Curry in a blender

Ah the first weekend in January, traditionally a time for rest and spending the vast majority of it in your pyjamas after the excess eating, boozing and general getting out and about that comes as an important and always enjoyable part of the Christmas Break.

The start of January is always an odd time for me, on one hand it's filled with endless possibilities that the New Year and making of New Year's resolutions brings while on the other there's a realisation that Spring, longer days and Eastertime are a long way away. After spending the Friday evening wrecking some scum on Streets of Rage 2 on my PlayStation 3 with a close personal friend of mine I spent the Saturday morning wandering with the dog through a part of the county that I'd not been to for some time. It gave me the opportunity for some thinking time about how it'll be generally and how it'll be a new way this year, one way or another.

So home then it was and a new soup, something that included carrots and spices and was to turn out like a pureed curry.

...and you will know us by the trail of the dead's excellent EP, a rarity these days is an EP, Festival Thyme played out with a mixture of ringing pianos, adventurous drumming and just the right amount of guitar while I prepared the soup. The ingredients for it were:

3 Large Carrotts.
2 Tablespoons of Cayenne Pepper.
2 Tablespoons of Ground Cumin.
2 Tablespoons of Garam Masala Spice.
12 grams of dried Red Lentils.
Half a pint of Chicken Stock.
Quarter of a pint of Soya Milk.

The way I made it was as follows:

1. I topped and tailed the carrots and then, without peeling them, cut them into slices.
2. I then put the carrots into my Le Cresceut with enough Sunflower Oil to ensure they didn't stick to the bottom.
3. I added the spices and the Lentils and stirred them into the Carrots and Sunflower Oil on a medium heat for a couple of minutes before putting the lid of the Le Cresceut on and sweating the ingredients for another ten minutes.
4. After ten minutes I added the Chicken Stock and let the Le Cresceut's contents simmer on a low heat for an hour. This way it meant that the Lentils were thoroughly cooked as, unlike the Carrots, there is no way you can serve Lentils raw or even Al Dente.
5. Once the hour was up I set the dish to one side and once it had cooled down I blended it and added the Soya Milk before warming it through and serving.

Even though I don't usually associate carrots with curry, the addition of the lentils and spices gave this dish the taste of a smoky Tikka Masala except that the low fat Soya Milk was a much healthier option than the buckets of cream often associated with Tikka Masala served in curry houses.

The taste was reminiscent of a great curry I had over the Holiday Season on a frosty night.