Curry Comfort.

When you ask people about comfort food you always hear about mashed potatoes, gravy, hot soup and things like that. I think about those things too, but one of my favourite comfort foods is a big plate of rice and curry. I probably started feeling this way in college. There was a little restaurant in the alley behind the Art Institue called Phnom Penh, which I'm sure you've figured out served Cambodian (and Thai and Chinese) food. I used to go in there and get a big bowl of vegetarian red curry and just let the spicyness of the curry and the sweetness of the coconut milk distract me from all of my worries.


As I've found, making a good curry is quite simple, and last Wednesday, after a night of too many vodka tonics (and shots of Jameson), I needed it to relax.

You can make curry with whatever veggies you have waiting around. I used onions, green peppers, bamboo shoots, cauliflower, red potatoes, spinach and carrots. The real trick to curry is the spice mix. I make a mix of curry powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, dry mustard, ginger, lime, garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne and whole mustard seeds. (it's true that curry powder already contains some of these ingrediants, but it's up to you to adjust the flavours as you prefer them.) I saute the veggies, add the spices, toss in a can of coconut milk and enough water to mostly cover and cook until tender and the sauce has thickened some.

it's also excellent cold, right out of the fridge on a hot day like today.