Yellow Curry Basmati with Quick Pickled Beets

Photo From: Yellow Curry Basmati with Quick Pickled Beets

photo credit: Bobbi Misiti

Ingredients

  • 2 small boiled potatoes (or use boiled beets for red curry)
  • 1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds, toasted
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted
  • 1/4 tsp cumin seed, toasted
  • 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 TBSP yellow curry powder
  • 1 clove of garlic, grated
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 TBSP + 1 TSP of fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 5 TBSP hot water
  • For the Rice:
  • 1/2 cup carrots, diced
  • 1/2 cup yellow or red onion, diced
  • 1 sprig of fresh thyme (3 inches) or 1 tsp of dried
  • 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
  • 1-1/2 cups basmati rice
  • 3 cups water
  • For the Beets (if you don't have pickled jarred beets)
  • 2 cups beets, raw or boiled, very thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • Cilantro leaves for garnish

Instructions

Yellow Curry Sauce
Begin by toasting the coriander and mustard seeds on a dry skillet for a few minutes to release their flavors.  It’s best if all of the spices are toasted and then ground using a mortal and pestle or a coffee grinder — however I make this recipe in a NutriBullet and it grinds them just fine mixed in with everything else.
 
In a blender, whip all of the ingredients together into a smooth, light sauce. For a “red curry sauce” use boiled beets instead of boiled potatoes. 

Spiced Basmati Rice
Combine the carrots, onion and 4 tablespoons of water in a medium pot and bring the liquid to a simmer.  Add a pat of butter.  Add the thyme, cinnamon stick, rice and water, and bring to a boil. 

Reduce to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the rice has fully absorbed the water.  Remove from heat and keep covered for 10 minutes to steam. Do not open the lid during this time!

Quick Pickled Beets
I used my own canned and pickled homemade beets (on pages 15 & 16 of the link) and it was delicious. If you don’t have any of those you can use this easy recipe.

Mix the beets, lemon juice and salt together in a bowl. Let marinate for as long as possible. If it’s longer than 30 minutes, then place in the refrigerator.  When ready to serve, rinse the beets to remove the lemon juice and salt.

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To serve, pour the curry sauce over the rice and beets, garnish with cilantro.  This needs a protein source to go with it, salmon pairs wonderfully with this recipe. 

Also you could make it like a typical curry; chop and saute seasonal vegetables along with cubes of meat, fish, or vegetarian paneer or even good tofu (the best I can find is the tofu by Wildwood, it is sprouted).  Serve the veggies/protein source on a bed of the rice, top with a generous portion of curry sauce, and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Notes:

Believe it or not … this is my daughter’s favorite recipe!

You can get quality spices here.

 

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