My first Indian curry!

I have only eaten curries in Indian restaurants, where they have been laden with butter and cream, and they are served swimming in oil. But I have always liked the essential flavor of these curries, so I thought it would be fun to try making one. Here is my recipe for curry, and as always, these measurements are approximations, since there are no fixed quantities when cooking Indian food! Sorry for the lack of pictures, my camera battery wasn't charged and I got hungry!

Simple Indian Curry

1 head cauliflower chopped into medium pieces (about 5 cups)
2 carrots cut into cylinders (about 2 cups)
1 cup frozen peas
1 white onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 green chili peppers, minced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger root
2 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 cup canned tomato puree
1/2 cup lite unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 cup low-fat or non-fat plain yogurt
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp coriander (the spice, not the leaf)
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom
olive oil or vegetable oil
salt to taste

1. The first step is to make a ginger/garlic/pepper paste. To do this, put these ingredients in a mortar and pestle with a little water. Grind the ingredients until they are mashed together. To this mixture, add the ground cardamom to this puree. (If you have full cardamom pods instead of ground cardamom, as I did, remove the insides of the pods and then grind those black seeds to a coarse consistency, and then add that to the ginger/garlic/pepper puree).

2. Heat a large pot and add a few tbsp oil. Let the oil get hot at medium-high heat and add the cumin seeds. When the seeds beginning to sizzle and visibly pop, lower the heat to medium. Add the cinnamon, coriander, onions, and ginger/garlic/pepper paste. Stir for a minute. Add the tomato and coconut milk. Stir for 3-4 minutes, until the sauce thickens visibly. Add cauliflower and carrots. Cover pot. Allow veggies to simmer for 4 minutes on medium-low heat. The cauliflower should be cooked through, but not mushy. Be careful of overcooking the carrots, because they become really sweet after being heated for too long. The carrot breaks down its carbs, and releases sugars, which isn't conducive to the flavor of this curry.

3. Uncover pot, add peas. Mix. Add lime and salt. Mix. Turn off heat. Mix in yogurt. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro leaves.

4. Serve hot with basmati rice.

Note: There are many different ways to modify this recipe. I think this dish would taste fantastic by adding green beans, while using corn might also be an interesting variation. It would also taste great with naan, or other Indian breads. In general, I would be weary of over-seasoning this dish. The tomato and coconut milk do a great job in flavoring the dish. Also, adjust the spice level according to your spice pref. I like my food spicy, so to describe the spicyness of this dish- putting in 2 peppers made the dish mildly spicy for me.

Just a shout-out to Miss B- I will get the eggplant recipe soon! I'm getting back into cooking Indian food... enjoy this recipe in the meantime!