14 March 2011

Frugal cooking - vegetable curry

With food supplies affected by natural disasters, the price of bananas at a shortage and costing $12 per kilo, and the milk wars in the big supermarket chains, it's really important we continue to support our local grocers and farmers. Eating well doesn't have to be expensive though.

Last night I made a kick arse healthy vegetable curry for less than $7 (for three serves) and most of my ingredients were bought from the local grocer or from my parents' garden. All ingredients were in my fridge, freezer or pantry.

I chopped a clove of garlic and one onion (from grocer), and softened these in a small bit of olive oil in a ceramic pot on the stove.
Then I put all these things in the pot:

These organic carrots were on sale from my grocer - a bunch for $1.50. This is half a bunch and I chopped them roughly.
I had four spears of corn (from grocer) that I used in a stirfry last week. I chopped them in half.
Mum gave me a few fat white zucchinis from the garden. I cut this in half lengthwise, and in half again and sliced it.
I used half a tin of chickpeas and the end of a piece of ginger.
And about six dates, chopped in half. Dates from Coles.
I used up a small amount of frozen peas - also from Coles.
And some Greek yoghurt (Coles) - about two tablespoons. I hardly ever eat flavoured yoghurt. The thought of the artificial 'fruit' and sugars that go into flavoured yoghurts scare me.
The curry sat on low heat for an hour. I spiced it up with a mix of cumin, coriander, sumac, sesame, salt and fresh chilli (from the jar). It smelt so delicious.

And this is the end meal, served with rice. Tasted very yummy and so healthy too. It was sweet and mildly spicy and really comforting

8 comments:

  1. Yay for frugal cooking! Veggie curry is such a good one - nutritious and cheap. Adding dates too? Genius! I have never thought of this, thanks for the tip. Legumes are a great way to get nutrients without spending a lot of money.
    Heidi xo

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  2. Thanks for the recipe, I will give this a go! I am trying to expand my cooking repertoire :)

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  3. It looks utterly delicious.

    Have you seen the show Turn Back Time: The High Street, currently on ABC? If you haven't already seen it, I think you'd rather like it.

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  4. Look yum :) curry is definitely a great comfort food, with fluffy white rice!

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  5. Yum!!! I've never put dates in a curry, my parents used to put sultanas into some of the curries they cooked when I was little.

    You've reminded my of this!!! I will so do it next time!!!

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  6. Looks delicious! I'm a big fan of Japanese curry at the moment - a lot milder than it's other Asian cousins, it's hearty and warming without being too spicy (particularly if you get the mild version). I'm embracing thrift by cooking in bulk like FF.

    The thought of the artificial 'fruit' and sugars that go into flavoured yoghurts scare me too. The only one I eat is Jalna Biodynamic fat free yoghurt. It's wonderful.

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  7. Looking delicious! I totally agree about supporting local green grocers- and the service is a lot more personal too. Making curries/vegetable rice dishes are so much fun, adding whatever veges, spices together to create a scrumptious and nourishing dish :) :) We had something similar tonight- a mix of brown rice, zucchinis, eggplant, sultanas and spices!
    Hannah x

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  8. I love frugal cooking. It's amazing what you can make when you use your imagination and cheap resources.....looks delicious.

    I can't believe the price of bananas and milk. Ours didn't go up much at all....and I hope it won't.

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