Simple Vegetable Curry, yoghurt and Butterscotch Almond Cake

i forgot to say that for some bizarre reason our new increased download limit started today - but then it restarts for the new month again tomorrow! how bizarre lol. i need to remember to go find a program to download some stuff as we have 10MB to use today LOL!

Vegie Curry
anyway, last night G was making himself and the kids sausages & vegies for dinner but i wasn't really in the mood for it so i asked him just to leave me soem of the cut vegies and i'd make something. i decided i was in the mood for a curry so i pulled out some books and had a play.

the curry i ended up with wasn't the greatest but it was quick and easy and you could substitute just about anything into it, so perfect for after work dinner. i think if you added lentils or chickpea or paneer it would be a great meal on its own, or as i made it as a side dish.

the original recipe was vendakka vazhuthananga masala (okra & eggplant spicy masala) from my new curry cookbook.

this is just a rough draft of a recipe

oil
around 1/2 tspn each of
fenugreek seeds
fennel seeds
2-3 cardamom pods
cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1-2 onions, finely chopped
heat oil and add the rest above. cook over medium heat, stirring until onions are golden brown

1/2 tspn each of
turmeric
ground coriander
chilli powder (i didn't have any chilli left in the house so had to go without :()
salt
around 2 cups of chopped mixed vegies (i had potatoes, carrots, beans and corn off the cob)
stir and cook for a few minutes

2 tomatoes chopped or some leftover pasta sauce ;)
add, bring to a simmer, partially cover and simmer until vegies are done.

around 1/3 cup natural yoghurt
fresh coriander leaves
turn heat off, add and stir through. serve with rice, pappadums or a bread of some sort

Yoghurt
i finally remembered to save some yoghurt to try making my own yoghurt from the old batch. i used (probably out of date) skim milk powder and it worked perfectly! i thought 1/4 cup sugar was way too much but the final product tastes ok. i think i'll still try to get it as low as possible though.

here is the previous post about it

Butterscotch Almond Cake
over on eb someone requested testers for a new cake for a fete stall. i needed to cook a cake to share with friends so i made it. it didn't quite go according to plan though lol. now i have more of an idea of what i'm doing i will try it again in a smaller quantity and see how i go next time.

the thermomix made making it an absolute breeze, with it taking only seconds to make the ground almonds from whole ones and to mix the batter. and then only seconds more to pour it all back in and add the forgotten butter lol