Birth and Death of John of God Curry

 

Made this curry in VT on March 8 for my friend W.'s birthday, which also happens to be the birthday and deathday of John of God, a 16th-century Portuguese who's a big-shot dead guy in Spain, apparently. He experienced a religious conversion while listening to a sermon, went insane, was committed to an asylum, and when he got out he realized that the poor and vulnerable deserved better treatment than he'd received. I'll be damned if I know how to define the good life intensionally (no, I didn't spell that wrong), but if all you're looking for is an ostensive definition, John of God's Wiki bio serves nicely.

If you're making this for a normal-sized group of people, cut everything in half. I probably could have cut everything in half and been fine, because we had eight people but almost as many dishes (including kale and quinoa salad, pictured).

INGREDIENTS

2 cans coconut milk

2 lb. bag of brown jasmine rice

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 red bell peppers, diced

2 red habanero peppers, diced

2 cans chickpeas

at least 1/2 bulb garlic, minced

curry powder

salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the rice.

2. Heat coconut milk in a large pot. Toss in potatoes and simmer.

3. Saute peppers and garlic in a pan with some coconut or olive or seed oil.

4. Add pan contents and chickpeas to pot, along with curry powder and salt. Reduce until desired consistency.

Review of Gerhard Richter Painting to be published tomorrow. Until then, enjoy a couple of videos I made recently (more to come): http://vimeo.com/timterhaar

Mike Patton Eggplant and Potato Curry

I didn't post anything yesterday because me and the roommates went out to a pan-Asian place to "celebrate" the first day of classes. It wasn't too vegan-friendly, so the less said the better. Turns out January 27 commemorates some horrible events. Luckily, today is also Mike Patton's birthday, so this curry is in his honor. He was/is the vocalist for like 8 million influential bands. Haven't really listened to his work since high school, but still got respect. Check out his band Fantômas.

I acknowledged in an earlier post that I'm not too good at making one-pot meals. Why don't I listen to myself? This came out fine, but all of the durations and some of the measurements are approximations based on little more than hunch. And I still haven't figured out how to make thick curry.

INGREDIENTS:
1 c. rice
1 medium red onion, diced
1/2 small bulb garlic, pressed
1 large eggplant, sliced into French fry-esque strips
1 small eggplant, similarly sliced
1 1/2 lb. red potatoes, quartered
3 1/2 c. water
1 14-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 13.5-oz. can light coconut milk
1 small jalapeno, chopped
2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. cayenne (90K Scoville)
1/4 c. cilantro
oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook rice.
2. Fry the onion with oil in the bottom of a large stock pot. When translucent, add garlic. After a minute, add the eggplant and potato as you finish cutting. I actually added the small eggplant halfway through cooking because I panicked that the ratio was all wrong. You should probably not follow that example.
3. Add 2 c. water, cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and cook for something like 10-15 minutes.
4. Lower heat to medium-low. Add seasoning, optionally reserve half the cilantro for garnish. If it needs more water, use up to 1 1/2 c. Put the lid on leaving space for the steam to escape. Cook for 30-45 minutes, or until the eggplant is squishy and the potatoes are soft.