30 Minute Vegan (Taste of the East) Madras Curry

I was excited to try the Madras Curry recipe from 30 Minute Vegan because it was another recipe that my massage therapist raved about.

Just to be clear....

I am not a professional chef.  I am a stay at home mother who is comfortable following recipes, making certain things from scratch and editing/creating dishes but I am in no way a trained chef of any sort.  I sometimes need to look up information about new ingredients and how to prepare them- and I know when I try something new for the first time I'm not going to cook full speed.   I'm also making some dishes that I've not had before so my judgement of them is based upon simply if I'd want to eat it again- I'm not comparing any one dish to a restaurant version typically and I'll state it if I am.  But mostly it's just- was this good, would I make it again, will I crave it, how much did I have to fight my kids to get them to eat... 

What were we talking about again?

Ah yeah, Madras Curry.  Madras Curry is a dish I've not had anywhere before so I didn't quite know what to expect other then 1) I love curry and 2) the veggies in this dish were all ones I really enjoy 3) it's the favorite dish of my massage therapist.  Making this dish was an experience in itself.  I actually made a good portion of the dish twice- so I had to do all of the prep work twice therefore I stopped timing how long it took me to make it altogether.  

The error of my ways

I made a newbie error- reached for a wooden spoon and none were there so I grabbed a plastic cooking spoon- mixed my stuff together quick and went searching for the wooden spoons again, which my daughter had put in the wrong drawer.  I swear it was maybe 2 minutes but I had left the spoon in the pan (not sure where my head was at) and when I came back it was simmering away in liquid form along with my garlic and ginger etc.  Woops.  Redo.  Who knew those spoons melted so fast, I guess there is a reason I only use them to serve typically.  So chop chop I had to re-prep.

Take 2

This dish right away starts with tossing a bunch of seeds into a pan to toast for two minutes or until the mustard seeds start popping.  I'm going to tell you if you wait until the mustard seeds start popping you've waited too long, you're about to find out what happens when a dish fights back.  There is nothing quite like red hot mustard seeds flying at you with super speed and landing on bare skin and these seeds go very quickly from resting nicely in the pan to flying toward your face with no warning.  My husband thought it was hysterical when I started to shriek and duck and cover, I didn't find it too funny. I lowered the temperature, and threw in the next stage's ingredients and prayed it would stop.  The rest of the cooking experience was thankfully uneventful.

So how about that curry

It was okay.  Just about the only thing I can say about it is that the cooking of the dish was more memorable then the dish itself.  It was more greasy then I expected it to be, and I'm not big on grease. The veggies were good, but I didn't feel like the curry sauce added anything to them other then spice.  My husband liked it and thanked me for dinner but there were no big mmmmmmmm's  and the crave factor at least for me is non existent. With all of the recipes I know I love, and all of the recipes left to try it is unlikely that this dish will be made again.  I plan to ask my massage therapist about it and find out if she did something different- there are a few areas with options.  Did she use sesame oil instead of coconut oil?  Did she alter the cayenne and go with chili powder?  Did she use fresh lime juice or rice vinegar?  Or perhaps, our tastes are just different.  One person's favorite is another person's "meh." 

Nutrition Facts Madras Curry   6 Servings Amount Per Serving   Calories 118.2   Total Fat 6.8 g       Saturated Fat 4.3 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g       Monounsaturated Fat 0.9 g   Cholesterol 0.0 mg   Sodium 442.3 mg   Potassium 409.9 mg   Total Carbohydrate 13.1 g       Dietary Fiber 3.4 g       Sugars 4.0 g   Protein 2.6 g   Vitamin A 117.2 %   Vitamin B-12 0.0 %   Vitamin B-6 9.7 %   Vitamin C 93.8 %   Vitamin D 8.3 %   Vitamin E 18.9 %   Calcium 22.1 %   Copper 4.6 %   Folate 5.9 %   Iron 9.1 %   Magnesium 8.2 %   Manganese 12.9 %   Niacin 4.3 %   Pantothenic Acid     1.8 %   Phosphorus     6.6 %   Riboflavin 4.6 %   Selenium 4.4 %   Thiamin 5.2 %   Zinc 2.7 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.