I always thought of curries being too difficult for me to master. In other words, I never thought I could make them as delicious as those I had in restaurants. I was born into a simple American food household. Our traditional meals were barbecued steak, baked potatoes, salad and garlic bread; spaghetti with salad and garlic bread, ham hock and beans, tacos, burgers, and creamed tuna on toast.

Breakfast was cold cereal; egg on toast, and the occasional brunch of fried sweet potatoes, bacon and omelets.  Lunch was a tuna or egg salad sandwich. Pretty simple. No wonder I keep my meals so simple. I was raised with simplicity.

So, it turns out coconut curry is pretty easy. There are many different curry spice mixtures (often called Masala’s) and tons of variations. The recipe below provides a good start.  Don’t be afraid, you can’t go wrong. Jump in 

Ingredients:

1-2 cans          coconut milk (do not get low fat coconut milk – it tastes terrible and has had more processing, which is unnecessary)

1 pkg              firm tofu

1-2 cans          water (1 can for each can of milk)

2 tsp                curry powder (more to taste – depends if curry powder is hot or mild)

1 tsp                or more of salt to taste

1                      onion - chopped

2                      cloves garlic - minced

1 inch              ginger - minced (or grated ginger juice)

1tbsp              coconut oil or Ghee

Vegetables of choice (carrots, peas, potatoes, beans, etc. 

Directions:

In large saucepan heat oil or Ghee. When hot add in onion, garlic and ginger. Sauté until almost translucent. Add curry powder and salt, and sauté for a few more minutes until the herbs are all blended.

Add in coconut milk and water. Heat until liquid is almost to the boiling point. Add in vegetables, the firm ones first.  Cook on medium heat until the vegetables are just less than the desired tenderness. Remember, they will keep cooking when you turn the heat off, so take this into consideration when testing the veggies. Mushy veggies are no good.

Serve in a bowl on it own, or on a bed of rice.

Some condiments that are oh so yummy on curry:

Coconut flakes

Raisins

Peanuts

Cashews

Bananas

Avocado

I like to set out small bowls of each and let people build their own mountain of yummy condiments.

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