invention
i invented an indian food recipe last night. i'm going to post it here, not necessarily so you all can try it (but please do! and please call it "julia's indian curried noodles"!), but so you can get a glimpse into how haphazardly my mind works in the kitchen, and how none of my recipes will ever even be recreated by myself, much less passed down through generations of julia descendants... (See also: putting important papers in "safe places.")

note that i cheated and used curry powder. i have the best of intentions to go the little indian market and buy real lovely spices, and grind them myself. i really do. but until then, trader joe's curry powder will have to do (a blend of four or so different curry-type dried and ground spices).

Julia's Indian Curried Noodles
ingredients:

soba noodles (very absorbent) (or use rice)

light coconut milk (i used about 1/3 cup, roughly equivalent to several shakes of the can)

curry powder (about a teaspoon and a half. a real teaspoon, not the measuring spoon measurement teaspoon. the kind you stir your tea with.)

a pinch of ground ginger

a few dashes of cumin

a little olive oil to get the tofu started

a few dashes of soy sauce

tofu, cubed into inch sized squares (or chicken, or lamb, or nothing)

frozen or fresh peas

chopped carrots (or full baby carrots), cauliflower, broccoli (or other vegetables, even chopped cooked potatoes)

a pinch of salt

a few tablespoons of water.

boil a pot of water for the soba noodles (which take ~4 minutes to cook).

cook the tofu in oil and soy sauce, then add a bit of curry powder, a few dashes of coconut milk, and sauté, covered, on fairly high heat.

once the tofu is browned on one side, flip it all, let it cook for just a minute, and then add some water, more coconut milk, the vegetables, and the other spices. if you're like me, you should have flipped each piece of tofu individually. add more soy sauce, curry powder, and cumin to taste, and add coconut milk to thicken and make it as creamy as you want. let it simmer on low heat for a little while.

add the cooked and drained noodles, stir everything up until the noodles look good and curryish, and serve. if using rice, just serve the curry on top of the rice - don't mix. mmm, delicious.

the whole thing, despite how wordy and prolific the instructions and ingredients list are, takes about 10 minutes. oh, and wash your spatula before you sit down to eat, lest you end up with a greenish-orangish tint to it.

also, i know soba noodles are, like, japanese. but they served their purpose very well.