curry in a hurry: hearty vegetarian comfort food

I borrowed Julie and Julia from my friend Sheila, who has it checked out of

the library until tomorrow. It's a great read, highly entertaining, full of New

York pride and cynicism, and all about food.

Well after 4 days of eating coffee shop food for breakfast and lunch, my body

wanted something remotely healthy, and my hands wanted very few dishes.

Here's a recipe for a lovely comforting tofu curry I used to make back at the

Treehome in Cambridge. Most comforting eaten piping hot out of a wooden

bowl while sitting on a couch. If you want a good ol' one-pot meal, skip the

poached eggs; if you want really good food, don't even think about it.

Tofu Curry

medium or firm tofu

any veggies you can get your hands on

coconut milk

cashews

eggs

curry powder

oil

garlic and ginger (you won't notice it gone, but you'll be very pleasantly surprised

when you get a chunk of it, so I highly recommend at least the ginger)

over a low-ish flame, toast the curry powder in oil, a minute or so.

add garlic and ginger.

throw in your tofu to start getting the curry flavor into it and to give it a

little hot-pan-action.

after the tofu has gotten curry-colored, start adding your veggies. In terms

of order of operations, add your veggies in order of cooking time, longest

to shortest. For example, first onions, then potatoes, then zucchini. I like to

add the ones that need sauteing first, like onions.

Put a small pot of water up to boil for the eggs in the meantime.

add water and coconut milk and let it start simmering again before adding

the rest of the veggies and the cashews. if you are using potatoes, the dish

will have to cook longer, but add them and let them boil for a while before

adding your other vegetables. For a quick dish, avoid onions and potatoes.

Salt to taste, add water and coconut milk as needed, and cook until the

easiest-to-overcook veggies are just (or just about to be) done.

Meanwhile your water should be boiled. Drop two eggs into the hot water

(flame still on high) to poach them. A trick I found for poaching eggs is to

break the shell near the pointy end so the egg stays contained, and then quickly

pour the egg against the side of the pan. It'll stay together after a little practice.

If you don't mind more dishes, crack the egg into a bowl and then pour it against

the side of the pan. This is a more proper way, and you end up "rolling" the egg

into the water (or so I learned in 7th grade home ec).

Let these boil for about 2 minutes. Don't overcook. The eggs will be solid white

on the outside but not solid on the inside. Again, you'll know when they are done

after you've practiced a little.

Serve eggs over curry with avocado, yogurt, smoked paprika, smoked salt,

sauerkraut, arugula, or anything else that sounds good and is in your pantry.

I recommend eating it with a close friend on a rainy day, or while reading novels

about amateur French cooking.