Indian Pineapple Green Curry

What happens when you leave me with a room full of ingredients, an empty kitchen, and all the time in the world? More often than not, I would make channa masala, aloo chole, or, when I ate it, chicken tikka masala. Today, my intent was to make a Thai Green Curry with tofu and mixed vegetables. However, since most of the spices I have unpacked right now are commonly used in Indian food, and I'm more used to cooking Indian food, it came out Thai and Indian tasting... If that makes any sense. (At least it isn't Indian-Mexican like one unfortunate experience I had.)

For this recipe, I took loose inspiration from a Green Beef Curry recipe I saw in "Best-Ever Curry Cookbook" by Mridula Baljekar. Nothing major, just how to divide up the coconut milk and how to add the curry paste. Otherwise, I decided to improvise.

Anyway, this came out really well! Here's what went down:

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. thingie of firm Azumaya tofu, drained and cubed
1/2 valida onion, sliced and halved
1/2 green pepper, sliced and halved
2 handfuls of bean sprouts
3 large garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 14 oz. can of coconut milk
1 can of pineapples, drained with approx. 1/4 cup juice left over
2 handfuls of fresh basil
3 tbsp. green curry paste
1 boop of Kikkoman low-sodium soy sauce
A couple of dashes of garam masala
Approx. 2-3 tbsp curry powder
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Ginger powder, to taste
Canola oil to cover pan liberally
Jasmine rice

Directions:

1. Fry tofu on medium-high heat (watch out for oil splatters) until all sides are brown and crispy.
2. Lower the heat and make sure the pan is not searing. Don't touch it or anything, though. I promise, that's not necessary.
3. Add half the can of coconut milk and bring to a simmering boil.
4. Add green curry paste and stir lots. If you do not stir, the curry paste will apparently stick to the pan. Thank you, curry cookbook. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
5. Add onions and cook until clear. (I promise I will do something with browner, crispier onions in the near future!)
6. Add the rest of the coconut milk slowly, stir, and then add the green peppers and bean sprouts.
7. After about a minute, add the garlic. Keep stirring and then add the pineapples, juice and soy sauce.
8. Cook until it looks good... I mean for about 4-5 minutes! ^^; Then add the spices.
9. Shut the heat and stir in the basil.
10. Enjoy with rice!

Serves 4.

This came out different than I expected... because apparently, I think garam masala can somehow make a dish seem more Thai... -_- But it was fabulous! Next time, I think I'll try following a traditional recipe and THEN tweak it. Otherwise, it will taste like everything else I make. White girl problems.

Ginger Basil Veggie Chick'n

Oh, ginger basil veggie chicken... The reason why I started this blog. The facebook status that got my friends to question my vegetarianism. The "chicken" that I used was actually veggie patch's "chick'n" nuggets and I will forever remember that distinction.

So, normally, I would never ever ever used ready-to-eat-as-soon-as-you-nuke-it sort of things in my recipes, but I was inspired by a very special burrito. This burrito was not gingery or basily, mind you, but it did have chick'n nuggets and barbeque sauce in it. For anyone who has ever been to Albany, you know that I'm talking about the burrito from Bomber's Burrito Bar. Simply marvelous! So, I thought I'd give the nuggets a shot in a stir fry.

It came out pretty yummy. I really liked certain aspects, while others I need to tweak. I'll save my criticism for the end. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

5 Vegetable Patch chick'n nuggets, halved
1/2 valida onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, sliced and halved
10 baby carrots, sliced
2 medium handfuls of bean sprouts
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 handful of fresh basil leaves
ground ginger, to taste
approx. 1-2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup World Classic's stir fry sauce
1 boop of Kikkoman low sodium soy sauce
1 boop lemon juice
olive oil, for frying
1 cup of jasmine rice (Prepare as stated on package. Hopefully you know this.)

Directions

1. Cook onions on medium heat until clear-ish.
2. Throw in chick'n and green pepper; cook for two minutes.
3. Add carrots and cook for two minutes, stirring regularly.
4. Now add bean sprouts and garlic.
5. When you begin to smell the garlic cooking, add cumin, lemon juice, ground ginger, and then stir fry sauce shortly afterwards. I also added the basil here, which was a mistake. Instead, add basil shortly before turning the heat off or after it's off and stir it around. Stir consistently because the sugars in the stir fry sauce will burn.
5. Honey, if your rice isn't done by now, throw in the dish towel already.
6. Enjoy!

Serves 2.

Things I liked about this dish:

1. It was spicy
2. The chick'n went surprisingly well with the Asian flavors
3. I love bean sprouts with a burning passion

How it could be better:

1. Too much ginger
2. I don't know if it was the premade sauce, but something in it was off. I need to make my own sauces from now on.
3. The basil went too wilty and I couldn't taste it, as mentioned above

I ate every last bit of it, but I recognize how I could have improved. Let me know if you've tried this before and can share some tips on veggie stir fries!