Sweet & Sour Balti Vegetable Curry

During the winter, my favorite last-minute dinners involve throwing together whatever root vegetables I have around the house in a warm, comforting soup, stew or curry.  This recipe is an adaptation of a chicken curry dish I found in this Indian cookbook, which uses a yogurt, chutney and tomato base to create a creamy sauce that is, indeed, sweet & sour–and delicious.

Here’s how we did it: first, begin sauteing the vegetables, beginning with the cubed root vegetables–we used red potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots.   While these get going, mix together the following in a small bowl:

• 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. Greek yogurt
• 1/2 tsp. garam masala (or hot curry powder)
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. crushed garlic
• 2 Tbsp. peach or mango chutney
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar

Add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to the sauteing root vegetables, plus any other vegetables you want to add.  We used some red bell pepper and green chillies. Add the spice, tomato and yogurt mixture.  Allow to cook on medium-high for a couple of minutes, then add 2/3 cup water.  Return to a boil, then lower the heat and allow the entire thing to cook, covered, for 5-7 minutes, or until the root vegetables are tender.

Finally, stir in about 1/4 cup milk or cream.  When everything is hot, serve over white rice.  It would also be a great idea to garnish this with fresh cilantro, but we weren’t fortunate enough to have any lying around the house at the time.

I love this curry for a few reasons: one is that it can be assembled using things that I almost always have around in the pantry (though, of course, this means being the sort of person who keeps peach chutney on hand).  The other is that it’s incredibly tasty in virtue of its ability to hit all the satisfying tastes–sweet, sour, salty, and spicy–while also being creamy and rich-tasting (but secretly involves less fat than is apparent, especially if you use low-fat milk instead of heavy cream).  Perfect for winter days at home.

“Granola,” or, We Become Caricatures of Ourselves

It was only a matter of time, really.  One day you’re baking your own bread and trading organic gardening tips, and the next you’re bringing home compost-able materials from parties and making home-made granola.  The uppity grad student ship has sailed, friends, and we’re right there at the helm.  But seriously, let’s face it: this is a ship with some effing good food, and I’m willing to brave even the most cliched of rides for that.

After our last trip to With the Grain, we decided that life would no longer be complete without regular access to good granola at home.  Granola is something of a staple in our house, as we regularly eat it with yogurt for breakfast, and sometimes again in the evenings for dessert.  The problem is that granola is typically either really expensive or really not-very-good, so making it ourselves was the logical next step.  Josh found a great recipe (and, since baking is his thing and not mine, he put it all together), and it turned out really wonderfully.  Since I wasn’t involved in the baking process, I can’t tell you in great detail what went into it, but I can say that it involved the following: rolled oats, slivered almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, maple syrup, vanilla, sugar and salt.  Because he’s so smart, Josh actually cut the sugar content in half, which (I think) made the whole thing really perfect.  So much of the granola we get commercially is cloyingly sweet, and letting the saltiness and sweetness harmonize (instead of making the sugar primary) has the effect of bringing out the intense nut flavors, which I love.

After eating handfuls of the fresh-baked granola straight out of the oven, we managed to save enough to attempt a yogurt and raspberry parfait this morning.  Because it was early and I wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous, I just used a tiny bit of raspberry jam between the yogurt and granola layers, but I believe it would have been better (and more closely approximating the parfait from With the Grain) if I’d cooked some berries down in lemon juice and simple syrup and used that instead.  This was still pretty tasty, though, and definitely not a bad way to wake up.

Guelph Goodness, no. 6: With the Grain

With the Grain is my favo(u)rite place to have brunch in Guelph.  Along with The Woolwich, it was one of the two places Josh assured me I’d love when we moved here, and he was absolutely right.  I’m a sucker for a good bakery-cafe, and With the Grain does it exactly the way you’d hope: great, fresh food made in-house, with a warm atmosphere and friendly staff.

But seriously, the food is amazing.  There’s a wonderfully simple toast platter featuring avocado, tomato and aged cheddar, an absolutely divine (I know I’m gushing, but it really is that good) yogurt-fruit-granola breakfast parfait (complete with maple drizzle and homemade granola!), and a really tasty breakfast burrito with roasted veggies.  And I haven’t even started to talk about pastries.  I have yet to have any baked good here that isn’t over-the-top delicious, and I’m a bit embarrassed to admit how many I’ve had.  From scones to cookies to brownies, it’s all great.  And I should also mention that Josh and I are in agreement that the bagels and cream cheese at WtG, while a bit pricey, are unequivocally the absolute best we’ve ever had.

If I had to pick a favo(u)rite sweet though, I’d go with the Bee Stings (in the photo on the right, they’re the ones with the almond and honey topping).  This initially came as something of a surprise to me, given my general preference for all things chocolate.  They have a crumbly cookie-like bottom, which is topped with this incredibly aromatic honey and almond concoction, which smells distinctly of lavender, with a hint of vanilla.  It’s simple, but so surprisingly good and indulgent-feeling, especially if you’re a lover of floral smells.  They’re pretty sweet, though, so it’s usually a nice treat to share…unless you’re feeling particularly self-indulgent.

Of course, I now realize that I’ve spent almost the entire time discussing sweets, when the purpose was to highlight WtG as a brunch destination–but hey, what’s a good brunch without dessert, right?

Balti Curry Vegetables

I am a huge fan of store-bought curry pastes.  They provide a really wonderful depth of flavor without requiring the significant labor that goes into putting together a great sauce from scratch.  At the same time, however, the fact that they aren’t finished in the way that a pre-made jar of sauce is makes them both more versatile and potentially more tasty.  My own experience with pre-made Indian simmer sauces, for example, is decent–but basically ‘meh.’  But with curry paste?  It’s a whole different story.

Here I used a Balti curry paste, which is a good bit less spicy than some Indian curry pastes on the market–but which can still get pretty hot if you use too much (I speak from experience!).  After sauteing diced carrots, sweet potatoes, and new potatoes in a little oil to get their cooking started, I added some onion and bell pepper, plus a few tablespoons of the curry paste.  When the veggies were basically cooked, I added a little water, some diced tomatoes and–my favorite addition to Indian curry–some plain yogurt.  I love the creaminess the yogurt gives, and I really love that it’s achieved without using a ton of fat, as Indian curries made with heavy cream or butter (or Thai curries made with coconut milk) do.  The resulting curry was spicy, tangy, sweet and savory, with a satisfying combination of classic Indian spices.  How often do simple vegetables get to be such a treat?