Braziliian Vegetable Curry

Brazilian food includes manioc (yucca), black beans and rice. Each region of Brazil specializes in a type of cuisine and is influenced by a certain region. Brazilian food has been greatly influenced by African and Caribbean countries and like the Caribbeans rice and beans are traditional dish in every Brazilian household. While I was cooking the vegetable curry, the smells and flavors reminded me of many cuisines. The coconut in the curry reminded me of Thai food. The chickpeas, onion, garlic and tomatoes reminded me of Indian food. This dish is rich in flavor and hearty. There is a lot of room to be creative.


I got this recipe from pinkcherryblossom, recipe. I made some modifications. I used yucca since it is a Brazilian staple. The yucca taste delicious in the gravy. I could not find coconut cream so I used coconut milk. I also used ginger powder instead of the root. I added very little curry powder, I did not want to overpower the flavors but just 1-2 tsp for such a large quantity of food gave the dish a lot of depth. I added extra garlic 3 cloves instead of 2. I did not roast the vegetables since I did not have that much time but I did cook most of the liquid out. I will make sure I have enough time to roast it next time. Roasting it will give it an interesting texture especially since I have added yucca to the dish. I served this with flour tortilla and ate it like an Indian curry. It was delicious!!

Servings: approx. 6

Ingredients:

• 1 yucca (manioc)
  
• 2 red onions
  
• 1 eggplant
• 2 red peppers
• 1 can chickpeas
• 3 garlic cloves
  
• pinch of ground ginger powder
• 1 red chile, deseeded (I used a medium-hot Jamaican chile)
  
• 2-3 large chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 4 tbsp cilantro
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• pinch of curry powder

Yucca is a very tough root and takes a while to boil. Start by boiling the yucca until the water starts turning a pink color or poke the yucca with a fork to see if it is slightly tender. It will not be as tender as a boiled potato, it will cook in the sauce later.Chop eggplant and red pepper.

Using a food processor mix the garlic cloves, chile, ginger powder and onions. Cook this sauce mixture in a separate pot.

Spray a wok with cooking spray and saute the vegetables, yucca and tomatoes. Cook off the excess water so it is not too soupy.

Add the sauce mixture to the wok along with curry powder and salt to taste. Add the chickpeas, coconut milk and cilantro. Occasionally stir the vegetable curry and allow the flavors to simmer for about 10 mintues on low-medium or until excess liquid no longer remains.