Me and curry

I'm kicking this whole thing off by cooking my best dish- curry.  Since no one's coming to dinner and my husband prefers hot dogs, I'll be cooking for myself tonight.  I cook a mean curry.  The secret to curry is lots of spices, enough salt, and maybe a Madhur Jaffrey cookbook.  This recipe for Spicy Chickpeas originally came from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian cookbook.  It is an old favorite.  I am also posting a poem that's an old favorite.  It's been on asininepoetry.com for years, which is an excellent site for wasting time when you have better things to do.

Spicy Chickpeas

5 Tbsp oil                                                                 2 tsp. cumin

2 minced onions                                                     1 Tbsp amchoor

8 cloves of minced garlic                                       2 tsp. paprika

1 Tbsp coriander                                                    1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp. cumin                                                             1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. cayenne                                                      1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp. turmeric                                                          1 minced chile

6 Tbsp diced tomato                                               2 tsp. grated ginger

2 20 oz. cans of chickpeas

 

** Heat oil.  Fry onions and garlic until brown.  Add the first set of spices.  Stir and add tomatoes.  Cook until tomatoes brown lightly.

** Add chickpeas and 1 c. of water.  Add 2nd set of spices and lemon juice.  Cover, turn down heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

** Add ginger and chile and cook 30 seconds longer.

The spices.

Curry tastes best in front of a hippie Indian tapestry.  If you've been to college you probably have one.

My little garbanzitos, stewing away.

Ode to Curry

At the Indian buffet

I can eat til I vomit,

choke down platefuls of rice

with everything on it —

dum aloo, aloo gobi,

raita and lassi

biryani and koftas,

with sweet mango chutney.

Oh matar paneer

you soft, curried mess

atop onion naan

is how you're served best.

And mulligatawny

let me not forget you!

You're runner up to my favorite:

curried goat stew.

I embellish with relish,

the chaat and parathas.

And oh gee, the ghee!

I could devour for hours

the chapatis, the tamarind,

and the galub jamun.

The sour lime pickles

send me to the moon!

At the cheapie buffet

I will while away hours

amidst hindi music

and cheap plastic flowers.

India, my India

your food makes me drool,

and sends me to paradise.
You totally rule!