coconut spiced asparagus

[whippy]

coconut spiced asparagus

this is a simple recipe for monica's indian style asparagus contest. when i first made this recipe i blended my coconut paste to an ultra-smooth paste; big mistake. the coconut should be coarsely pureed to add textural contrast to the tender asparagus. it goes quickly, so have everything ready before you cook.

chop 2 cups asparagus into 1/4 inch rounds

(snap off woody stems first)

prepare a coconut paste of:

half a cup of finely shredded coconut

half a sprig of curry leaves

4 small cloves of garlic

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp red pepper powder (or to taste)

just enough water to make everything blend

next to your kadhai/wok, have on hand: water, salt, brown mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, dry red chilis, curry leaves, coconut oil.

method:

heat coconut oil (i use over a tablespoon, but then i'm decadent that way)until very hot but not smoking. splutter 1 tsp mustard seeds, covering pan if necessary and when almost done popping, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp urad dal and 4 whole dry red chilis. when the dal is colored, add another 1/2 sprig curry leaves, let them fry a bit and add the asparagus, a little water and salt to taste. toss this around for just maybe 15 seconds, then add your coconut paste. cook until the asparagus has reached its desired tenderness, adding water and stirring as needed. for me, this is around three minutes. i like all the water cooked off, and the asparagus just cooked through, but there's no reason not to cook it longer. adjust salt if needed.

that's it. serve as part of a thali.

Keywords: Side

( RG987 )