Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

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)

Since I can't eat capsicum-spiced food anymore, cattitude and I have been experimenting, in a low-key sort of way. One thing he wanted to try was Szechuan peppercorns, but it took a while to find them. We were on Canal Street last weekend and L wanted to show marykaykare and sneerpout a Chinese supermarket. Being a market, they had spices, which included big bags of these, so we got some.

This evening, Cattitude made his more-or-less-usual lentil stew: lentils, sausage or leftover cooked meat (in this case, chicken sausages), onions, carrots, cooked in chicken broth. He added a half dozen of the Szechuan peppercorns to the pot.

Conclusion: I think I like them, and they are entirely safe for me to eat. More experimentation is clearly in order. I don't think they will entirely replace the capsicum I can no longer eat, nor are they likely to displace ginger or even horseradish in my affections, but they may restore a bit of what I'm missing. But part of why they won't displace horseradish is that the shape/preparation is so different: horseradish is something I can smear on cold roast beef, and these are something that can be simmered in stew for an hour.

Since I can't eat hot peppers (of the capsaicin sort) anymore, and like curry, I decided a while ago to see how close I could get without that specific spice. I started with a package of Penzey's Balti seasoning mix, not because it's the perfect curry blend, but because it's a curry blend I used, and had in the house, that had a list of ingredients. I went to Aphrodisia and got some of everything on that list that wasn't a capsaicin, and I didn't already have.

Then I mixed them up, guessing at quantities, and unfortunately not noting how much I'd used, and proceeded to leave it untouched for a while. Tonight, I made us a shrimp sort-of-curry.

cattitude and I agreed that it wasn't hot enough; in groping for vocabulary, he said it needed more "sharp" flavors, and after a while it transpired that fresh garlic, uncooked, has some of that, but cooked garlic doesn't. Mustard is also in there.

The notes from tonight are:

• needs more sharp


• mustard (there's a little in there now)


• horseradish?


• maybe add fresh garlic a minute or so before the lemon juice


• more clove?


• replace our ginger powder


• Szechuan peppercorns?

Cattitude also notes that he wants to do other things with the ajuwan (which I bought for the first time to use in this), possibly trying using it instead of sage in a chicken stuffing.

The notes from when I mixed this up say that it contains coriander, dried garlic, ginger, cumin, cinnamon (true cinnamon, not cassia), mustard (but it's old), clove, fenugreek, anise, ajowan, cilantro, black pepper, and turmeric. There should be coriander, but I forgot to buy any.

Therefore: I should get powdered ginger, powdered mustard, and powdered coriander before doing this again.

Edited based on comments:

I put two cardamom pods in as well. I'm not going to start hand-grinding spices with a mortar and pestle. Even an electric spice grinder seems less likely on a weeknight; yes, it gets good results, but realistically, time and energy are limitations. Fresh ginger, or the ginger paste I have in the fridge, seems plausible. (Ginger root may keep "forever" in some people's refrigerators, but in mine, after a few weeks it is dried out or starts to develop mold.)