Something I love about cooking is the entertainment of my senses. Generally you get to eat something yummy at the end, but it’s the unexpected delights along the way which make it. Tonight, it was the smell of onions cooking in ghee (totally expected to smell delish, but every time I find myself saying it out loud to no one in particular), the smell of sliced almonds toasting in a pan, the sizzle as the almonds got added to the curry. Only the cook will get these added bonuses to the meal. It’s like a nifty little secret between the dish and the creator.
Onions in ghee
The dish tonight was Winter Vegetable Tofu Korma from 101 cookbooks. This site is a treasure trove of vegetarian deliciousness. I often will print out recipes from the internet. After cooking they will either end up in the recycling bin or in my Pink Folder of Wonder (PFW). All recipes from here are in the PFW.
Winter Vegetable Tofu Korma
I made a double batch tonight full of pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, zucchinni and carrot. I had the luxury of having my beautiful (and pregnant!!) best friend over this afternoon to entertain Possum while I chopped 2kg of vegetables. Thankyou!! I used my cast iron casserole pot and once the veg and water was in, baked it covered in the oven for just over an hour at 200C. This worked a treat. I was worried the bottom would cook (or burn) before the veg on top was done properly, as the pot was so full.
Winter Vegetable Tofu Korma
Affordability : EXCELLENT. A massive pot full of delicious spiced goodness for a bargain. the almonds would’ve cost about $4 and same for the organic firm tofu. Would guess at about $1/serve.
Time Factor : MODERATE. ~30 minutes prep plus 60 minutes oven time. Thankyou to my best friend for baby entertainment. Life saver! Worth the investment in time for the number of serves you get at the end. Freezer is full after tonight and last night making a big batch of spag bol sauce.
Complexity : LOW. A lovely one pot wonder.
Deliciousness : EXCELLENT. Quotes from Lego Man tonight: “Is this vegetarian?”, “It’s the nuts that make it”, “You always pick out good recipes” (which I had the remind him about the stuffed vegetable incidents), “this is really tasty”, “did I say that this is really tasty?”.
Mess : MODERATE. Few pots but lots of garlic skins, ginger skin, onion skin… smelly fingers…
Tummy Filling Factor : EXCELLENT. Yes it’s vegetarian but you have 3 sources of protein with tonight’s meal. Quinoa (optional extra), almonds and tofu. I couldn’t finish my bowl (that hasn’t happened in a while!).
Possum Friendly? EXCELLENT. She loves curry and this has lots of nice soft veggies for her to munch on. She has had almond milk and almond meal already with no reaction but be wary if this is the first time your baby will be exposed to nuts.
Would I make it again? Certainly, but with the volume I made I won’t need to make this again until 2016.
I’m full
On a side note… Possum went a bit crazy for the risotto from last night. Another Baby Led Weaning win!
