Spice Power

Curry masala (top left), vegetable curry served with Ikea flatbread (top right)

vivid colours of grapefruits and navel oranges (bottom left), juice (bottom right).

See Instagram. 

Despite the intense heat of the day, Mom & I decided to make curry. It's her typical vegetarian day where she intends to settle on simple stir-fried greens. But I thought it'll be perfect making a curry so I could toss in the Indian cottage cheese, i.e. paneer, I bought at Mustafa a few days back. 

I settled on Jamie Oliver's Curry Base Sauce recipe as a reference to make my own spice blend/masala today. 

Of all the ingredients, I ended up with the following for today's curry:

I carrot

1 cauliflower

3 potatoes

1 bowl of paneer

a bunch of organic long beans

a bowl of pasteurised milk

a bunch of chopped coriander

salt

water

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For the blend:

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

half tablespoon black pepper berries 

(I misread teaspoon as tablespoon)

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon red chili powder

1 tablespoon turmeric powder

I didn't have garam masala, so I added

3 Bay leaves

half a teaspoon of cloves

1 cardamon seed

Perhaps it was because I added 4 times the black pepper needed because of my misreading, the curry turned out really hot and we had to add sugar to it. Otherwise, it would have been the perfect curry for today. Mom enjoyed it despite the spiciness. Grandma had trouble trying to stomach it. Dad was nipping the beans off. So I guess today's kitchen experimentation went ok! Yes! *Curryskill Unlocked!* 

Later, it was suggested some cold juice might help quell the fire in our tongues and I got my paws busy squeezing juice. Although I drank none of the juice, it was nice knowing the juice was gone right after it was made.