Five Boy in the Cabinet Curry

(This is the first of a series I'm calling 'C Glass Half Full.'  I'm thinking it will be a small island of optimistic bits & pieces bobbing around in a big sea of otherwise. )

Mu & I are here today, heavily medicated & happy as clams!

I'm taking a day off today, after a run-in with a Jack Spaniard (evil & potent wasp) necessitated a run-in with Prednisone in a bit too high a dosage. So after spending 3 days making new cord necklaces, new bamboo wrap necklaces & bracelets, I'm on the porch instead of by the pier. Given the breeze & the company, you'll forgive if I'm not too broken up about this unscheduled stop.

Bamboo wrap necklaces

So Mu & I weren't the only hooky-players today. WAPA decided a day-long outage two days ago wasn't quite enough, & when I got peckish an hour or so ago, power was nowhere to be found. Not wanting to open the fridge (in case this proved to be another powerless marathon), I consulted the cabinet instead, & the resulting curry was weirdly wonderful. 

5 Boy in the Cabinet Curry

Toss 1 1/2 C uncooked Jasmine rice in 1 TBS Olive oil with at least 2 TBS curry powder, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp whole cumin seed, 1 TBS granulated garlic in large covered pot or Dutch oven over medium flame. After 2 minutes, add 2 cans drained garbanzos (mine were organic, but either way) & toss all until well combined. Cover & heat another minute before adding one can of light coconut milk, a grating (generous) of fresh nutmeg, a couple grinds of pepper, several dashes of soy sauce or Worcestershire or both, & 1/2 C of dried cranberries. Rinse the coconut milk can & add that can of water plus another 1/2 can to the mixture. Stir to combine, then cover, reduce heat & simmer just until the rice absorbs all the liquid. Remove from heat, stir off the bottom, cover & let sit for a minute before calling the 5 boys. 

Now it is time to review your power outage & make choices based on status. And time for a short aside. When I first arrived in St Croix almost 23 years ago, there was one very happening lunch spot where all the VIPs & politically connected business people dined. And dined was the appropriate term. The Comanche Restaurant sported a slightly elevated, breezy view of pool & harbor.  The more important you were, the bigger the fan back on your peacock chair. Lunch started with crudités & a basket of freshly baked corn muffins, redolent with fresh nutmeg & delicious enough to make you want to spoil the rest of your lunch by climbing right into the basket with them. After the preliminaries, most VIPs opted for the 1/2 roast chicken with rice & peas (read beans) that could have fed a small country. Moist & fall off the bone tender, it was enough food to guarantee 2-3 hours away from your desk & office, & if you were truly, 'big I important,' a mandatory, sleep-it-off coma nap after.
We were on a non-nap mission, however (eavesdropping for business opportunity crumbs being dropped from adjacent tables), so we'd opt instead for the 'Ten Boy Curry.'  The name came from the condiment cart, so full of options it allegedly took ten boys to pass them around the table. I'll no doubt miss some, but here are the ones I remember: toasted coconut, orange marmalade, chutney, sweet pickle relish, dill relish, chopped dry-roasted peanuts, Currants, chopped scallions, preserved ginger, & raisins.

So back to today's curry. My cabinet yielded peanuts, currants, raisins, & coconut & just as I was making do with those, the power returned & I added tart orange marmalade & the pickle relishes. Mu was thrilled with a couple spoonfuls of rice, & as for me...
I feel a coma nap coming on.