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#VeganMoFo Day 30: Fusion Challenge!

Well, it’s the last day of MoFo. This is my second year participating and it’s been a challenge and a thrill. Thank you to the organizers for the themes and keeping it all together! Thank you to new vegan pals (hooray for Twitter), thank you to friends and family for commenting on Facebook, and thank you to anyone who’s been reading.

The final theme is wide open: fusion. I wanted to make something I hadn’t made before, so I thought about Indian-style kofta with… something. First I considered treating it like a meatball and serving it over spaghetti, but after careful consideration (or a distracted conversation in the car), my boyfriend and I agreed that didn’t actually sound appealing.

Kofta and Thai curry, on the other hand? That might work. I picked up an interesting herb at the market this week – lime basil – and it inspired me. Koftas could simmer in red coconut curry and be eaten with rice and a side salad, all incorporating Indian and Thai flavors/techniques.

The result was…not bad. Different. Some things worked, others less so, but a worthy try.

First I made the koftas, basically this recipe, but apparently I didn’t have any garbanzo flour (I swore I did!), so I made it with whole garbanzo beans and wheat flour so it’d hold together. The texture is probably a little off as a result.

Then I set up a simple pilaf: brown rice in the rice cooker, with a coconut oil-happy mix of cumin seeds, fried shallot, and one cinnamon stick tossed in.

Next, the curry, which was thick with coconut milk and pureed squash:

  • Red curry paste + coconut oil bubble together
  • Light coconut milk swirled in, brought to a simmer
  • Half a yellow onion and a very small winter squash cook in the sauce
  • Puree in a blender, then bring back to a simmer (it gets very thick)
  • Add a chopped tomato and some greens, if you like (I like)
  • While the rice cooks, add some already-cooked kofta
  • A few minutes before you’re ready to eat, at lemon juice and herbs (cilantro and lime basil, in this case)

Finally, a fresh salad to tie things together: finely diced cucumber, quartered tomato, and a bit of yellow bell pepper, gently sprinkled with lemon juice, garam masala, and a pinch of salt, then served with sprigs of cilantro.

Oh, and toasted cashews. A necessity.

I found these elements didn’t work well on their own, but eaten together, kind of worked. Maybe I’ll have to keep working on it. They’re not all winners, but the fun of MoFo is in the trying.

Have a lovely October, everyone. I’ll try to keep myself occupied here (albeit probably a bit less frequently with the actual posting), but may try to create a challenge of my own to keep things interesting.