Local note about Potato and Pea Curry

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I forgot to mention what local stuff we use in the Aloo Matar curry ("Nobody Nose You Like I Nose You” entry), and why it’s such a good winter dish. 

Here’s the three ingredients we use from nearby--the onions from our neighborhood once-a-week Amish farmstand, the peas from ones we picked and shelled at a conventional pick-your-own farm in NJ, and the potatoes from our CSA farmshare.  We usually have spuds at the of the CSA season, because it’s something that will keep as we’re madly eating up what won’t.  Onions also keep for a bit, of course, and we’ve frozen and dried onions for curries throughout the winter.  Finally, while the dish does have the word “pea” in the title, we’ve used broccoli, lima beans, kale, and any other number of substitutes when local peas aren’t available.

What’s left is the oil, rice, and tom paste, which are organic but not local; and the spices, which are neither.  I’ll keep looking for replacements (either home-made or otherwise)!