30 Minute Curry

 There has been lots of talk recently about avoiding processed foods. The problem with that that everything you see in the grocery store is processed at some level. Even the fresh fruits and veggies are washed, trimmed, cut, and sometimes treated with something to keep them fresh longer. All of that is processing. 

Sometimes it is hard to balance our limited time to prepare meals with the idea of processed foods. That is where the food label comes in. If you think something will make you food preparation task easier, check the label and see just what additives they put in the food. Lots of times they are minimal. Especially where you are talking about things like jars of pasta sauce or simmer sauces. These are some of my favorite meal simplifiers. 

Most grocery stores sell several types of simmer sauces that take lots of the time out of the process. They come in many flavors and from lots of ethnic backgrounds. HEB has 15 or 16 ones that range from Beef Stew to Panang Curry. They are designed to simplify these more complex dishes. 

Curry is usually used to describe many south Asian dishes containing meat and vegetables simmered in a spicy sauce. To make a true curry from scratch the sauce takes time. Sometimes more than we have. Aldis (my favorite place to buy groceries} has a line of Indian inspired simmer sauces to simplify a curry type meal.

Tonight I chose the Korma Curry Sauce. The nice thing about this kind of dish is that you can use any meat or vegetable you have or need to use. Tonight I decided to use shelled edamame that have been in my freezer too long, a carrot that needed to be used, a shallot that I found in my onion basket, a few dried apricots and some almonds that I bought for a cookie recipe.  You can also add meat – chicken, sausage, or shrimp are easy. Tonight I had half a bag of bay scallops, so that is what I’m using. 

I’m also serving it on 90 second brown rice. Yes, it’s processed, but the label says there is rice, oil and salt. That’s pretty much what it would have if I cooked it at home!!

I chopped the shallot and started the sauté on medium heat. Then I added the chopped carrot and peas. When the shallot started to tun a little brown I reduced the heat and added the sauce, almonds and apricots. When that came to a simmer, I added the scallops. 

After 30 minutes of simmering it was ready to eat on top of my 90 second rice. Yum!!

Here is the recipe (if you can call it that):

Easy Curry

Feeds 2 – 4 people, depending on how much extra stuff you add

1 jar curry sauce of your choice

1 – 3 cups of vegetable – onions, garlic, carrots, bell peppers, peas, corn, potatoes, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables or anything that sounds good. 

Meat of your choice – or meatless works 

1 tbsp of oil to begin cooking the veggies

Put the oil in a skilled or simmering pan that has a good tight lid. Heat pan to medium. Add your onions and garlic if you are using them. Then add your tougher veggies, like carrots or potatoes. You would also put your meat in here if you are using something like chicken or beef. 

After a few minutes of cooking, lower the temp to medium low – low and add you sauce and your more delicate vegetables. 

The temperature needs to quickly come back up to simmering and stay there for about 20 minutes. 

If you are using fish, shrimp or scallops – add them for the last 5 minutes. Be sure you have them completely thawed and at room temperature is best. You want the sauce to come back up to temp to be sure the fish get cooked, but not over-cooked. 

Once everything is cooked through, serve over rice or with naan (you can buy this frozen at the grocery store!).