My First Challenge (Part III) - Pork, Mushroom, Tomato Curry

It has been a couple of weeks since my last Food Challenge entry and I felt the need to take a few more off the board.  Unfortunately, my craving for more curry took over the task of the challenge.

Based on the moderate success (or failure) of my last curry, I needed to redeem myself with another shot at a recipe from Addicted to Curry, the manga that centers around a curry shop and it's curry savant chef.

The one that caught my attention was a recipe for Mushroom Curry.  I am a big mushroom fan and am always looking for a way to include mushrooms into dishes that make sense.  Still, other than Shitake mushrooms, there really aren't many varieties in Hawaii that would be able to stand head to head with the strong flavor of curry powder.  Due to this, I decided to add some sliced pork tenderloin (an alternative to the mainstream beef choice).

 Carmelizing my onions

My 3 mushroom medley (porcinis hidden under the white buttons)

Add spices, tomatoes, mushrooms and cook

The final product (I need a better camera)

At the end of the day, I ended up with a more Indian curry as opposed to a Japanese style curry.  What I liked about this one was the sourness of the tomatoes as well as the use of yogurt (and the liquid from the tomatoes) over a stock as it's soup base.  Visually, it's not the prettiest of curries, but I would recommend it as an alternative over the usual beef curry, especially if your local Farmer's Market is having a sale on mushrooms come this fall. 

As for my spice list, here is the most recent update: 

1. Cardamom
2. All Spice
3. Cloves
4. Almond Extract
5. Pumpkin Spice
6. Garam Masala
7. Vanilla Beans
8. Saffron
9. Nutmeg
10. Ground Mustard
11. Turmeric
12. Coriander
13. Sage
14. Thyme
15. Celery Seed
16. Tarragon
17. Cumin

On a side note, I did try to use the Almond Extract with some yogurt the other day (it seemed to make sense), and it tasted awful.  I have the feeling that this one is going to be a bit of a challenge lest I just give in and make some Almond Cookies.

Thanks for reading!