If you're like me and you grew up on homemade Japanese curry, you know all about the brick. A boxed, vacuum-packed tray of roux that's mixed into a simmering pot of meat and vegetables. As far as I knew, this pre-packaged mix was the only way to get down with homestyle curry.
A few years back, though, I gave up on the stuff. Turn over the box, check out the ingredients, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Because straight up? That $%#@ is nasty. Filler and chemicals. Make it from scratch instead!
Read MoreThe best part of any tempura plate has to be the thin, crescent-moon shaped slices of kabocha squash. Smooth and sweet - the sweetest of the winter squashes - they always seem to steal the show. This curry-spiced squash soup is a great way to savor the flavor of kabocha squash without anything else getting in the way.
For the past few weeks, the farmers market's been overflowing with winter squash. This last Saturday, though, these beautiful organic sweet maui onions appeared. Then I remembered this soup recipe, and that the two main ingredients are kabocha squash and onion. Bingo.
Read MoreDiscovering a new ingredient can be like opening a window into a new universe. About 10 years ago, my then-girlfriend/now-wife and I were living in Brooklyn. Prithi, a good friend and film school classmate was hosting a cooking class, where she and her mom made an array of delicious vegetarian Indian dishes. It was there that I was first introduced to curry leaves.
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