Weeknight Indian

I was busy in the kitchen today, boy. I am eating dairy and gluten again, for now, and I'm finished with a cleanse I was doing for 5 days (ok... it was supposed to be 10... I'll admit it. I gave up). These factors, combined with a day off during the week, equals Cooking Binge.

It started with the Onion Bhaji. I bought chickpea flour on a whim months ago, maybe even closer to a year ago. It's been languishing in my cupboard ever since. Time to use some of it methinks? A woman at work suggested making onion bhaji. Good call Sandra, once again. Of course the next step, if you are me, is to spend an hour researching the best onion bhaji recipe. This is why I love food blogs. Tested recipes with reviews. Most recipes call for adding water to make a batter for your fried onion dumplings. The winner of my Google search, "Ridiculously Good Onion Bhaji" from Kitchen Experiments, uses liquid smushed out of the onions themselves. Welcome to Flavour City. Genius.

Ok, so I'm going to make some onion bhaji. What else to make for dinner? I hadn't gotten around to making Bombay Slow Cooker Potatoes the other week. Done. With some modifications (recipe below). These were fantastic. Soft, highly flavoured potatoes. Yum. I have some leftovers that are going to be unreal as a samosa filling this weekend, I just know it.

What else to make to round out dinner? Something without such a strong curry presence again... that my boys will eat... butter chicken. Of course. The whitest Indian dish ever invented. I bought a jarred sauce for this and jazzed it up with chopped red pepper and chopped kale. I'd put kale in everything if I could.

Also, since it was my day off and all, there was wine. Oh yes. A sweet-ish Reisling was great. This one to be exact. 

I think my dog was South Asian in another life. She's getting up there in years, so she's pretty lazy lately. Tonight she jumped up with two furry paws on the kitchen table to try to steal some curry potatoes. It was a fairly slow jump, albeit, but she hasn't done that in forever. Now that I think about it though, maybe that's because we freaked out the day we found her with all four paws on the kitchen table eating out of the butter dish.

You think that was a lot of cooking today? Haha, young apprentice. I also made Challah bread and Rhubarb Upside Down Cake. Bread is just ok (as "just ok" as fresh homemade bread can be, mind), but the cake is out of this world delicious. I love love love loooove rhubarb. Looking forward to some of this for breakfast. Hey, I'm done my cleanse. Go big or go home, right?

SLOW COOKER CURRIED POTATOES

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

Adapted from Kayotic Kitchen

Spice Mix:

• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp medium curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

Potatoes:

• 2 tbsp coconut oil or canola oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 large or 5 small potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into large pieces
• 1/2 can chickpeas, drained
• 2 beefsteak tomatoes, squeezed of seeds and juice, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan. Saute onions until softened and beginning to colour. Add spice mix, cook 2 minutes, stirring often. Add potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes, salt. Stir to combine. Pour everything into slow cooker and cook on low 4-6 hours.