Scour your local farmer’s market or supermarket for the freshest
collection of: carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, true yams, batata,
white potatoes, beets, turnips, onions etc–in other words, anything
you can find. Also, pick up one of the smaller, dry-fleshed squashes,
such as Buttercup (squashes are a fruit, not a root crop, but make a
delicious addition to this dish). You will also need:
2 large onions
Two cans of coconut milk (be sure to read the labels carefully, do not use
coconut water or creme)
1-2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
6-8 hard ginger snaps
Optional: Curry powder, to taste
1 cup fresh cranberries
Cut 2 large onions in half then thick slices
Clean and peel or scrape the root vegetables (and squash if you are including) and cut into large chunks
Sauté the onions until they are transluscent, then continue sauteing
the rest of the vegetables–in batches if necessary–until the
vegetables are browning and beginning to soften. Stir frequently, as
the vegetables tend to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Place the vegetables in a large stew pot in order of their cooking
time; in other words, carrots, beets and turnips take longer to cook
than potatoes both sweet and white, etc.Cover with chicken stock,
vegetarian canned stock, and some water, to cover–about 1 quart, or
so–bring to a gentle boil.
When the roots can be pierced with a fork, but are not soft
(anywhere from 7-20 minutes depending on the size of the chunks, and
density of the vegetables), put in two cans of coconut milk (be sure to
read the labels carefully, do not use coconut water or creme), bring
back up to gentle boil.
Crush 2 or 3 of the ginger snaps into small pieces and stir into the
mixture. As they soften, they will thicken the stew. Add more or less,
to achieve a stew-like consistency, to your taste.
To make this a scrumptious curry, addtwo or three tablespoonfuls of curry powder, to taste (each brand is different)
Pour in a cup of cranberries and cook about five more minutes. Let sit and cool a bit.
Serve over basmati rice, or any rice of your choice, or cous-cous.
Serve
with condiments, such as: chopped peanuts, currants, yellow raisins
toasted shredded sweetened coconut, chopped crystallized
ginger–whatever you fancy.
This dish is better the next day. Reheat carefully; bringing to a
slow boil and add another cup of cranberries–but NOT if you are
reheating in the microwave. Add the cranberries only when reheating on
the stovetop.