Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

So, for tonight's dinner I took out the leftover simmered lemony chicken from a couple of days ago, added a bit more cooked chicken (since I had one leftover baked chicken thigh), some tomato paste, quite a bit more ginger paste, and some more garam masala.

I stirred well, heated it in the microwave, and served it over rice, with peas alongside because it seemed like a green vegetable would be good: part of a bag of frozen peas, boiled for five minutes, and served with butter and dill.

This was tastier, as well as more in the direction of the original goal. Whether we do it againis likely to depend in large part on how much work the first step, cutting up and marinating the chicken is, and on planning enough ahead to marinate the chicken overnight. (I could have reheated this on the stovetop, but I probably wouldn't have made the peas.)

[I'm leaving the "improvisational cooking" tag here, even though most of the improv was done earlier in the week.]

This is based loosely on the shrimp or chicken curry I used to make, except where I forgot things. With thanks to minnehaha K. for giving me the idea, by posting about an improvised curry she made with sweet potato*. This is halfway between a method and my notes for version 1.1.

Half an onion (or one small onion), diced.
About half a granny smith apple, diced
One sweet potato (not too big), sliced thin and then cut into bite-sized pieces
Frozen cauliflower, probably a bit under 1/2 cup when broken up
A cup of chicken broth, plus some hot water
Peanut oil
Three tablespoons milk

Spices: about 1.5 teaspoon of Penzey's "Singapore spice," a curry-ish thing that gets most of its spiciness from black pepper rather than any sort of red pepper (capsicum), a bit over 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder, a little nutmeg, and a tablespoon of flour to thicken/bind it.

Heat a large covered frying pan, and then put the oil in.
Saute the onion and apple for a couple of minutes, until they're a bit soft.
Sprinkle the spices on the onion-and-olive, stir in, and cook for a minute.
Add the chicken broth, stir, and add the sweet potato pieces. Spread them out in the pan, and add a bit of water to cover the sweet potatoes.
Cover and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the cauliflower, stir to cover it with the now-thickened liquid, and cover. Total cooking time about 20 minutes, though the sweet potato was probably done in 15. (I'd thought it would need the full 20.)

Next time I will probably reduce the Singapore seasoning (since I have little tolerance for hot spices these days), and maybe increase the nutmeg, and put in some turmeric and cumin (there's some in the Singapore mix). cattitude, who likes things quite a bit spicier than I do these days, added some Sriracha brand hot sauce (which has a drawing of a rooster on the bottle). I should definitely use a bay leaf (I forgot this time), and possibly a couple of cardamom pods. Maybe olive oil instead of peanut.

Something in the umami direction would be good. Maybe just a spoonful of marmite, or get some frozen edamame (or I could start learning to cook with tofu, not just eat it in Chinese restaurants). Or mushrooms, if I'm not cooking for cattitude that night.

If I want to go back toward the recipe this is derived from, I might throw in a handful of raisins or dried cranberries next time—but sweet potatoes already make a sweeter curry than chicken or shrimp did. Also, a tablespoon or so of lemon juice, especially if I reduce the Singapore spice (which is somewhat lemony).

I added the cauliflower mostly for a bit of contrast with the sweet potato; other vegetables might do as well, depending what's handy, or this might work with just sweet potato. I had originally been thinking of a sweet potato and chicken curry, but the chicken didn't keep, and I think the dish was better without it.

Served over long-grained white rice. (If you usually serve curries over some other kind of rice, or some other grain entirely, that should work.)

*Minnehaha reminds me that she used several vegetables in her meal, including radish, but not sweet potato.

(Cross-posting to the LJ community off_recipe)