Cooking from scratch helps! - Day 4 at $11.08 : Hunger Action Week 2010

Cooking from scratch can be delicious as well as economical. That is something I have learnt from making my own spice mixes, curry pastes etc. The individual ingredients don’t cost as much and for the same price that you pay for a spice mix, you can always make thrice as much at home. And the fresh aroma and taste of making these at home, oh my!, nothing can compare to that! Last night we had a Thai inspired dinner of Yellow Curry, Garlic Sautéed Shrimp, Jasmine Rice and Bananas in Coconut Cream for dessert. I made the yellow curry paste by myself. It did not take much time at all – only thing i needed to have all the ingredients at hand. Not only did I have enough to make the yellow curry for dinner yesterday and lunch today, I even have some paste stored in the freezer for later use. Before I get to the recipes, here is how our day 4 was:

Breakfast

Coffee	$0.18
Milk and Cereal	$0.25

Lunch : leftovers from the day before

Dinner

Jasmine Rice	$2.04
Yellow Curry	$2.65
Garlic Sautéed Shrimp	$2.63
Bananas in Coconut Cream	$1.78

Evening Coffee : $0.18

Recipe : Yellow Curry Paste

3 tsp coriander seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 4-5 dried red chillies 2 stalks lemongrass, chopped or 2 tsp lemongrass paste 4 Asian shallots, peeled 2 cloves garlic 2 tsp turmeric powder a 2” piece ginger or galangal 1 or 2 Kaffir lime leaves

Dry roast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds separately and grind them together to a fine powder in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle and keep aside in a small bowl. Meanwhile, soak the dried red chillies in hot water for 2 mins and chop them well.

Grind together, the red chillies, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, turmeric powder, galangal and lime leaves to a fine paste. Add the coriander-cumin powder to this and grind again. Add some oil while grinding, if the mixture is too thick.

   The paste can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks and in the freezer for longer, maybe a couple of months? not, sure about that.

To make the yellow curry – in a wok, heat 2 cans of coconut milk and add 2 tbsp of yellow curry paste to it. Mix well and keep the heat at medium. Add any meat and vegetables of your choice , i used bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, eggplant, green beans and tofu. Add salt as per taste and increase heat a little to allow the vegetables to cook. Once cooked, serve hot with jasmine rice!

The recipe for Garlic Sauteed Shrimp can be found in So I Married a Meat-a-holic… . H

ere is where you can find all of my last year’s Hunger Challenge Posts and a list of the blogs participating in this year’s Hunger Challenge can be found here. Don't forget to Donate to “Yes We Can!” Project to raise money for Hunger Action Week!