Recipe: Curry Rice (Vegan Mofo 2018)

On By ClareIn recipe, veganmofo186 Comments

Today’s theme for Vegan Mofo is Emoji Inspired. It’s a pretty good opportunity to dust off my recipe for Curry Rice.

with emoji

When I started my adventure in Japanese-style curry I was following this recipe from Just Hungry. What sold me on it was the description: “The best way to describe it is probably to say it’s like a English style stew with curry.” So I thought it would be something like a more filling version of chip shop curry. Which it is. I love it.

Along the way I’ve made plenty of adjustments. To start with I took the meat out. Today we’ve used a seitan but I also like to use cubes of fried tofu. This has the side effect of making the dish quicker to cook.

I also like to muck around with the veg. We eat this curry fairly regularly between autumn and spring, often to use up the last of the root veg in our Riverford Box. I’ve used carrot, squash, sweet potato, swede, turnip… anything really. It’s a really good clean-out-the-fridge meal. I also sometimes use edamame instead of peas, just because Kate likes them better.

curry mix

And finally I do use blocks of Japanese curry, instead of making my own roux. I like S&B because you can find it practically everywhere now (or order from Japan Centre) but I use double the amount. After all this is my Cheating English Lady’s Japanese Curry.

Ingredients

(serves 2)

  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 can of tomatoes, blended
  • One cup of assorted mixed root veggies, diced
  • Two squares of S&B Golden Curry
  • Half a cup of diced beef-style seitan or cubes of deep fried tofu or more veggies
  • Half a cup of peas or edamame
  • Rice to serve

Brown the onion in oil over a medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for a further 30 seconds or so.

Add the tomatoes into the pan. Toss in the root veggies, curry and around 1 1/2 cups of water.

uncooked

Cook until the vegetables are done. This will be around 20-30 minutes depending on what veggies you put in and how done you like them (Kate prefers hers mushy and textureless but I’m doing the cooking so…)

Add the seitan or tofu and the peas or edamame and cook for a further 5 minutes or so until they are heated through.

Serve with rice.

IMG_1071

 

Vegan MoFo 2018: Introducing me!

On By ClareIn veganmofo184 Comments

It’s another Vegan MoFo and it’s time to introduce myself. I guess. So here we go. In list form to make it easier.

1. I’m from town called Heywood, which is to the north of Manchester.

2. My favourite food is still the chips and curry from the chippy there. Lots of vinegar.

3. I live in Torquay in Devon where I just can’t find a decent chip shop.

4. I’m an obsessive trip planner. When we went to London for an afternoon I made a map to show me were to get a snack, a meal and all the shops we wanted to go to. For my upcoming Disney trip I have meals booked, to do lists for the attractions and note on what outfits to wear to which park.

5. I am, however, remarkably disorganised in everyday life.

6. I like visiting supermarkets. Especially on holiday. They are fascinating. Also they stock food.

7. I work in a Vegan Coffee Shop. Oat, Almond, Soy or Coconut?

8. My favourite drink is hot chocolate. Because it’s made of chocolate.

9. I like to do complicated, multi step cooking projects. Equally I like to order a take away.

10. Someone really needs to start delivering a cheesy vegan pizza around here!

Recipe: hot chocolate dessert

On By Kate MorleyIn recipeLeave a comment

Today is the Late Summer Bank Holiday in England and Wales. The phrase ‘late summer’ might give you visions of evenings on the beach, putting on a fleece as the sun sets and the air starts to cool. However, as any Brit will tell you, bank holidays mean awful weather. That doesn’t stop half the population waiting for hours in traffic though, as they optimistically head to the coast on Friday and disappointedly head home on Monday. I’d rather stay at home with some warm comfort food, like this simple hot chocolate dessert.

dessert

Ingredients:

  • 20g cocoa power
  • 30g caster sugar
  • 200ml oat milk
  • 20g cornflour
  • 20ml water

Method:

Put the cocoa powder, caster sugar, and oat milk in a saucepan, whisk together, and place over a medium heat.

Put the cornflour and water in a small bowl and stir to make a thin paste, known as a ‘slack’.

Pour the slack into the saucepan. The heat will cause the cornflour to thicken the dessert, so whisk it continuously to avoid the bottom layer thickening first.

Once it has thickened to the point that the whisk leaves faint trails, pour the dessert into a bowl to serve.

Review: Tibits Heddon Street (London)

On By ClareIn london2 Comments

It’s been years, maybe even half a decade, since someone first recommended I visit Tibits and finally I made it through the door. Obviously this isn’t breaking news but we loved this place so we’re going to give it a review anyway.

The buffet (is it egg-shaped or avocado-shaped? or a very badly shaped boat?) is all vegetarian with clearly marked vegan options. And you pay for the weight of food you have on your plate. I tried to restrain myself a little but we all know I didn’t.

I can’t remember what exactly all that was. I do remember the highlights: the glass noodles and wakame, the jollof rice, and the pak choi were my favourites. The only thing I didn’t like was kimchi which was oddly bland. Kate had less of a selection and wasn’t a great fan of the wakame but she had a good meal. Not good enough to skip desert.

Kate loved the Victoria sponge, my favourite was the mango mousse, and we both liked the chocolate. We may be late to the party but we had a great time. And we’ll try to make it back to Tibits sometime in the next five years.