Lunch Bucket o' Curry

Look! I got a lunch bucket! I customized it with stickers :)



Look! I got a lunch bucket! I customized it with stickers :) I'm so excited I said it twice!

To celebrate the occasion, I made a curry. Of course!



1. chicken korma
2. basmati rice
3. apple berry skillet crumble
4. pomegranate raita

About that curry....I used a Patak sauce. It kinda sucked - which was disappointing! I've used that brand many times and have always been pleased, but this one ... meh. Not so much. I tried to dress it up - caramelized some onions, added garlic and ginger - added coriander, cumin, and garam masala. At this point it did cross my mind that I should have just made the damn stuff from scratch - anyway, it ended up okay in the end. You know why? Cause of the raita.

I've been hoarding one last pomegranate in the fridge for weeks now, and it was starting to look a little ... well, like it had been hoarded in the fridge for weeks. I don't know where I first heard of pomegranate raita, cucumber is the only kind I've really ever had before, but I knew I need some. Thinking that I surely saw it in someone's blog, a quick search didn't really turn up anything that looked familiar. The Girl Next Kitchen has one, so does Enjoy Indian Food (uhm, okay!!!) Milee's Dinners & Such made a raita she saw on a Nigella show, but mentions it was sweet. I didn't really want sweet. Finally I used a recipe from Mamta's Kitchen with some modifications. Cheeky, no?

It elevated the not so great korma to a pretty freakin' good meal. I'd already toasted and ground some cumin for the curry and I really didn't want to mess with doing more, so I left it out. Oh, I added the onions too, and used less pomegranate. I was lucky to have on hand a big container of Abali yogurt to use, it's pretty much my favorite. I believe that the quality of your yogurt makes a big difference in a recipe like this, it just wouldn't be the same with a regular supermarket yogurt. Also, if anyone could please tell me how to pronounce raita I will be forever grateful. You know, until I forget.

Pomegranate Raita

1 cup yogurt
tops of 2 green onions - sliced
1/2 teaspoon each salt and sugar
arils from 1 pom - minus the ones I snacked on

Stir it up and eat it.

Apple Berry Skillet Crumble

Chop up all your apples (I used 4 Pink Lady's) that are beginning to look a little sad and fry them in an oven safe skillet with butter. Yes. Fry the apples in butter. Trust me. Cook them covered over medium heat and they will soften up and start to brown. When you like the way it feels when you poke them with a fork take the pan off the heat and throw in any berries that got lost behind the pickles and stir in a tablespoon or two of sugar (I used white, but brown works too). Stick the lid back on and preheat the oven to "broil". Make up a crumb topping like you'd make for muffins (I processed about 1/4 cup each of flour, butter and white sugar with a pinch of salt)and sprinkle on top. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until the topping is lightly browned. I served it with yogurt that I sweetened and vanillaed but I wished for ice cream.