Waiting for Travel Post Covid

As the world ramps up on vaccines and giving at least one dose to many of the people of our globe, I see myself thinking about all that will come after these vaccines.

There's just so many possibilities that may come from one little vial of a Covid-19 vaccine. I saw a doodle on Instagram of the possibilities from that vial by @Brennadoodles and it really hit me that so much can come once we are all vaccinated!

What do you look forward to most once you are vaccinated?

For me it is honestly travel. Whether my parents can come here from the Netherlands or S and I can go to the US to see his sister, to the Netherlands to see my family, to Kuwait to see his parents, or onwards to India to see his extended family. Travel is something that we are both missing a lot. Not only do we miss our family that lives abroad, but we really miss the cuisine that each nation specializes in.

Although I have never been to Kuwait or India, I cannot wait to make my way over and try all the best things that (hopefully) my stomach can handle. Lately we have been watching many videos on Bangelore's food scene by watching videos from Food Lover's TV. Kripal has some great videos that really make you interested in visiting all over Kerala for some fantastic cuisine. Though, I do have a bit of a complaint about his videos. He forgets that some of his viewers are not Indian and thus does not translate certain foods into English. But that is OK, at least I know how to say some things even if I don't know what they actually are!

We need to go to God's Own Country. But until then, I decided to finally open up my Suriani Kitchen cookbook. I didn't quite have all the ingredients that were needed, but I made do with what I had and it turned out really well!

I decided that it was time to make a curry from Kerala. The best recipes actually do come from the Suriani Kitchen cookbook. A lot of the curries that S grew up on that either his mom would make or his grandmother would cook up can be found in this book. Of course, lacking in their secret ingredients that I am sure every mother has when it comes to a recipe, but still pretty great.

So, I decided to try a go at making a Chicken Korma recipe. I took a photo of the ingredients needed for when we went on our grocery run. I'll share it here for you.

It looks super simple and it really is!

The only thing I forgot to do when we left for the grocery store is make sure that I do in fact have the ingredients that I thought I had.

Unfortunately, my other half tends to leave empty containers laying around the kitchen. So, when I went for the cashews that I saw we had, I realized that it was empty! So, I kind of completely omitted the coconut paste section of this recipe.

I still did add shredded coconut to the recipe, but it wasn't the same. I know that much.

So, I ended up doing a bit of a different curry altogether. Thankfully, by looking back at the original recipe, I am able to remember what I did and didn't do.

Instructions:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 large red onion, chopped

• 1/2 Tbsp ginger, chopped finely

• 3 large garlic cloves, diced

• 1 1/2 tomato, chopped

• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

• 1 1/2 large chicken breast, diced into 1" pieces

• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

• 1 Tbsp Himalayan salt

• 3 cups water

Spices:

• 4 cloves, ground

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. In a pestle and mortar, grind up your garlic and ginger until it becomes more like a pulp.

2. In a medium/large frying pan, heat olive oil on medium heat and add red onion to the frying pan. Cook until the red onion becomes fragrant and the red skin becomes less vibrant.

3. Add garlic and ginger that was in the pestle and mortar to the onion and cook for additional minute stirring.

4. Add diced tomatoes and ground turmeric to the frying pan. Mix until everything is coated then add chicken and coat thoroughly in all ingredients.

5. Pour in the shredded coconut into the frying pan and mix a little.

6. Finally, add the cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon mixture to the frying pan and stir with other ingredients.

7. Now, add Himalayan salt and water to the mixture and stir. Make sure that chicken mixture is not sticking to the bottom.

8. Allow chicken to cook uncovered for 20-30 minutes and once curry thickens, serve and enjoy!

While the curry was cooking, I decided to make rice. Then after the rice was done we ate! Although, I did leave out a bit too much, the curry did taste pretty great. I'm sure once I get my hands on poppy seeds and some great chilies, the curry will taste ten times better.

While we were out to get some poppy seeds for the curry, I found something even better that I wasn't sure I would find! I found curry leaves!

Curry leaves are necessary in almost all Indian curry recipes! Though, I do have to mention that curry leaves are not in any way related to curry powder. That would make things easier, but no, they aren't related.

Though this curry did not call for them, most every other recipe in the cookbook do, so now I am all set to use curry leaves!

Stay tuned to see what I whip up for you all later with my curry leaves!

अपने भोजन का आनंद लें

(apane bhojan ka aanand len)