Fresh Coconut Curry

I saw some fresh coconuts for sale at my local green grocer and thought hmmm coconut rough but instead I went a more nutritious route when I found this recipe in G Magazine - a traditional Chickpea, Cauliflower and Potatoe, Red Coconut Curry from Mysore Style Cooking by V. Sandhya, India. Not the most attractive curry (are they ever attractive?) but certainly worth blogging about.

250 g bengal gram dhal (whole chickpeas)

500 ml water

salt to taste

1 Tbs oil

250g potatoes, chopped

250g cauliflower, chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

1 small green capsicum, chopped

Ingredients for ground paste

1-2 red chillis

2 cups coconut, grated

1 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 cm piece ginger root, grated

1 cinnamon stick, broken up

1-2 cloves garlic crushed

water

Soak the chickpeas in water overnight, discard soaking water, place into heavy base saucepan and cover with water, cook with lid on for one hour.

I then cracked my coconut open, scraped out the flesh and put it through the grater in the food processor.

Grind the paste ingredients with some water to a fine paste. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the bengal gram dhal and fry over a medium heat for a few seconds, then add the potatoes and cauliflower and fry for a few more seconds.

Add the ground paste and fry for several more seconds, and then add water and salt to taste. Mix well and cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes and capsicum and fry until all the vebetables are cooked and the sauce thickened.

When it is ready transfer to a serving bowl. Serve hot with rice.

One more thing...

I bought a bunch of roses, real sweet smelling roses of beautiful colours, they are bit curled up and dried now, but I actually think their beauty is even more intense...like a piece of art, so enjoy.