Goan-esque Tempeh Curry

I didn't have my secret weapon for this dish, fresh curry leaves. It was kind of an impromptu thing, I didn't have anything except leftover stew planned for dinner, but I'm kinda stewed out.



So I ran over the store and got some fresh ginger, cilantro, sprouts and whatnot and curried the tempeh that I put in the fridge to thaw with a vague notion of stir fry a couple days ago.

Goan-esque Tempeh Curry
for the marinade:
Juice of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 lb. tempeh sliced into 1/2" wide strips
Combine the marinade ingredients with tempeh and toss to coat

for the sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons dried fenugreek (and if you've planned ahead, there should be 24 fresh curry leaves, too)
4 dried red chillies
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
4" piece of fresh ginger, peeled & minced
1 medium onion minced
3 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 teaspoon Sambar Masala
1 can coconut milk
1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro
Heat the oil with the fenugreek (while wishing there were also 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 tempeh with residual marinade and simmer 2 minutes longer. Stir in cilantro and serve over steamed basmati rice.

for garnish
cucumber
alfalfa sprouts
bean sprouts
fresh cilantro