Simple Weeknight Curry

Years ago I worked for a family from India. One of the things I have always been grateful for about that experience was learning so much about Indian cuisine and cooking. Many people think that Indian food is complicated and time-consuming, and many Indian dishes are just that and quite worth it, but there are some very simple dishes to be cooked as well.

As with all food, the fresher the better, but you can easily mix up a curry (or masala) that can be added to a variety of meats, grains, and vegetables for a lovely Indianesque meal any night of the week.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

3 Tbsp. ground turmeric

3 Tbsp. ground cumin

3 Tbsp. curry powder (don't skimp or buy cheap curry)

1 Tbsp. cayenne

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. ground ginger (again, don't buy cheap)

2 tsp. anise seeds, crushed

8-10 cardamom pods, crushed

Directions:

Simply add all to a lidded container or jar and shake to combine.

On fish, tofu, or poultry:

Drizzle the meat in lemon juice, then rub in curry. Seal tightly and refrigerate several hours. Grill, pan-fry, or bake.

Stir curry into plain yogurt and coat your meat. Seal tightly and refrigerate several hours. Grill, pan-fry, or bake.

In rice/grains:

Rinse and soak 1 c. Basmati rice for 30 minutes. Drain.

Chop 1 medium onion and 3 cloves garlic. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter with 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a pan and saute onions and garlic. When softened, stir in rice and toast gently for 3-5 minutes. Stir in 2 Tbsp. curry and 1 tsp. dry cilantro. You can also add nuts, fruit, dry fruit, and vegetables. Add 1 c. water or chicken/veg stock. Bring to boil. Cover tightly and simmer 45+ minutes until water is soaked up and rice is soft.

Vegetable/rice dish:

Follow directions above for rice up to toasting. Add in cooked garbanzo beans, cauliflower, peas, diced potatoes, diced bell pepper, etc. Finish rice-cooking process. Stir in 2 c. sliced fresh spinach and serve. Stir in plain yogurt for a creamy richness if desired.

Tasty Tunafish Cakes

Ingredients

2 6-oz. cans tuna in water

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 c. bread crumbs

2 tsp. lemon zest

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 Tbsp. water (or liquid from tuna)

2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley or 2 tsp. dry parsley flakes

2 Tbsp. fresh chopped chives or 2 tsp. dry chives

1 minced shallot (which I forgot to picture)

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1 Tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning

1 raw egg

3 Tbsp. good quality olive oil (divided 1 T. and 2 T.)

1 Tbsp. butter

Stir all but last 3 ingredients together in a bowl or with a dough blade in your food processor. Add egg and 1 Tbsp. olive oil, and combine well.

Divide mixture in half and in half again, and so on, until you have 8 similarly sized pieces. Form each piece into a ball and then form a patty. Place each patty gently onto a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Refrigerate several hours. Chilling the patties will help them stay together better when cooking. You can also freeze them (putting them in Ziplocs after thorough freezing) and then mostly defrost when you are ready to cook them.

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil and 1 Tbsp. butter in cast iron or non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Gently place patties in the pan and cook until nicely browned, about 5 minutes on each side.

I served it with lemon Basmati rice and asparagus in lemon butter. Next time I'll make a nice remoulade to spoon over the fish cakes too.

These were FANTASTIC!!! We all LOVED them! I doubled the recipe and put half in the freezer for another time.

*I would like to note that I typically use chunk light tuna in the house (as it has a lower concentration of mercury). Albacore (which Nick bought because I didn't specifiy chunk light on the list) has a much milder flavor, and I suspect these will be even tastier with the chunk light.