Malay Yellow Curry with a Vengeance

So I was out for longer than I have ever been and I was more sick than I ever knew. This is a fresh start for me and hopefully I have met if not exceeded my 2 year quota for getting sick. I watched more TV than ever while I was bedridden. That was the only thing my body allowed me to do and was the best (or should I say only for someone who despises books) source of entertainment with a weak body and lone mind. I happened to watch a Sanjeev Kapoor cook show which is very popular in India - Khana khazana. The feature was Malaysian food and I've tweaked the recipe to suit my mom's palate and use the stuff I already had in my pantry. It only took me 10 minutes to cook this which was a delight. Simmered with cottage cheese in spicy turmeric coconut sauce made with tamarind, galangal, crushed peanuts, lemon grass & ginger, Malay Yellow Curry is sunshine in a bowl.

Ingredients:
1. A handful of peanuts
2. 1/2 inch ginger. Use galangal if available.
3. 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
4. 1 dried red chili
5. 1 cup cocunut milk
6. 1 cup water
7. 1/2 onion. Use shallots if available.
8. 2-3 tablespoons oil
9. paneer or pineapple or tofu :-)
10. Black pepper, ground
11. Salt to taste
12. Coriander powder
13. Turmeric powder
14. Tamarind pulp

Instructions
1. Mix ingredients 1 to 7 and blend in a mixer
2. Heat oil in a saucepan and sautee the blended mixture and bring to a boil
3. Add paneer pieces, black pepper, salt, turmeric, coriander powder and cook until the paneer pieces are tender
4. Add 1/2 cup coconut milk and tamarind pulp to this. Add lemon grass if available.
5. Simmer on low heat for another 2-3 minutes. Remove lemon grass if added.

Serve hot with fragrant Thai Jasmine steamed rice. If you like the taste and texture of coconut milk, you will love this.