Keep Calm and Curry On

Well, our wonderful WMM has skedaddled from the clubhouse and headed south to take her bite out of the Big Apple.  Here in Toronto, mornings suddenly seem quiet and far less surprising.  But we have all her shopping, show, museum, statue, and yep, maybe even a snippet of the teenage shenanigans, to look forward to as soon as our hostess with the mostest returns.  Are you as excited as I am?

Meantime, in the stiff upper Britanadian and Maritimer tradition, we’ll do our best to Keep Calm & Carry On.    That long lost, morale-raising WWII propaganda literally hangs over my head every day, so I must comply. 

TODAY’S DYK: The now everywhere KC&CO message was actually the final in a series of three posters, preceded by the published “Freedom Is in Peril.  Defend It With All Your Might” and “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory”?  It was held back from public display for something like a poison gas attack that never happened.  However, I definitely believe in this case they saved the best for last.

One of two New York minutes WMM and I have discovered we share is a Zagat-rated curry house near Times Square.  The other has to do with the famed Waldorf Astoria and a Smalltown Boy who has done very well for himself.  But she gets to keep that surprise to share with you, later.  If you’re getting desperate to get somewhere, click away and play this 1980s’ Bronski Beat train song.

Back already?  Right.  About that curry.  Before I met my DH, my curry quotient was limited to Caribbean stews, not the original Indian versions.  I’d maybe sampled a samosa or two.  Now, we eat curry an average of once a week.  We also live within two blocks of seven Indian restaurants.  (That’s the sign outside of Babur, a place that manages both authentic dishes and date night worthy décor, on T.O.’s trendy Queen West.) 

Depending on what you order, regularly indulging in restaurant Indian, despite all its lentils, spinach, tomatoes and immune boosting seasonings, can blow a healthy eating plan faster than you can say Delhi Express.  Like many other restaurants, sauces can be secretly swimming with clarified butter (known as ghee) and full-fat dairy, before you even get near that crispy pakora batter.  Delicious in small doses.  Yet much of it can be surprisingly easy to simplify and recreate at home for big flavor and only a sliver of the calories.  Yes, even the famous butter chicken.

The other brilliant thing about homemade Indian is once you learn a basic sauce or two you can quickly tailor it to different dietary needs and preferences.  Sure pick chicken, fish or shrimp.  Vegetarian or need a peppy side dish; stir in oven-roasted or steamed veggies.  Live with a vegan who needs protein, toss in that can of chickpeas.  Empty larder, lazy and/or starving?  Pour some of your sauce stash over a baked potato.  Keeping a supply in the freezer is great for the impromptu dinner invite “who (doesn’t) eat what?” dilemma too.

Since batch cooking mostly happens on Sunday afternoons at my house, I’ll be back tomorrow with a couple of really easy, make-ahead sauces and a sprinkling of style.  For anyone who wants to read up, I recommend checking out these Indian cooking gurus:Mangoes & Curry Leaves by husband & wife team Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid | beautiful armchair travel even if you don’t cook50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi | the best-selling Indian cookbook of all time, worldwide, from the former marketing director of the Taj Hotels
Anything by the prolific and low-fuss Madhur Jaffrey | several of this James Beard award-winning author and actress turned New Yorker’s books include helpful step-by-step photosVij’s at Home  by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala | another husband & wife collab that really is “Relax, Honey”.

 

DISH, PLEASE What “cuisine” do you eat lots of because of your roots, significant other, kids, roommates, neighbours?  Which restaurants, or kinds of places, top your must-eat NYC list?  Do you have any wardrobe items in a favourite “food” colour, like J. Crew’s spicy gold? 

Thanks so much for your help keeping the home fires burning.  Wishing you wonderful weekend.  And, in the words of WMM, do “Stay Safe.”