h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: h2g2 Vegetable Curry - A87772413
Author: Z - U185843

Hi Guys.

I'm not sure if this is suitable for the Guide, but it's Created as part of the September Create Challenge..

Truely an h2g2 recipe, it was first shared at Lils in 2004.

Needs a bit more garlic.

Other than that and the spelling mistakes, it tastes great.

If you want to add a bit of class, do your carrot as thinly sliced rings rather than grated.

A short and sweet article that does what it says on the tin.
Although normally I'd recommend avoiding the use of the first person, I enjoyed reading the introduction which set up the story behind this recipe. If it were just a recipe, the article would certainly lose something.
One minor thing - I must admit if it was me I'd probably have a different title, but it's your recipe and your curry, so you have every right to call it 'h2g2 vegetable curry'. After all, that's where you got the recipe, and the title fits with your introduction.

A couple of minor things:
'Burnt spice is a bugger to clean of the bottom of a pan.' – I think I'd be inclined to rephrase this in case someone gets offended by language use. And also 'clean off''
Nan – Naan

And there are also articles you could consider adding links to should you wish:

A581311 The Healing Power of Curry
A778052 Simple Beef Curry
A751925 Two Routes Towards a Good Curry
A16932422 Tim Curry - Actor
A897889 Chicken Curry
A912458 Thai Chicken Curry
A455870 Subtle Prawn Curry
A89804 Curry
A695379 Rice Recipes
A4075210 Onions
A208847 Tomatoes
A738687 Baked Potato Toppings and Fillings
A533422 Potato Recipes
A400834 Jacket or Baked Potatoes
A3588302 Beans
A11681912 Spinach - The Truth
A87763035 Carrots - from Seed to Table and Beyond
A124589 Vegetarianism
A640027 Great Vegetarian Dishes
A1304858 Why Chilli Peppers are So Hot

That's enough from me.

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* Go on - add a Tim Curry link

I don't mind the use of bugger tbh. I think the readership of this Entry is likely to be students or the young? I think this will identify the author with the likely target audience.


One thing which I did notice is that you mention canned beans, but don't talk about when to add them. Do they take longer that other things to really absorb the flavours and also to soften slightly?


I'd also suggest your rice is going to be soggy or burnt or both. In my experience you only need ten minutes maximum for rice ( basmati) and I could give you the failsafe method I use, if you like?

Canned beans probably don't need any extra time - they've usually softened a fair bit in the water they're canned in.

And I believe 2legs has set the bugger precedent with his baguette Entry.

This is a good basic vegetable curry recipe.

For years I've made a chickpea curry that follows this pattern. Though I use dried chickpeas soaked over night and cooked until soft. I grind spices (cumin, coriander, cardamon, mustard seed and fenugreek,) and add turmeric,crushed garlic, chopped fresh ginger, chillis and tomatoes.

I agree with hygienic dispenser that a bit of garlic is a good addition, and that carrots should be sliced rather than grated. I find this a useful way of using up the root vegetables that my veg box provides - swede and kohl rabi. But you need to cut them up small enough to ensure they cook in time.

If you cook vegetable curry and wonder if there's enough protein content, try serving with a raita. It's easy to make a simple raita with a pot of natural yogut, to which you can add spring onion, cucumber and mint.

I'm no kind of masterchef and agee that it's hard to ruin this curry - unless you really burn it! (In my experience, it's very easy to burn beans if you've soaked them and are cooking them. You've only got to spend too much time on hootoo and you can reduce them to a burnt mess!)

I'm liking this, Z, good basic recipe

Just a quick note about the spinach, I tend to use the frozen stuff when I make me spinach and ricotta lasagne. I cheat like a cheaty thing and pour boiling water over it and then leave it to drain in sieve and finally squeeze it in a clean tea towel.

Hi Guys.

Glad you like it. I removed two buggers from the recipe (potential bugger up points).

I can change the title if you like...

I can add garlic I do now, but it makes very little difference. The thing about this is that it's actually a pretty impressive curry, and if you can do it makes an impressive dinner party dish.... although it's a student recipe it's more advanced than most students could do.

