0 Fancy some curry?

I can add another dish to my growing repertoire - curry! This is a very basic recipe using a mix of vegetables - cabbage (supposedly an anti-type O veg but whatever), okra, carrots, tomatoes and red chili. I'm not a believer in pre-made curry paste; instead I bought a small bottle of McCormick's curry powder and a packet of lemongrass and hoped for the best as I set to prepare the curry from scratch.

Simple Curry Vegetables

Yield: 1 large bowl (8 servings)

Ingredients

1 large red onion, chopped coarsely

2 tbsp vegetable oil
Spices

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp paprika

2 red chili, ribs removed and sliced

2 stalks lemongrass, pounded to release aroma

1 cinnamon quill

2 star anise, crushed
Vegetables

1 small head cabbage, stems removed and coarsely chopped

1 carrot, chopped

4-5 okra (lady's fingers), ends trimmed and cut into 1" pieces

2 medium tomatoes, chopped coarsely

1/2 cup soy milk

Directions
1. Heat oil in frying pan and cook onion till softened.
2. Add in spice mix and fry for 2-3 mins or until seeds start to pop.
3. Add in vegetables (I added according to the hardness of the vegs, in the order of carrots, then okra, then cabbage and finally tomatoes). Stir well to coat with spice mix.
4. Add sufficient water to cover and let simmer for 15-20 min or until vegetables are tender.
5. Just before serving, add in soy milk (or coconut milk/yogurt) and simmer another 3-5 mins. Salt to taste.

The addition of soy milk may seem out-of-place, and that's because we didn't want coconut milk, but also didn't have yogurt on hand. As a result, the curry turned out on the soupy side (think sayur lodeh) unlike the Malaysian style curries, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was still pretty tasty and very very fragrant from the lemongrass. :D It surely could do with a bit more spice (will add chili powder/chili flakes next time). Needs more capcaisin!