December 7, 2020
December means the holiday season is among us and the countdown towards Christmas is here. Typically, during the holidays, Kevin and I would alternate between visiting my family in New York and his family in Hong Kong. Some years, if we space out our vacation days enough throughout the year, we would be able to spend the holidays with both of our families. We started this tradition almost ten years ago. This holiday season is looking unlikely for us to travel. Kevin and I have decided to stay put in Ohio and enjoy all Ohio has to offer during the holiday season. Starting the weekend before Thanksgiving, we searched high and low to create a list of holiday events going on in Ohio. Each weekend, we planned to cross one event off the list. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we headed to downtown Cincinnati to enjoy the PNC Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. We bundled up in our coziest winter attire, put on our masks, and headed straight for the holiday festivities. The following weekend, we headed to Sharon Woods to enjoy Holiday Lights in Sharon Woods, a drive-through winter land of holiday lights. Check out my post on Thanksgiving to see some of the photos from our holiday festivities over the last couple weekends. This weekend, Kevin and I headed further south to the Coney Island Christmas Nights of Lights. I’ve been wanting to swing by to see the drive-through light show after hearing about it on the radio year after year. When I heard advertisements on the radio again this year, I finally decided to head there on a Friday night with Kevin. It took us a bit of a drive to get there. Once we got there, we could see tons of cars lined up on an insanely long zig-zagging line. It took almost an hour for us to loop through the line until we got to the entrance of the light show. As we approached the entrance, we were amazed by the dazzling holiday lights synced with the holiday music blasting from our car radio. Kevin sang along with almost every song. I was so dazzled by the bright twinkling lights. It was such a unique experience. The light show lasted only about 20-30 minutes, but we both felt it was worth the wait.
The next day, my cravings for warm and comforting food kicked in. December snowfall began this week and brought with it chilly temps and cold air. I still had tons of potatoes leftover from Thanksgiving weekend and decided to incorporate the potatoes into my tomato coconut curry. Tomato coconut curry is a dish I started making a lot during the fall once the weather turned cool and crisp. It came about one day when I needed to use up the abundance of tomatoes I had stocked up. When I folded the tomatoes into my usual coconut curry base, my tastebuds were soaring with joy. The tangy, sweet tomatoes added a brightness, sweetness, and a touch of acidity to the creamy coconut curry. The addition of potatoes makes for a much more substantial, filling curry. Whenever I eat curry, I need to have some carb to serve alongside it. My carb of choice is of course grilled flatbread. I prepared the dough for the flatbread just over an hour before I started making the curry since the dough for the flatbread needed some time to rest before using. When the dough had rested for at least an hour, I divided up the dough into six pieces, rolled each piece out, and popped the flatbread dough into the oven. The flatbread dough is cooked twice – first in the oven and then finished on my grill pan to impart a smoky grill flavor into the flatbread. The grill marks also add a beautiful touch to the flatbread. To achieve the fluffy, chewy texture, I used a combination of all-purpose flour and bread flour. The potato tomato coconut curry was so filling, we almost fell into food coma right after eating it. At least the curry gave me the energy to finally put up the Christmas tree.
For the flatbread dough:
· 1½ cups bread flour
· ½ cup all-purpose flour
· ½ teaspoon instant yeast
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
· ¾ cup lukewarm water
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for brushing onto dough and grilling flatbread
For the vegetable coconut curry:
· 1 tablespoon refined coconut oil
· 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
· 1 small onion, cut into chunks
· 2 teaspoons kosher salt
· 4 small potatoes, skins peeled and cut into chunks
· 1 orange pepper, cut into chunks
· ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
· ½ teaspoon ground coriander
· 1 teaspoon curry powder
· ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
· 1 tablespoon tomato paste
· 1 can (13.66 fluid ounces) coconut milk
· ½ cup vegetable stock
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 1 large heirloom tomato, cut into chunks
· fresh cilantro, for serving
Directions:
1) Prepare the flatbread dough at least an hour before preparing the curry. To make the flatbread dough, combine the bread flour, all-purpose flour, instant yeast, kosher salt, and granulated sugar in a bowl. Slowly add in the water. Use your hand to knead together the mixture until a dough begins to form, about five minutes. Add in the vegetable oil. Knead for an additional minute or two. Cover the entire bowl with a plate (or a sheet of plastic wrap). Set aside.
2) As the dough is resting, prepare the rest of the ingredients for the curry. Set a large pot onto the stove and turn the heat up to medium high heat. In the large pot, add a tablespoon of refined coconut oil. Once hot, add the garlic and onion. Sprinkle in the kosher salt. Cook until aromatic, about a minute. Toss in the potatoes and orange pepper. Sprinkle in the cumin seeds, ground coriander, curry powder, granulated sugar, and tomato paste. Stir to coat the vegetables in the spices. Pour in the can of coconut milk and vegetable stock. Add in the freshly cracked black pepper. Turn the heat down to medium low. Cover the pot and let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the heirloom tomato. Cook until all vegetables are tender, about another 10-15 minutes. Turn heat down to lowest (or warm) setting to keep warm.
3) Preheat oven to 400°F. After at least an hour has passed, the flatbread dough is ready for use. Set aside a large sheet pan lined with a sheet of parchment paper. Transfer the flatbread dough from the bowl to a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough into a thick circle. Cut the dough into about six equal triangular pieces. Shape each triangular piece into a ball. Round out each ball onto the lightly floured surface. Roll each ball into a flat circle. Transfer each of the flattened dough balls to the parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the flatbread dough with one tablespoon of vegetable oil. When the oven is ready, transfer the baking sheet with the flatbread dough into the oven. Bake for ten minutes. Halfway through the baking time, heat a grill pan on high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. When ten minutes has passed, remove the baking sheet from the oven.
4) Transfer the flatbread, two at a time (or however many flatbreads your grill pan can accommodate at one time), onto the grill pan. Grill for about 30 seconds on each side. Transfer the grilled flatbread back to the baking sheet. Continue until all six flatbreads are grilled.
5) When ready to serve, scoop the curry into two bowls. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Cut the flatbreads in half and serve with the curry.
Takeaways: My vegetable coconut curry is a great way to use up bits and pieces of crunchy vegetables in the refrigerator. The addition of tomato (and enhanced with tomato paste) was definitely a game changer. It added an additional element of sweetness, tanginess, freshness and overall depth of flavor to the curry.