Thursday 5 May 2011

Zucchini Noodles with Coconut Curry Cashew Cream (vegan)

This will be a pretty short entry as it is merely a variant of the previous post. This is another raw vegan idea I had for the same zucchini noodles I made yesterday.
The zucchini noodle recipe from that post will work just as well here as it did there.

Here's what goes in it:
1 can of coconut milk - I will, as always, recommend organic over conventional.
1 tbsp fresh ground ginger - I keep mine in the freezer so it's easier to grate.
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
A curious blend of spices

I soaked my cashews in the coconut milk for a bit, but my research tells me this isn't necessary. I don't care, I think it made the sauce smoother - if I'm right, that's good, if not, it seems like a pretty harmless delusion.
Throw all that shit into some sort of blending contraption with some sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
I use an immersion blender for this application.

This may be a good time to inform you as to the contents of my curious blend:
(as always, the measurements are approximations and likely inaccurate)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp mango powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin (I cheated on the whole rawness of the recipe here. Toasting cumin makes it so much more awesome than untoasted - it really does)
1 tbsp fresh ground coriander
A pinch each of fresh ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves - don't use pre-ground cinnamon as it tends to overwhelm - fresh merely whelms.

That's pretty much it. Blend that shit and toss your zuke in it - you likely won't need all of it. Don't drown your zuke in the sauce; you want to be able to taste the zuke. I only used about 4 tablespoons or so.
Finish it with the cilantro.

Eat it.
I also added some diced Ataulfo mango.  It's a smaller, yellow, sweeter
mango than the green and red ones most commonly seen in
North American supermarkets.




3 comments:

  1. There are sure some unpleasant names for asafoetida, which I had never heard of.
    Also the mango powder is interesting, I've seen the amchur powder box, but never really looked at it. I would like to try this. I think that you were right to soak your cashews (you should have broke your rule to toast them ass well), when nuts sit in a liquid they go so soft, like in leftover stirfry. This could be a really good side dish or salad as long as you didn't make it in advance.

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  2. Toast them "ass well". If I ever get a job in a steakhouse that'll be the term for well-done steaks. "Table 6! Sirloin. Ass well! Burn it!"
    Haha.
    Reminds of a great Gordon Ramsay moment:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=809UNNTGDhM

    As for the soaking, it just makes sense to me, and 'the UK's leading raw food chef' can suck it. He wouldn't have shit in his book without a fucking dehydrator.
    Mango powder goes really well with mustard seed, but I wasn't about to do mustard seed raw - no point.
    It was super yummy.

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