Beet and Mushroom Curry/Yellow Split Peas with Thyme and Cumin

When I saw the beet and mushroom curry recipe, I thought, "Whoa. That's weird. I've gotta try it." Well, we tried it. It tasted like beets. With mushrooms. In sauce. Needless to say, it wasn't anything remarkable.

The peas were a bit more of something. They had a good flavor, but I should've used more than the one red jalapeno that I did, since it didn't have the bite I was looking for. And I almost forgot to add the thyme. This recipe was one of many in the book from Trinidad; the cuisine is a fascinating blend of Indian, Mediterranean, and North African.

One thing I've noticed with these recipes is that they ask for a lot of salt. Of course, I realize that most of the things I used to cook didn't need a lot of salt because I wasn't cooking the same way. Using cream of mushroom soup isn't quite like making a curry from scratch.

We ate this with basmati rice, which is really the secret ingredient of Indian cooking. With white rice it's okay, but use basmati and it feels like Indian food.

(Both recipes from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian.)

Verdict: beet and mushroom curry = 2 stars; peas = 4 stars