I’ve been lucky in love. Along the way, I worked hard to learn from good relationships that ended as well as from more difficult ones.
Last month, my husband, Dave, and I celebrated 15 years together. They have been happy and loving years, filled with joy and the wonder of living life together as an adventure. Plus, there’s gratification in knowing we make each other better people and we take care of each other.
Of course, our versions of “taking care” are radically different, and as you may guess, a large part of my caretaking involves feeding Dave.
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When we met, Dave lived in a Regina apartment. I lived in a small house just off of the Bow River in Calgary. We spent a lot of time on the phone. Eventually, we visited.
After a few visits, I cooked for him while he house-sat a friend’s home.
“Not much in the cupboard,” I said. “Let’s go to the farmers market to get some lamb to cook with this rice and these spices.”
A few hours later, we ate our first curry together.
In 15 years, cooking one curry or another every week or two never bores me. Not for me the Germanic and Anglo food of my parents. For years I teased my mom, saying, “I was born into the wrong family! I should have been born into a big noisy clan from somewhere else!”
My affinity for the spice trail began at age 18 when I lived in the South Asian quarter of Vancouver, and it has not faltered or abated. I’m grateful to have learned from some generous South Asian cooks over the years.
I love curry’s warmth and complexity — not heat, but spices, starting with anything citrusy, like makrut lime leaves and lemon grass. I rely on ginger and garlic as base notes, with top notes of what I call the seven Cs — cumin, coriander, coconut, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and chili. Then the indispensable licorice notes of star anise, fennel, anise seed and basil in their many and glorious variations, including their cousin, mint. And cilantro, without a doubt.
How to? Start with a spice blend. Add sauteed onions and vegetables, choose a protein, add liquid — water, stock, chopped tomatoes or coconut milk — and voila! A curry!
There are many curry-cooking countries. Base flavours common to my preferred curry countries look like this:
- Curry leaves + chili + coconut + cilantro + basil + lemon grass + makrut lime leaves + cumin + mint + tamarind + turmeric = Thai spice blend
- Cumin + asafoetida + basil + bay + nigella + cinnamon + cloves + coconut + coriander + mint + fennel + fenugreek + camphor ginger + ground ginger + mace + marjoram + nutmeg + pomegranate = northern Indian garam masala spice blend
- Mustard seed + coconut + tamarind + chili + cardamom + coriander + black cumin + curry leaves + fennel + fenugreek + chili peppers = southern Indian garam masala spice blend
These blends have endured for thousands of years, in cultures more ancient than ours. They don’t begin to delineate similar ancient flavour blends in Africa and Asia. First we eat, then we look further into the mysteries of curry and other affinities.
Classic Spice Mixes
Togararshi
For Asian food fans, here’s a Japanese blend of chili pepper, black pepper, dried orange peel, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, hemp seeds and crumbled nori. Measure out a spoonful of each, grind everything together with a mortar and pestle or an electric spice mill. Now that you have it, what next? Sprinkle on scallops, salmon, densely textured fish, chicken, lamb, beef and bison. You can also add it to wine as a steaming medium for mussels and clams.
Five-spice powder
This Chinese classic closely parallels French quatre épices, blended for use with meats and poultry in terrines and pâtés. It is never just five spices! Use on duck, salmon, pork, lamb, beef, chicken livers or game. Store in a tightly sealed jar. Makes 1/2 cup.
- 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
- 5 star anise pods
- 1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 3/4 teaspoon whole cloves
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon whole allspice
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
Toast the whole seeds and spices over moderate heat until fragrant and lightly browned. Grind in a spice mill. Add the ground spices.
Moghul curry blend
My favourite aromatic spice blend keeps its fragrance for up to three months. Store extra in the freezer.
Makes about 1 cup.
- 1/4 cup coriander seeds
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
- 2-4 hot dried chilies
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon allspice berries
- 10 curry leaves
- 5 makrut lime leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3-4 whole cloves
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
Place all of the ingredients except the turmeric in a shallow pan and dry roast over medium heat. When seeds begin to pop, the coconut is light brown and everything smells aromatic, transfer the blend to a plate. Grind the whole spices. Sift out the big chunks. Add the turmeric.
