Tomato-based curry anything

Taken from Joe Grossberg and done on many occasions, this is my basic go-to for making curries. It makes a great meal::dinner to server maybe servings::5 and is diet::vegan and diet::glutenfree (unless you add meat or paneer, of course).

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cooking Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (canola works best)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced
• 1 or 2 green chiles, seeded and diced
• 1 tbsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp corriander powder
• 1/2 tsp chile powder or cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 can of petite-diced or crushed tomatoes
• something else (chickpeas, veggies, etc)
• 2 tbsp fresh, chopped cilantro

Instructions

• Heat the oil in a sauce pan, wok or pot until it gets really hot (i.e. when a drop of water hits the pan, it sizzles like crazy).
• Add the cumin seeds and fry until they start to brown.
• Add the onion and stir well. Mix it up occasionally. When the onion starts getting soft and translucent, it's cooked enough.
• Add the garlic, ginger and chiles. When the garlic turns light brown, move along.
• Put in the spices (do not use the yellow supermarket "curry powder"; that stuff is too bland and is to "real" curry powder what Pizza Hut is to "real" pizza), stir well, and cook for another minute or two.
• Pour in the tomatoes and stir occasionally. You want to make the tomatoes' water evaporate, so the sauce is thicker. Aim for something roughly as thick as tomato sauce; not too watery and not too thick and pasty.
• Add your anything ingredient. This can be range from canned red beans to zucchini to pieces of leftover chicken. Stir well, to let it absorb the ingredients. If the sauce starts gets too dry, just add some water and mix well.
• Add the cilantro as garnish (cooking destroys a lot of its flavor and fragrance) and salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with long-grain rice (e.g. basmati), plain yogurt (or raita) and chutney.