I was on my own tonight — meaning, I was cooking for one. Joe is off to Columbus, Ohio, getting to enjoy North African food from Firdous Express and Jeni's Ice Creams at the North Market. While I am at home.
Cooking for one is not as much fun as cooking for two or three or more, but I was determined to not spend the evening eating handfuls of cereal out of the box. I pulled out The New Tastes of India, which I've been meaning to explore more, and settled on a simple mung bean curry and this cheera thayir curry as a vegetable side.
The earthy-flavored mung bean curry was a bit bland, but the cheera thayir was heaven...
Cheera Thayir Curry
The New Tastes of India by Das Sreecharan
4 Tbs vegetable oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 dried red chilies
10 curry leaves
a pinch of ground fenugreek
2 onions, finely chopped
3 fresh green chilies, slit lengthwise
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp. tumeric
5 oz. spinach, trimmed (I also coarsely chopped it)
9 oz yogurt
salt to taste
Heat oil in a large sauce pan. When hot, add mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to pop, add the garlic, dried chilies, curry leaves, and fenugreek. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat for two minutes. Add the onions, green chilies, and ginger.
When onion browns, add the tomatoes and tumeric and some salt. Mix thoroughly, then add the spinach. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove pan from heat. Gradually add the yogurt, stirring slowly and continously. Return pan to the heat and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring constantly. Serve lukewarm.
I quartered the recipe, and it made just the perfect amount as a small side vegetable dish for one. I didn't have fresh tomatoes on hand, so I use canned ones, which worked well enough.
In Ann Arbor you can find curry leaves at any of the handul of local Indian grocery stores. I find mine at Bombay Grocers at 3022 Packard St. They're in the refrigerator cases at the back of the store.
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