a collaborative blog for friends who love food.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Craving coconut?

So I’ve been craving coconut rice for DAYS…

I have been trying to make it to the local African foods store to purchase my oversized canvas bag of basmati rice that will last me months, but have been too busy (lazy) to make the trip.

Tonight, nothing was going to stop me from getting my coconut fix. I had some brown rice just hanging out in the cupboard and even though brown rice is not my favorite, I was going to make this happen.

Now, when I make coconut rice, I reduce the amount of water by a ¼ and replace it with coconut milk. Well for those who use coconut milk enough know that over half the can was left.

What was I to do with the remaining coconut milk? Put it in the fridge and let it spoil as usual? No! Not this time.

I reached in the fridge and brought out my produce from this weekends Mt. Pleasant farmers market trip. I diced up red onion, green pepper, cucumber, a delish orange tomato, green beans, and of course garlic.

I tossed the garlic into a skillet, (a wok would also work) with a little garlic infused olive oil. Sautéed lightly, then added my remaining can of coconut milk to a pan. Now I chopped up too many veggies for the amount of milk that I had, so I opened up another can. Oops! :o) Then came the veggies. I gently placed my fresh produce into the pan.

Since I eat little to no meat, my concerned roommate (Vintage Jeannie) thought it was essential to add a can of chickpeas, and she was absolutely right, it added tremendous flavor to the curry!

Then came my favorite part, SEASONING! I grabbed my preferred seasons out of the cabinet and went to town. Using primarily red pepper (berbere to be specific), curry powder, and homemade masala from my friend’s mom, I created a spicy yet satisfying flavor. BAM!

Now I don’t really measure. However, I would say I added about 1-2 Tb of red pepper, because I like spice. Probably another 1 Tb of curry, and 2 t of masala. I let it all simmer for about 20 minutes. Then poured over my brown coconut rice and enjoyed a sassy curry that will make your mouth water. Literally, from the spice. Delish!

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