahini. Tahini sauce is made of sesame seeds, and I've yet to see a curry which suffers from having a cup of tahini in it.
• Hummus. If you have hummus as a side dish, make a little extra and use it instead of coconut milk. You can even buy a box of canned hummus and use it the same way you would have sued the coconut milk
• The dish itself! When you have finished your curry, take a cup ot two of the dish you made, put it int a grinder (or just use a hand mixed in the casserole itself) and use it as a thickener.
There are many other solutions as well, you can eg. add some ajvar sauce (paprika sauce), add some tamari (soy sauce), put a spoon or two of Thai (!) paste in the dish, or combine powdered and fresh curries and seeds (cumin, coriander etc) with a spoon or two of some milk readymade curries (eg Mild Madras Curry).
If you use 2-3 of these elements in a curry dish, you can actually experiment with having more of the tasty stuff in it as well, like eg. fresh ginger 'sticks' (sized like matchsticks), or chopped, red onion added just before you serve it, to compensate for the 'rounding' effect of eg tahini or cashew paste.
Don't forget to add a handful (or two?) of fenugreek leaves - cooking fenugreek leaves and mashed cashew nuts into into the sauce are among the few 'secrets' revealed to me by Indians I know know how to make extremely tasty Indian food.
I think I've tried all possible combinations of these ideas, and I don't think you can go really wrong with any of them.
I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.
Vegetable curry recipe without coconut?
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks