Food for thought: GDS-free bacon curry, quick homemade Garam Masala

By Kyra Hoggan

Readers couldn't agree on whether they wanted bacon or curry for this week's recipe - so I got creative and came up with a simple bacon curry recipe that met with mixed reviews. I would've preferred it with chicken or shrimp, but my son absolutely loved the bacon in it and said this recipe is a keeper. I also wasn't wild about the tomato in this, and would probably use cauliflower instead, were I to make it again – but my boy loved the tomato, too, so I guess it's an individual thing.

You'll need:

Four potatoes, cubed, boiled and set aside

Two tomatoes, diced (or sub in your favourite veg, like summer squash, cauliflower, zucchini).

About a half-package of bacon, minced

One onion, minced

Two or three jalepenos or hot chili peppers, seeded and minced (Or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried hot chili flakes)

1 tbsp minced garlic

I tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 tbsp medium curry

1 tbsp cumin

3 tsp Garam Masala powder (super easy recipe below that you can premake and have on hand for any curry recipe)

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander powder

Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, for garnish

Add bacon, onion, ginger, garlic, hot pepper and Garam Masala to fry pan on med-high heat. Cook until bacon is cooked through and onions are translucent (at this stage, I drained off some of the fat, but you don't have to).

Toss in potatoes and rest of spices, stir fry until heated through, about 6 or seven minutes. Add tomatoes, lid and simmer for about five minutes, until the tomato is cooked. I added a bit of salt here, but it's totally not necessary.

Serve with chopped cilantro leaves as a garnish.

Cheater's Garam Masala

If you really want to do this up right, you'll buy the spices whole, roast them and grind them. I don't have that kind of time, and I don't trust spice mixes in stores, so I just throw together:

1 tablespoon ground cumin

 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom

 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

I store it in an airtight container in my spice cabinet – this makes about a quarter cup.