Okay, here's your curry recipe!
~ a few tablespoons of olive oil
1 small or ½ large white onion, diced
1 bunch cilantro, lightly chopped
1 small chili (jalapeno or serrano), diced and seeded (to taste; I typically seed half) – LEAVE OUT IF YOU DON’T WANT IT SPICY
3/4 head cauliflower, busted all up into bite-size pieces. the smaller the pieces, the better.
4 diced fresh tomatoes OR 1-2 cans of canned, diced tomatoes.
½ tsp ground ginger (or a bit of grated fresh – I am not a big ginger fan so I always used dried)
4 cloves garlic, minced.
1 tsp cumin seed
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp garam masala**
heat oil on medium heat, add onions + cumin seed. cook until onions are translucent.
add a handful (not the whole bunch, but a generous amount - do so with an eye to your taste for it) of chopped cilantro, turmeric, salt. stir and cook for a few minutes.
add chilies & tomatoes. stir well.
add ginger and garlic. keep stirring.
add cauliflower, combine well. bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook until cauliflower is at your desired consistency.
ALTERNATE IDEAS:
- before adding the cauliflower, puree the tomato/onion/spice mix with some coconut milk and simmer in the sauce until cauliflower is cooked.
- add assorted veggies. traditionally, this is cauliflower and potato curry - peas, eggplant, zucchini, etc might make this heartier and take advantage of produce during farmers market season. make note of the average cook time - for example, cauliflower needs to go in first b/c it takes longer to cook, where zucchini may only need 5 minutes in the sauce to get cooked through.
NOTES:
- the longer you let the sauce simmer before adding your veggies, the more flavorful it will be.
- to make indian food spicier, use fresh chilies. don't use chili powder.
- know your ingredients - this is a forgiving recipe and is friendly to alterations.
- **garam masala is a common indian spice blend. if you can find a place to buy it in bulk, you will save a LOT of money - it's easy to find at spice stores, but VERY often overpriced and it's not likely that you will use it very quickly. read this (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garam_masala) and make your own spice blend and test it out. don't feel like you have to stick 100% to it; i think for yours i used some extra ginger, cinnamon, chili powder and black pepper.