Fake curry

I desperately wanted some Indian flavors the other night, but the gaping hole in the Astoria, Queens restaurant scene is precisely the cuisine of the great subcontinent. So I decided to wing it, picking up some yogurt, ginger, scotch bonnet pepper, plum tomatoes, onion and garlic*, and processed them in my new $20 "Ninja" in roughly the following proportions

6 tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

cumin seeds (1 second of pouring)

1/2 scotch bonnet, no seeds

thumb sized knob of ginger

1 small onion

1 tablespoon of curry powder

It occurred to me that this fake masala needed to be cooked out a little, so I fried it in a little oil until it became fairly aromatic, and then added tomato sauce and big chunks of cod. I simmered for 15 minutes until the cod was cooked and served it with rice. I added the yogurt to calm the fairly fierce heat after it came off the fire.

The result was not Indian, as such, but it was good, and I'd make it again. All hail experimentation, I guess.

*I chose these ingredients on the highly scientific basis of my last two indian meals, a pathetic tikka masala and a rather more decent vindaloo curry.