Red Raw... Red Raw

Harvest Season!
I have been taking advantage of the tomato harvest in B.C. over the past couple of weeks. The fruit truck delivers cases of beautiful organic B.C. Roma tomatoes on Wednesdays and the dehydrator at my house has been running non-stop making me "sun dried" tomatoes. I think I'm going to end up with about 8 liters or more!

I also got the largest leek in the history of leeks last Wednesday. I wish I took a picture of it because you would all be impressed... but then again I did grab it out of the bin bearing the sign "miracle vegetables: curing world hunger".

I thought... what am I going to do with a miracle leek and one ton of tomatoes? What would Wonder Woman do? Make a garam masala curry of course!

So late one night I chopped up 2 dehydrator trays worth of quartered roma tomatoes, the miracle leek and threw them together in two large bowls. I generously coated them in garam masala powder, olive oil, pink sea salt, a touch of pepper and a splash or two of raw apple cider vinegar. Then I spread them out onto two dehydrator trays and wilted them overnight at 105 degrees.

Before:

After:


The Dish: Red Garam Masala Coconut Curry w. Parsnip Apple Rice, Crispy Leeks + Sprouted Lentil Papadum

I did not measure anything, just kept adding and tasting, adding and tasting until it was just right. Below is the general idea.

Red Garam Masala Coconut Curry Sauce:

A few handfuls of the partially dehydrated toms + leeks, but less leeks. Some fresh onion, about ¼ of a small one. Fresh ginger (about 1 tbsp or more), one fresh roma tomato, 2 tsp whole coriander, some cumin, coconut milk made at home*, sea salt, chili flakes, cayenne, soaked dried pepper (I used dried pasilla pepper, soaked in water to re-hydrate), garam masala as needed, coconut oil, warmed to liquefy (about 1 tbsp).
All blended in a vita mix

*Coconut Milk:
Either use fresh young coconuts blended with coconut water OR 2 cups raw dried coconut flakes blended with 4 cups of water and strained through a nut milk bag. I used the later for this recipe. I kept adding it to the tomato mixture until I reached my desired consistency.

Tomatoes can be quite gelatinous. I believe this is due to the high pectin content. The more coconut milk I added, and the more I blended, the less gelatinous the sauce became and even if your sauce starts to congeal, a quick whisk usually solves the problem. You can also try whisking in more melted coconut oil or olive oil.

Every curry needs rice!

Parsnip Apple Rice:
3 med/large parsnips
¾ - 1 med apple
¼ cup cashews
sea salt
2-3 tbsp miso/coconut oil blend, or just a couple tbsp coconut oil and 1 tbsp white miso
2 green onions minced

pulse parsnips a few times first then add rest (except green onion) and pulse more until grain of rice size. Transfer to a bowl and stir in green onions. Cover and place in dehydrator to warm until ready to use.

Slice 1 zucchini thin and coat with sea salt and olive oil. Dehydrate for a couple of hours at 105-115 degrees.

Smoked Pepper Sprouted Lentil Papadum

I spent a few days sprouting lentils on my counter. 1 night soaking, 2 days sprouting, until they had nice little 1/2 inch long tails. I then dehydrated them until they were crispy dry (about 8 hours).

THEN, using my smaller dry blade vita mix container, I tuned them into fine lentil flour. NOW we are ready to make raw papadums!


This recipe is also vague, but as long as you use about 4-5 tbsp water for every 1/4 cup of lentil flour, it is hard to screw up.

Approx. 1/2 or 1 tsp of smoked black pepper (or regular pepper)
1/4 cup lentil flour
4-5 tsp water
sea salt
A bit of olive oil (1 tsp or less)
Form into balls and flatten with spoon, very thin!

Wet spoon for ease of spread. I tried to use parchment paper and a rolling pin and it worked ok, but still had to smooth with spoon after, and the paste stuck to the parchment. Dehydrate these at 105-115 until they are very hard and crispy, about 8 hours, transferring to mesh screen half way through.



When everything is done, place some rice in a bowl, top with sauce, garnish with zucchini, masala coated crispy leeks, a masala coated partially dried tomato, fresh cilantro and a papadum.



Sounds like a lot of work, but when you don't plan things, sometimes they just come together (I had already sprouted and dried lentils a few days earlier to make sprouted lentil gnocchi - which was pretty fun - I may post that next).

Enjoy the harvest!