Shown below is a photo of all the ingredients: front row, left to right – chopped onions, shredded and chopped ginger root, lemon; middle row, left to right – raw honey, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, crushed garlic, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, paprika, vegetable oil; back row, left to right – fat free plain yogurt, coriander powder.

Start by mixing one can of water with the tomato paste.

Mix the water and tomato paste thoroughly into a tomato puree. If you don’t have tomato paste, then use tomato puree as a substitute (adding the can of water turns the tomato paste into tomato puree).

Combine crushed garlic with the shredded and chopped fresh ginger root in a small dish. Mix thoroughly.

Add a little vegetable oil to a large skillet and heat it up. I am using organic canola oil here.

After the oil has heated up a little bit, add the chopped onions. Don’t overheat.

Cook the chopped tomatoes for a little while over a medium flame, but don’t let them turn brown. We don’t want to overcook them.

Next, add the can of diced tomatoes.

Right away add the tomato puree you made from the tomato paste.

Cook for a few minutes and then add the seasonings – start with the ground cumin and coriander powder.

Follow that up with the paprika and cayenne pepper.

Stir it in real good and then add the garlic and ginger next. Cook these ingredients only for a little bit – just enough to infuse the flavors. Keep stirring.

Cook it down until it starts to get a little bit thick. If it accidentally gets too thick, you can always add a little water.

Next add the yogurt.

Stir it in real good but don’t cook it too long – just a minute or so.

Next, turn off the flame and add the lemon juice.

Finally, add honey and salt to taste. Stir the honey in thoroughly to melt it all the way and mix it in really good.

The cooking is done. The whole cooking time is about 20 – 25 minutes total. It doesn’t take long to make at all.

I like to put it in jars and store it in the refrigerator to keep until ready to use so I can cook chicken tikka masala in small batches.

You can then make quick and easy chicken tikka masala simply by cutting up about a 2/3 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken breast into small pieces and searing it in a pan for a couple of minutes, then adding a jar of the tikka masala sauce and letting it simmer for about 7 or 8 minutes until the chicken is just done and not pink anywhere. You don’t want to overcook the chicken, otherwise it will be dry.

Shown below is a photo of all the ingredients: starting in back and going left to right row by row – cauliflower, broccoli, yams, red onions (always use red onions for curry recipes), tomatoes, Anaheim peppers, ginger root, Serrano peppers, Habanero peppers, sliced garlic cloves and fresh coriander leaves (cliantro).

Start by heating up a little oil in a large pan and then sauté the sliced garlic cloves. Use a medium-high flame.

Cook the garlic for a minute or so and then add the whole cumin seeds.

Continue to cook until the seeds turn dark … You want the garlic to be a light tan and just starting to brown a little. You don’t want the garlic too well done.

Next, add the onions.

Turn the flame down and cook the onions for a couple of minutes. You don’t want the onions to be brown.

Next, add the chopped tomatoes. The tomatoes will contain some water and will slow down the cooking a bit.

Cook the tomatoes for a minute or so and then add the spices. Start by adding the coriander powder.

Next, add the turmeric powder.

Stir it up real good to mix all the ingredients. Next, add the Anaheim peppers.

Cook everything for a couple more minutes.

Next add the chopped ginger and cook for a very short time. You don’t want to cook the flavor away.

Now add all the vegetables. This is the cauliflower …

Then comes the broccoli …

And then add the yams …

Cook for about 25 minutes to soften all the vegetables. Add a little water if necessary to cover all the vegetables.

While the vegetables are cooking, cut the chicken breast meat into small pieces….

Keep checking the curry. Stir it up once in awhile. Add a little salt at this point. I will usually add about two teaspoons.

When the vegetables are all cooked, add the chicken meat …

After adding the chicken, cook for about 5 minutes only or until the chicken is not pink anywhere.

Serve immediately when done. The hot curry will continue to cook the chicken. You don’t want the chicken to become dry. Transfer any extra to a bowl and then cover and put in the refrigerator.

The serving of curry is on the right in the photo below … next to all the garnishes – fresh coriander leaves, Habanero peppers and Serrano peppers.

Shown below is the garnished curry ready to serve.

Shown below is a photo of most of the ingredients. Starting from the back row and going left to right: turmeric, chopped garlic, whole cumin seeds, garam masala, 3 large tomatoes, onion, dried mung beans, ginger root, coriander (cilantro) and Anaheim chili peppers.

Shown below is the rest of the ingredients – fresh spinach.

Start by rinsing the mung beans. Rinse them about 5 or 6 times, straining through a mesh colander after each rinsing.

Add 5 cups of water to the rinsed mung beans plus 1/4 tsp. of turmeric and 1 tsp. of salt. We are using sea salt. Place the pot over a high flame then cover and bring to a boil. After it comes to a boil, turn the flame way way down and cook slowly for 1 1/2 hours. Cook it over a low flame to get a creamy texture. Cover it with a lid while cooking.

While the dal is cooking, chop up all the vegetables. Start with the Anaheim chili peppers.

Cut the end off the pepper, then cut the pepper in half.

Remove all the seeds and ribs.

Slice the pepper halves lengthwise into about 4 or 5 slices each.

Now chop into medium sized chunks. Repeat for all three peppers.

Gather up al the chopped peppers into a bowl and set aside for now.

Slice the onion into thin slices. Start by quartering the onion. If you are using two small onions instead of one large onion, you can cut them into halves instead of quarters.

Peel the skin off and slice each part into thin slices.

When the onions are all sliced up, set them aside.

Chop the fresh coriander (cilantro).

Peel the fresh ginger root and slice up into chunks.

Either use a chopper or chop the ginger root with a chef’s knife. Chop it up real fine – nearly minced.

I like to prepare all the chopped ingredients in bowls so they are ready to add when the time comes. Shown below left to right, back to front: ginger root, chopped garlic, coriander and whole cumin seeds. Lately I’ve been doing this a little differently. I place all the chopped peppers in a bowl, then add the coriander, ginger and garlic over the top of the peppers because they are all added to the skillet at the same time.

Finally, chop all the tomatoes and set them aside in a bowl.

Check the dal and stir it with a wooden spoon once in awhile. Keep it covered while cooking.

In a large skilet, add about 1/2 cup of water and bring it to a boil over a high flame. Then add the whole cumin seeds.

Cook the cumin seeds over a high flame for about 1 to 2 minutes. The seeds will start turning dark and the cooking water will become yellowish in color.

Add the sliced onions, then cook over a medium flame for about 10-12 minutes. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon.

After the onions have cooked for about 10-12 minutes, add the chili peppers, coriander, chopped garlic and ginger root. Cook for 2 minutes and stir with a wooden spoon.

After the chili peppers, coriander, chopped garlic and ginger root have cooked for 2 minutes, add the chopped tomatoes.

Stir all the vegetables together with a wooden spoon.

Cover the skillet and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After the dal has cooked for 1 1/2 hours, add the fresh spinach. I like to cut the spinach into smaller pieces so they aren’t too stringy in the finished soup.

Stir the fresh spinach into the dal until it is completely covered.

Cover the pot with a lid and continue cooking over a very low flame for another 15 minutes.

When the vegetables have finished cooking 20 minutes after the tomatoes have been added, they are ready to be added to the dal.

Add the cooked vegetables to the dal.

Stir the cooked vegetables into the dal and add 1/2 tsp. of garam masala. At this time I like to add about another 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. of salt.

Simmer for about 15 minutes to marry up all the flavors, then serve hot. Serve with brown rice and some naan bread. Naan bread is really good but it can make you hungry so go easy on it.