Round one: irrational passion

I love ethnic food -- the spices, the unique combination of ingredients, the richness of flavors, the leftovers! I have dabbled a bit with Indian cooking, but I've never followed a recipe (no surprise).

Enter: Madhur Jaffrey:

I actually thought Madhur was a man until about five minutes ago when I googled her. (Should have known with a woman on the cover). She is an Indian actress, chef and all-around goddess whose recipes and cookbooks have won such meager accolades as James Beard Foundation awards. I used the word radical yesterday, and I'll used it again to describe this woman's book: it is radical.

A friend and I decided it would be fun to cook a recipe from said book. I decided it would be fun to make three recipes meal from Madhur's book. For those of you who are not accustomed to absolute chaos in the kitchen, I would not recommend juggling all of these in unison.

Being that I am not a trained cook, this sort of production required enormous foresight. I had to scrutinize the recipes to figure out my timing -- what dish should be started first, how many cloves of garlic needed to be minced (15!), and then began the prep-work. Dicing, slicing, grating, rinsing, stirring, MEASURING! (I actually measured all of the spices).

Amazingly, my timing working out perfectly. We didn't eat until nearly 8:30, but all told, it was a blazing success. The. Food. Was. So. Good. I was in disbelief that I had just made the meal in front of me. I felt like leaving myself a tip!

As promised, here's the lowdown on the first of the three recipes.

The following is cleverly named: potatoes and tomatoes cooked with fresh coconut. BUT don't be fooled by this ingenious title. Madhur writes that "[she] loves this dish with an irrational passion." You guys think I'm nuts in describing food -- irrational passion is by far the most wonderful description I've ever heard/read.

The fresh coconut made the dish. Potatoes and tomatoes are good friends. Potatoes, tomatoes and coconut are something all together naughty. Yes, naughty. This dish was worthy of Madhur's eloquent description. Be brave and buy a fresh coconut. Cracking it open and scrapping out the flesh was part of the fun. How often do you get to smash something open, drink its juice and then eat it? Wow, I'm clearly on one today. I've been writing about Shakespeare and pioneer women far too much lately.

Anyhoo, try this dish. I want a full report on your irrational passion.

Happy Friday!

Grated coconut.

Don't let the grater trick you. The food processor did the job.

No vampires were invited to dinner.

The recipe called for three large taters,

but true to form, I had to tweak it a teensy bit.

Garlic, coconut, red pepper flakes and cumin.

Taters join the party.

This photo is no bueno, but at least you get a glimpse of the stewed-passion.

Totally irrational.

Potatoes and tomatoes cooked with fresh coconut

from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East: Vegetarian Cooking

3 medium-sized potatoes, about 1 1/4 pounds, cut into 3/4 inch dice

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups grated fresh coconut

1 20 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 whole dried red pepper

4 tbs vegetable oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp red wine vinegar

As told by Madhur: Heat the oil in a heavy, 3-Quart pot over a medium-high flame. When hot, put in the minced garlic. Stir for about 5 seconds. Now put in the red pepper and the cumin seeds. Stir for another 3 seconds. The garlic should brown lightly, the red pepper should darken, and the cumin seeds should sizzle. Lower the heat to medium, put in the grated coconut and stir it around for 10 to 15 seconds.

Add the potatoes as well as the turmeric, ground cumin and tomatoes (including any juice), the salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir gently every 7 to 8 minutes during this cooking period.

Put in the sugar and vinegar. Stir again and cook, uncovered, for 1 minute.