Culinary Comfort: Curry Bake

Whenever I mention I am going to make curry bake on twitter I always have people asking me about what’s in it and how to make it, especially after I made it for Kyle and he raved about it on his blog (it may be the cure to hangovers according to him).

The sauce is rich, thick, flavorful, and creamy. The vegetables perfectly paired and the cheese adds a strange but delicious accent to the already delicious curry. It is one of our comfort foods and perfect for a casual or fancy dinner at home, to make for one, two, many, or to take to a potluck and, of course, the more you make the more meals you can enjoy it for. It doesn’t usually last long in our house, though.

It’s really very simple, the recipe is one I got from a very dear friend and have made it many times over the last few years. Both my partner Onyx and I are big fans of curry and this is our favorite home-made curry dish.

The only problem with sharing the recipe is that I don’t measure the ingredients! I put in enough veggies and quorn to fill the dish, make enough sauce to coat it all, and flavor the sauce to taste, so this will be less precise cooking and more whatever works for you. It’s easy to add things like different veggies I haven’t listed, I sometimes include zucchini for example, or you could omit something that you don’t like.

Ingredients:
1/2 a Yellow Onion
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Potatoes (red, yellow, and gold – or whatever you prefer)
Quorn Chicken Tenders (real chicken would probably work fine, though I’ve never made it with it and you might then want to cook it first?)
1 can Coconut Milk
1 to 2 cups vegenaise
Curry Powder
Salt and pepper
Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large baking dish (I usually use a 13 x 9 x 2 glass/pyrex dish) combine veggies cut into small pieces and frozen quorn chicken, approximately equal amounts of chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, and potatoes though you can add more/less of some if you wish. I usually use a somewhat equal amount of red, yellow, and gold potatoes with skins for added color, usually one or two each depending on how big they are.

In a bowl combine can of coconut milk with vegenaise and whisk to combine. Mixture should be fairly thick. Vegenaise encourages the sauce to thicken when baked, though I’m unsure what could be substituted for vegenaise.

Add curry powder, salt, and pepper to coconut milk/vegenaise mixture to taste. I use approximately 1 1/2 or 2 tablespoons of curry powder and a dash of salt and pepper. The more curry powder used the stronger it will taste, obviously. Can also add garam masala, garlic powder, or some cayenne pepper to give it a bit of kick. The flavor is completely up to you, so I suggest you play around with it.

Cover veggies and etc. with the curry powder sauce, stirring once to be sure to coat everything.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes stir it carefully and test potatoes for firmness. Cook until potatoes are done or easily pierced with a fork (usually about 15 minutes longer).

Cover with a sprinkling of cheese, I usually use cheddar or a cheddar/pepperjack mixture from Tillamook. Wait for it to cool a little, and enjoy!

This recipe can easily be made vegan by omitting the cheese and quorn chicken (has rehydrated egg white in it) or using vegan cheese.

-Scarlet Lotus

Other posts by Scarlet Lotus St. Syr

• Remember to Breathe - June 23rd, 2010
• Dear The Femme's Guide - August 22nd, 2009
• Review: Hard Love & How to Fuck in High Heels - August 21st, 2009
• Interviewees needed for Butch/Femme Identity Study - July 8th, 2009
• Visible: A Femmethology - Virtual Tour Day - April 7th, 2009

Tags: baking, comfort foods, cooking, culinary comfort, curry, edible alchemy, femme, food, home, recipe