When I hear the word "curry" my mind automatically thinks of Indian dishes that are made of spices including turmeric, chilies and several spice combinations. An Indian inspired curry was the first time I became aware of curry. I was already fifteen and this was a chicken curry made by my friends British aunt. It was very basic made with curry powder and had raisins and apples added to it. I was knocked of my chair with delight.
Funny that I had never been aware of Thai curry until I had it at the age of twenty five. My mother was Thai and cooked for a living but before I was interested in cooking, she took her recipes to the grave.
I began to look at cookbooks to see how I can make these delicious foods. Now that I don't consume animal products the game has been changed a bit. Indian cuisine often has clarified butter in it and Thai cuisine usually has fish sauce. These are considered some of the key ingredients but I now don't miss them at all.
Today I made a curry sauce to go over tempeh. The sauce in my mind is a kind of Indian Caribbean inspired mix.
Basically I took several spices that I had in the cupboard and toasted them.
Spice blend
3 tbsp turmeric ground
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1teaspoon allspice
2 1/2 tsp of fenugreek seeds
2 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of ginger ground
2 tsp all spice
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp black peppercorn
1/4 tsp of nutmeg ground
1/4 tsp of cinnamon ground
1/2 tsp of chili powder
I happen to love hot and spicy food so I added one habanero or scotch bonnet pepper to this. For someone who can't take the heat, you can omit the hot peppers and chili powder.
I sauteed a teaspoon of minced ginger, 1 habanero pepper, and 4 cloves of garlic.
I added the already toasted spices to the pan and sauteed with it.
After I took the mix out of the pan and added it to a sauce pot adding sultana raisins for a little sweetness. I didn't want it to be obviously sweet so the raisins were just enough to do the job.
The sauce was first put in a blender with around 3 cups of vegetable broth to make smooth, than simmered down with some coconut cream. I just added freely without measuring. If you want to adjust the spiciness you can just keep adding the cream and add salt to your liking. I also added the juice of a lime.
Meanwhile I sliced to blocks of tempeh into filets and boiled them in a vegetable stock with onion, carrot and a little tamari. It was simmered for around half an hour.
After I took it out I pan seared them in a pan and put in a low heat oven to stay warm while I made cassava mash and kale.
This is a root that I discovered within the last couple of years and have only had it twice including today. I just love this and other exotic roots like taro. There's something interesting about it. I love the way it goes down.
I caramelized some red pearl onions to go with it. I have so many of these. They were given to me by my kitchen manager who cleaned out the restaurant fridge. He was getting rid of items used for things that are no longer on the menu since the restaurants were ordered to close for dining. He was going to throw away several bags of these little onions which I never buy so I thought why not take them.
I steamed the kale and tossed it with a little olive oil and salt. I didn't bother seasoning since the curry sauce would do the flavor work.
The cassava was mashed with a little coconut cream and a little salt.
The onions were caramelized in a hot pan then deglazed with a little balsamic vinegar and a little salt.
I sprinkled the tempeh with some toasted sesame seeds.
One habanero pepper in the sauce was perfect enough for us. It was not too spicy and it was spicy enough that we didn't feel the need to add more spice which we often do.
I normally don't make a curry sauce on it's own but I realize it's a convenient thing to make and freeze. You can take it out in portions anytime you want a quick exotic sauce to put over almost anything.
Have a nice week everyone!
Hi @carolynstahl, the first thing is I love tempeh a lot. I always would just coat them with turmeric powder and salt and deep fry to have that perfect crispy tempeh. I have never made any tempeh curry so this is a new recipe for me. Thank you for sharing this great recipe. I am sure it tastes delicious with that spiciness of curry and little sweetness that came from the raisins. And as always you made a simple dish look tantalizing and pretty. Good Luck with your entry! Have A Nice Day and take care, cheers, ainie
The best tempeh I ever had was in Bali. Nothing compares to it. I find it goes with anything. I have no real cultural food background so I end up with any kind of food haha.
Thanks @aini.kashif and all the best to you!
Oh yummm, how I'd love to taste your food @carolynstahl, and this sounds sooo delicious. I'm a real curry addict, just love it! Hope that the restaurant can open up again soon for sit down diners!
I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your Mom so young:(
Curry has everything. The restaurants are going to be closed until the middle of January now they say. We don't believe them. Many restaurants have just closed down and gone bankrupt. Our food supplier only has thirty percent of their cliental left. It's a disaster. Fortunately my boss is popular. I really don't have any sentimental attachment to the women that was my mother. It was long ago. I just wish I had her authentic recipes.
Thanks so much @lizelle.
That is an absolute disaster @carolynstahl, but are your Covid figures that high for such a strict lockdown?
I feel sooo sorry for those who have to close down altogether and of course the staff as well!
The ripple effect is the worst!
They're going to have to revolutionize the way restaurants operate, not sure how, but there must be a way, just too awful!
The figures are as high as they want them to be. The stores are still open but with restrictions on how many get in. We are headed toward something scary.
Amazing work, my dear!😀
Wanna taste,wanna taste 😋
Thank you @luca1777
I want ya to taste, want ya to taste.
Wow! This is quite complicated and interesting! You are very inventive and could always come up with strange new recipes!! LoL
Thank you @kaminchan. Not eating meat kind of provokes me to come up with these things. Plus I grew up on canned pasta soup and peanut butter sandwiches. My father only had salt and pepper as seasonings haha. I made up for that later.
Now I know why you are so good at creating strange concoctions! LoL
You ought to have a digital recipe/ cook book!
The visual of the food looks great! I would liked to taste it!! :))
Thank you kindly @ssygmr!
This looks so tasty with tempeh and beautiful, I can’t eat tempeh for a long time, your food makes me hungry. You make some delicious food my dear friend.
Thank you for your wonderful comment. I feel the same with your food my friend. And @justinparke too.
Congratulations @carolynstahl!
You raised your level and are now a Dolphin!
WOW, that looks good. I didn't taste tempeh for a long time. I will tell my mom to buy it.
Thank you @kidsisters I hope your mom finds some for you. 🙂