It’s been 5 days since I’ve gone on braces and I would be lying if I told you that I am back to normal. I still have not been able to have anything other than ‘baby food’-style food (smooth soups, mash, guac, smoothies, applesauce, ice cream – you get the gist) apart from some chunky homemade chips, which were really hard to eat but the craving got the better of me.
With all that is going on, I am finding it hard to be motivated to come up with new recipes right now, I will be honest. I have done a few test cooks for recipes I was excited about before I went on braces, but the taste (and texture!) tasting process is just not happening right now. My mouth is sore, my teeth are hurting and my tastebuds have seemingly gone on strike out of solidarity with the rest of my mouth’s infrastructure…I am hoping to win them back again soon. On this note, this recipe is an amalgamation of a few of my old recipes and it can be eaten as a curry / stew, but it also lends itself really well to being blended into a smooth soup – have a guess which is my favourite right now? As normally I am big fan of texture, I’ve decided to refrain from publishing a creamy soup recipe as I find texture-rich dishes infinitely more interesting. They are also a lot more democratic, aren’t they – if you are a texture hater yourself (or have committed the folly of treating yourself to braces, like I did), I am sure that your blender will welcome you with open arms. Mine is really earning its keep right now 😉 .
1 tsp black mustard seeds ½ tsp cumin seeds 10 dried curry leaves 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander ½ tsp turmeric ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp hot chilli powder (I used Kashmiri chilli powder for colour) ¼ tsp ground cardamom a good pinch of ground cloves 1/8 tsp ground pepper ½ tsp garam masala
As with most curries and stews, the flavours of this dish benefit from being made a day ahead.
