Tag: curry

Curry mochi

Because fresh rice cakes, or mochi 餅  come in a bundle of 6, I had some to eat so I decided to experiment a little with a vegan curry not served with rice, but with grilled mochi. Something in between a nan and rice! And it worked super well!!! So here’s what I did: in a large pan greased a little I cut 1/2 leek, 1 potato, 2 little purple sweet potatoes, 1 turnip, 1 carrot, 1 red carrot, after it started to get golden I added some water just to cover, and 2 table spoons of curry powder, 1 tea spoon of tumeric (curcuma), 1 tea spoon of carvi seeds, 1 tea spoon of coriander seeds, grinded black pepper, a little piece of cinnamon and cokked until most of the water is gone. In the oven I arranged the rice cakes on a sheet of aluminum foil and baked them until they grown (I love to watch them in the oven, moving, breathing…) and the tip is golden. Then served all together.

Macrobiotic dry curry

As I was mentioning earlier, we found close to our home in Ohara, a macrobiotic local kind of small community where they have a cafe and a tiny shop. We had lunch there and it was delicious, and after we went to check out the little shop and I found this book: “whole rice & veggies on plate meals”, which was written by people from the community, and which presents seasonal recipes all gegan and somehow macrobiotic, or what they call “soft macrobi”. Perfect for me who enjoy the vegan food but don’t becessarily adhere to macrobiotics: I hate imposed rules in particular when it comes to food. I have my own, I like them and I think they suit me well. Well, this book is a treasure trive of midern Japanese recipes and I really enjoy looking at all the recipes and in particular the ones using ingredients I seldom use or buy. Coincidently, some time ago, a friend traveling to Koya brang us back some Koyadofu, a kind if dry tofu that can be rehydrated and used in several preparations. So I jumped on the occasion to prepare the first recipe I found with Koyadofu: vegetables dry curry. Dry curry mesns that there is no thick sauce like in regular Japanese curry.

The recipe is awfully simple, I had most of the ingredients but not all, so I replaced them and interpreted my way. For 2 You need 2 blocks of Koyadofu, 1 green pepper, 1 potato, 1/2 onion (I used a red onion), 1 tomato, curry powder, carvi seeds, cinnamon powder, salt, pepper, 1 tbs of miso, 1 tbs of apricot jam (I used kaki jam), a bit of soya sauce and s bit of oil. First cut all the veggies in 5mm cubes, the tomato can be cut in large chuncks. Rehydrate the tofu in hot water, drain roughly. In a pan with oil, cook atlow  heat the veggies, but the tomato, add the carvi seeds and the curry powder, the cinnamon. In a mixer, mix the tofu, the jam, the miso, salt pepper, soya sauce. Add the mixture to the veggies, cook until almost dry. Serve with rice. I serve with a mixture I made of whole rice, black rice, red rice, barley and white rice. Super delicious, but not very picturesque I reckon!!!!

Curry and eggplant

For the last recipe of eggplant, I’ve decided to cook some eggplant with other vegetables and to add some curry. I find that eggplant accomodate very well in Indian curry so I decided to use curry but in a dry manner. So in a little of oil in a pan I put 2 little new potatoes, 1 carrot and 2 little eggplants cut in large bites. Once golden I add a spoon of curry powder and a glass of water and continue cooking at low heat until the water is gone, serve and eat! 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this eggplant week, and tomorrow is a new week ahead! 

One-bowl with yellow vegetables

Yellow zucchini again, this time in a yellow combination with yellow sweet pepper and curry, served here with rice and curry meat balls. Again it starts with cutting in small pieces the zucchini, in thin slices the sweet pepper, and having them sauteed in a bit of olive oil at low eat to cook well without frying. Then adding a bit of curry powder to the whole, salt and pepper. The rice is Japanese rice cooked Japanese style. I served it with curry-flavored pork meat balls that are totally optional. An other simple way to prepare zucchinis, with a twisted oriental taste.

One-bowl lunch

This is definitely the end of winter! But the spring greens and veggies are not yet ready, we’ll have to wait a few weeks, so in between, mizuna, brocolli, spinach, na no hana are the best options!
I find that mizuna really goes well with plain Japanese rice, so I prepared it on a rice bowl with some steamed brocolli, and I made some pork-okara-curry bites.
For the mizuna just wash it in clear water, the brocolli I steamed them on top of thd rice for 2 min, the bites, I mixed pork meat with 2 large spoons of okara, one egg, a spoon of curry powder, salt, pepper and cooked then golden. Served all in one bowl, topped with some sesame seeds.
I believed that the pork can be removed and replaced by a little of panko for a veggan experience.

Curry-rice

One of the easiest Japanese dish to cook is curry-rice (pronunce “karey-rayiss”). I like because it is quick to prepare, and it’s a warm dish you can make with whatever you have in the fridge: perfect for a Sunday lunch after spending hours in the cold treaming trees in the garden. You can use only vegetables, meat, fish or mix vegetables with meat or fish. The variety of ingredients has only the limit of your imagination! So once decided what to put inside it is super easy. I always start with an onion or a leek that I cook with a bit of oil (olive or not) or butter. Once almost brown I add carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, meat if any… And half cook them. Then I add a spoon of curry spice, the quantity depends on how strong you like your curry, I like mine tasty but not hot.

Then add some grinded black pepper, a bit of Japanese 7 spices (shichimi). Now it’s time to prepare the roux. For that add flour and stir well the vegetables. Finally add water. In Japan there are all kinds of curry-rice, some very liquid, some quite compact. This just depends how you like it and how long you cook the roux, anyway, you can add water anytime if you find yours too thick.
In the last few minutes of cooking I sometimes add a few other veggetables tgat need short cooking time: brocoli, cauliflower, green peas… 
Ready to serve with some white Japanese rice (for some reason I find it much better than with briwn rice). Japanese eat that dish with a spoon!

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