This curry is definitely comfort food at its finest! I wanted a really spicy dish and added some red hot curry powder before serving, but it could be omitted for a milder version. Cubed tomatoes didn’t just add a nice contrasting color for the photo shoot, but also contributed fresh bursts in the midst of the rich coconut milk sauce.

I think that chopped cilantro leaves would be a nice compliment to this curry as well, we just didn’t have any on hand at the time of making.

Here’s what I used (serves 4):

• 1 medium head cauliflower, cut into smaller florets
• 2 onions, finely cubed
• 6 small potatoes, cubed
• 3 dl cooked chick peas
• 1 dl green peas
• 4 dl coconut milk (one can)
• 1 tomato, finely cubed
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon (muscovado) sugar
• a 3 cm long piece of a ginger root
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil

The Spices:

• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• a pinch of asafoetida powder
• 2 teaspoons dried red chili, crushed
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala powder
• (1/2-1 teaspoon hot chili powder)

First I chopped up all the veggies and pulsed the garlic and the ginger in our mini food processor into a coarse paste. My ingredients made about 3 tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste.

Then I fried the cumin, mustard, and fennel seeds in the peanut oil on high heat until they started to pop, and added a pinch of asafoetida, lowering the heat to medium. Right after asafoetida I stirred in the ginger-garlic paste, the crushed chili, the coriander, and the turmeric powder, and fried for a few seconds more. Now, I added the onions to the pan, and fried them until they were a little soft, for a few minutes.

I poured the potatoes and the cauliflower florets in the frying pan, and stirred to coat with the spice mixture. Then I added the green peas and the chick peas in the pan, stirred again, poured in the coconut milk, and added the salt and the sugar. Now I let the curry simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes had softened.

Before serving, I stirred in the lemon juice, chili powder, and Garam Masala, and then served the curry over basmati rice, sprinkled with the cubed tomato.