Made a new and different dish last night that turned out really great! The ‘Mexican’ part is due to the beans and rice and the fiesta colors, so it could have easily been ‘Peruvian’ or ‘Brazillian’ etc. Anyhoo, I was working with what was available on the farm and some of my dry bulk food. The measurements are approximate (I didn’t measure anything).
Mexican Coconut Curry
3 cups water 1/4 cup dried pinto beans (or 2/3 cup canned) 1/3 cup dried brown rice 2 medium tomatoes diced 1 small onion ~1/2 cup diced 2 white eggplant sliced 2 T olive oil 1/2 - 1 cup fresh shredded coconut (unpacked) 1 clove garlic minced tsp. Cumin tsp. Turmeric 1/4 tsp. Cardamom Salt to taste Optional: 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
This recipe serves two.
I was using dried pintos so I brought those to a boil 3ish hours ahead and let them simmer for the first hour. Then I turned the stove off and left them soaking for a few more hours with a lid on. Add 1/2 tsp. salt after you turn them off if you don’t like bland beans. They shouldn’t be completely cooked when you start cooking, but should be edible. Drain the water. (You can drink the bean water for extra nutrition provided that you washed the beans when they were dry.)
Add 3 cups water and dried rice. Bring to a boil. Add 1/3 of the onion, all of the garlic and 1 diced tomato. Add the cumin, turmeric and cardamom. Add half the coconut. Simmer with lid.
In a skillet, add oil and sautee the rest of the onion with the eggplant. Sprinkle salt on and add some water to speed the process. Add the sauteed veggies 15 min before the rice is done. (Brown rice takes 40 minutes. I didn’t toast it for this dish.)
5 minutes to the end add the rest of the tomato and coconut. Salt to taste. Top with toasted almonds and/or large diced coconut.
Yum!
