Thursday, October 06, 2005

Zucchini Curry with Basmati Rice

As I came home from work I was greeted by a backpacked girl exclaiming that it was time to cook dinner. At first I was not convinced as I was dreadfully tired from work; I thought it was nap time. Nevertheless, I was briefed: Zucchini curry. At once my heart quickened and I had to race her into the kitchen - it was time to cook!

3 lb zucchini, sliced into round chunks
1 large onion in thin half moons
3 tbs vegetable oil
1 can light unsweeted coconut milk
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tbs curry powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp finely grated ginger
1 tsp redp pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
cilantro
cashews

Toast mustard and cumin seeds in a dry pan - when you can smell the spices, they're done!
Make a paste out of the garlic, ginger and salt. If you have a mortar and pestle, bully for you. If not, I achieved a paste by mashing the ingredients with the side of a knife - I used Frederique (he got a name today). Stir the curry powder, coriander and toasted seed combination into the paste.
In a stockpot, heat the oil over med-high heat then saute onions until golden. Add the paste and drop the heat to med-low and stir for a few minutes.
Add in the zucchini and cook until it softens. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. After 10-12 minutes, it will be done! yeah!

We accompanied it with basmati rice, which was great. We fried the rice in a little bit of butter before adding the water which gave it a little bit of richness.

Scoop the curry over the rice then garnish with the cilantro and cashews.

It was great! I could not have bought better thai food at Thai Basil in Berkeley. No complaints, no changes. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This looks like an excellent use for those gigantic zucchinis that escape the harvest until they're the size of dachshunds. Kudos on the curry idea...how delicious.

Anonymous said...

Our official vegetarian taster gives it 5 stars. Fabulous.

Anonymous said...

Zucchini curry with rice sounds yummy! First time here. Liked the way u have presented the recipes.

I am Anu from My Scrawls. I have posted my version of zucchini curry in my blog. Do have a look at it when u get time. would be happy to receive your comments :)