5/8 tbsp whole corriander

Thai food is interesting in that even what one perceives as being an entirely veggie meal still is not, technically, due to the appearance of flavorings such as fish sauce and shrimp paste. I remember that when I made the Thai stir-fry, I loved most of the flavors, apart from the resonance of the fish sauce. I can't abide by anything fishy; that should be evident from the lack of fish recipes I have actually attempted so far, so I was glad to see an entirely veggie Thai dish in, you guessed it, CL's Thai chapter.

65. Thai Chickpea Curry - *Thai*
66. DIY: Make your own coconut milk - *Thai*

The Thai chapter is new domain for me; it is actually a short chapter, but with lots of yummy looking dishes, so I don't know why in almost two months I'm finally getting to it now, but there you are.

This recipe, a variation of a dish in Vatcharin Bhumichitr's Thai Vegetarian Cooking, contains chickpeas and potatoes, but also a spice mix not usually associated with Thai cooking, Madras curry powder. I didn't have this curry powder; of course I have seen it countless times in Patel Brothers or Kalustyan's, but never actually purchased it. I found a couple of recipes for making the curry powder online and decided that should be sufficient.

Madras curry powder is not a spice in itself, you see, it's a mixture -- for white folk like me that need a combo of a bunch of spices most people would have in their cupboard anyway. (I read online that Indian people tend to just mix different spices together anyway.) The recipe I decided on is Helen Lawson's (no relation to the lovely NL, at least I don't think) from her book How to Make Good Curries. The anal editor inside of me is begging to correct that title; make good curries?? Well it's not Helen's fault; the book was published in 1970, so maybe grammar was not a priority then, LOL.

Check out the cover; am I the only one totally scared by that curry dish??

Here's a breakdown of the Madras curry powder recipe, written by me, and quartered - (I didn't want to end up with 3 oz. of the stuff - I just needed a tablespoon for the CL recipe!) I have also copied the entire recipe below for those interested.

Now you will see why I needed a 5/8 tbsp of whole corriander seeds. So 5/8 is close to 1/2, and a half of a tablespoon of whole corriander should be close to maybe a 1/2 teaspoon ground. Well, not the most accurate measuring, but a little more or less corriander certainly won't ruin the dish. Here's my curry powder creation:

Like most curries, this one is quite simple. First I fried some garlic, ginger and black pepper in a bit of vegetable oil. To this I added the chopped waxy potato and the curry powder.

Once the potatoes were well coated, I added coconut milk and chickpeas. (I should save you all the suspense and tell you I did not actually make the milk myself --- come on, I made mayo the other day -- who do you think I am, Martha Stewart??!!)

The curry was allowed to come to a boil and simmer until the potatoes were just tender.

When this happened, I added some soy sauce and chopped tomatoes, and then I seasoned the dish with salt and sugar. Once the dish cooked some more, I sprinkled the curry with chopped parsley, and it was ready to eat!

To go with this curry I of course needed jasmine rice - but to jazz it up a bit I boiled the rice as per usual and this time with some kaffir lime leaves to infuse the flavor of the rice. Methinks kaffir lime leaves quite apropos for a Thai meal, no?

The finished meal was delicious!!! The curry was just the perfect flavor. I was worried the soy sauce would have made it too salty, but it did its job in cutting through the richness of the coconut milk. The potatoes and chickpeas were cooked to perfection, and it didn't feel at all like I was depriving myself by not including one ounce of meat. Well done, Tom!

Apologies for the restaurant presentation of the rice. A Thai restaurant my friend, Elana, and I frequent serves its rice in a sort of pyramid shape. But, I haven't gone as far as purchasing pyramid-shaped molds for this exercise. :)


Madras Curry Powder
Recipe from How To Make Good Curries by Helen Lawson
© 1970

I N G R E D I E N T S
2 1/2 tablespoon whole corriander seeds
2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried cumin, ground
2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground allspice
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground black bepper
1/2 tablespoon dry mustard (such as Coleman's)
1/8 teaspoon saffron (use sparingly)

I N S T R U C T I O N S
Grind the corriander seeds, (sieve if any large husks remain). Blend all of the ingredient together and store in an airtight jar. This recipe makes 3 ounces of curry powder.