Ooh and Lanza,

The rice recipe would be good. With rice I just follow the instructions on the packet.. Now I cook this with Dahl and buy naan or chappitis, so i don't tend to do rice.

Good addition to the Guide this, Z

Your link to ZenDevil Terri isn't working, the Guide ML should be:

ZenDevil Terri

and "research" should be Researcher.



Tinned red kidney beans are very cheap (15p a can in Tesco) I use them in a couple of recipes. What you MUST do is drain them well (so all the purplish juice is gone) because if you get any of that juice in your meal it can give you horrendous tummy upset and it is also recommended to cook them at a high temperature, so the toxin in the beans is deactivated. I know because it happened to me and the world needs to know

thanks for writing this, Z

GB

>> I think the readership of this Entry is likely to be students or the young?<<

Am I allowed to have a look?

I've had a look. A lovely tribute to Terri.

The only addition I would ask for is to define "carbs" - I'm not even sure myself what this includes apart from spuds. Is swede a "carb"?

I have a brilliant cookery book with this sort of thing in it. Dates back to the early 70s when flat-sharing was trendily known as living in "communes" and the cookery book tries to be political. That is, I own a lovely cookery book. My son, who lives in an amazing sort of 21st century "commune" (a farm in Northern Germany) has got it at the moment.

He and his housemates often have cook-ins and do large vegetarian dishes.

I thought you were vegan - how do you justify paneer? Or do you leave it out for yourself and just add it for friends?

Main spelling error: To "lose" weight. Not "loose".

Sorry about that, I was being flippant.

Here's my rice recipe.

For four people, take a mug** of basmati rice. (Basmati has the nicest flavour for curries.) Tip it into a heavy-bottomed pan, which should have a close fitting lid. Use the same mug, and pour in exactly one and a half mugfuls of cold water.

Carefully bring to the boil, and then turn the heat down as low as it will go. Put the lid on the pan, making sure the water doesn't boil over. After about 5 minutes all the water should have absorbed into the rice. Tip the pan slightly to see how much is left. If there is still water at the bottom of the pan, put the lid back on and cook for another minute or so. As soon as all the water has absorbed - take the pan off the heat, but keep the lid on the pan for a further 5 minutes. The rice should fluff up a little more. Use a fork to separate the grains even further just before serving.

For two people use half a mug of rice and three quarters of a mug of water. As long as you add one and a half times by volume of water to the amount of rice this method is foolproof. Of course the greater the amount of rice that you're cooking, the longer the cooking time will be.

** a British mug holds half a pint.

>>** a British mug holds half a pint.<<

Now that depends on the size or yer mug, Hubby's 'coffee mug' holds around a 3/4 of a pint.

I could do with that size of coffee mug in the morning Mags!

This recipe is from my non-vegan days . So that's how I justify paneer. I'll be making all these changes really soon.

I don't put paneer in curry any more, is what I mean to say. But the important thing is that this isn't a recipe, it's a method, it's a method you can use to make curry to all sorts of tastes. So you can make paneer or you can use other things.

No, fine. I just wondered, that's all. Meat-eaters could add some stewing beef or chunks of chicken right at the beginning, but, as you say, it's filling enough without, and most Indian food doesn't really need meat.

hehe, i like the idea of washing up a pain, but yeah the spelling errors seem the only real problem
Not a fan of vegetable curry i'm afraid, but sounds good

And it's not the mini-epic that 2legs' baguette entry was

As I seem to be the only one who didn't like the title, please consider that remark retracted and I apologise.
Ignore me - I was just being a bit too fussy. It's true it's not a title I'd use, but that doesn't mean anything. The last thing we want is for everyone to write exactly the same way I do - use your own style, make your own judgements, keep the Guide varied!

The link to ZenDevil Terri still needs a U, though.

I'm sure Douglas Adams, who often mentioned swearing in the Hitchhikers' Guide, would be delighted that the Guide's allowing the B word - will the Editors be instigating an award for the most gratuitous use of the word in a serious article?

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