The recipe that intrigued me has now been made with the shrimp called for in the recipe I went by, tempeh, and now tofu. With and without fenugreek, with varying amounts of cayenne, dried chillies, lemon or lime juice, etc.
I've learned a lot. How to measure my ingredients in advance so I don't scorch stuff measuring the next ingredient. Not to double the citrus or cayenne if I want to taste everything. That curry leaves are harder to buy than pot, that there are a lot of Indians (red dot, not feather) living in Johnson County.
I've learned, for that matter, that curry is a leaf and not just a blend of spices. And that 'Goan' is 'Go-an' as in of Goa, not 'Goan' as in rhymes with 'tone.'
Goa is a part of India. Not very big, and for some reason I have the impression it's related to Bollywood the way Brentwood is to Hollywood.
Anyway, I used fenugreek this time in addition to curry leaves. First time I made this, I couldn't get curry leaves and used the fenugreek as a substitute. I used half as much this time and otherwise took things back to the original recipe (I'd upped the chillies, cayenne and citrus last time, with out-of-balance results).
This was to take to a birthday party for a friend's kiddo's second birthday. Well, I was going to make this for just me, then realized it would be the perfect thing to take and share with my friends. I love to cook, so why not? Half (maybe not half—but a sizable fraction) of what I want in a girlfriend is a chick I can cook dinner for.
And this kid, turning two, is he cute or what? He's almost as cute as I was at his age.
The curry wasn't the whole dinner offering: there were drumsticks, dawgs & burgers grilled by the host. Mo was personally responsible for six drumsticks, true story.
And, as usual, Mo as also responsible for dragging every little toy out of the toy drawers.
In case you want the recipe without all this shuck & jive:
Goan-Style Curried Tofu
for the marinade:
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
14 oz. drained extra-firm tofu, cubed
Combine the marinade ingredients with tofu and toss to coat; stick in the fridge while you make the sauce.
for the sauce
1/4 cup peanut oil
24 fresh curry leaves
1 teaspoon dried fenugreek
4 dried red chillies
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
3" piece of fresh ginger, peeled & minced
1 medium onion minced
5 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon Sambar Masala
1 14 oz can coconut milk
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Heat the oil with the fenugreek, curry leaves and peppers 1 to 2 minutes; add the black pepper and cook for 1 minute more. Add the ginger, onion and salt, stirring often as it cooks another 8 minutes (until the onion is translucent and turning brown, adding a quarter cup of water to prevent sticking. Add the coriander, garlic, turmeric and cook another minute before adding the tomatoes. Simmer 5 minutes then stir in the Sambar and coconut milk. When this starts to simmer, add the tofu with residual marinade and simmer 2 minutes longer. Stir in cilantro and serve over steamed basmati rice.
Normally I'd top this post with the hero shot of the finished dish, plated and ready to eat. But alas, I thought I'd snapped a shot of the dish at the party, and packed up the leftovers when I got home — ate them for lunch today, and what a lunch it was. So I'll have to make this again, for the camera. Which I'm sure you'll understand, is a real hardship.
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