Sunday, February 7, 2010

Sweet and Sour Indian Vegetable Stew




This recipe comes from the February issue of Chatelaine.
I love to try new recipes and this one caught my eye due to
the fact it has curry and balsamic vinegar, one of the two
things I always have in my cupboard.
It is a wonderful easy recipe with big flavour. The recipe says
you can add meat or fish, if you wish. I did not. I used the
chickpeas instead of the lentils, which was filling enough.

Ingredients
1 small head of cauliflower
400 g pkg pre-cut butternut squash, about 3 cups (I used fresh)
1 small eggplant (I used a medium size)
1 onion (I used 2)
2 tbsp (30ml) Indian curry paste
680 ml can of tomato sauce
2 tbsp (30ml) balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp (30ml) brown sugar
19-oz (540ml) can lentils or chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 handful cilantro, chopped (optional)

Chop cauliflower into small florets,
chop squash into bite-sized
pieces, and slice eggplant into bite
sized pieces. Coarsely chop onions.
Lightly oil a large pot and set over medium heat.
When hot, add onion and sauté until tender, 3 to 4 min.
Stir curry paste into pot and cook until fragrant, 1 min.
Add tomato sauce, ½ cup water, vinegar, sugar and veggies.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low.
Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally until vegetables
are tender, 25 to 30 min.
Add lentils for the last 5 min. of cooking.
Sprinkle with cilantro. Delicious over rice and with a dollop of plain yogurt.