Curry for Lunch

Dear God.

I made curry today.

I don't know how many of you keep up with my food postings, but a while back I came up with my own recipe for Jamaican-style goat curry, to be eaten wrapped in rotis. That's what I made today.

It's hideous. I used a big-ass London broil for the meat, and I guess I ended up with a gallon of curry. I used four tiny habaneros to heat it up, and I feel like it's melting the inner surfaces of my body.

Those habaneros are something. Absolutely my favorite pepper. It's just too bad they don't have a variety that's less hot, so you could get more of the fruity flavor along with the heat. A while back I bought some Scotch bonnets that turned out to be very mild (they're supposed to be about like habaneros), but they were also low in flavor.

I thought I was going to have to put on a respirator when I cooked this stuff. I had the ceiling fan and the stove hood going, and I was still crying like Ted Kennedy after last call.

I'm concerned that people will be disappointed when they make this curry, because there isn't much to it except meat, potatoes, and sauce. It comes across as kind of plain. That's because I stuck to the traditional idea. If this were a dish to eat over rice, you'd want to put bell peppers and water chestnuts and stuff in it, but since it's made to go inside a giant pancake, that crap isn't really appropriate.

If you're a free-thinking nut who refuses to make the pancakes, go ahead and add other things to the curry. As long as you're abandoning the original concept, go ahead and add some tomato paste. Maybe bits of pineapple would work. But if you're eating it with rotis, don't worry, it'll be fine the way it is.

When I'm seriously trying to kill myself with this stuff, I add sour cream before wrapping the roti up. How sick is that? I also put sour cream in the recipe itself. It allows you to get away with more heat.

I don't know if it's worth it to try to find goat. Beef is really good. So is chicken.

Why do I do this to myself? I still have a pint of this weekend's scorching-hot White Anglo Saxon Protestant Chili. The septic tank must be boiling by now.

I ate it without rotis today, since I'm trying not to get any fatter.

Here is a link back to the recipe. I changed the number of cardamom pods, because 6 made it smell a little like Vaporub. I think I overdid the fat, too. It's very good with 5 tablespoons instead of 10.

Here's a link to the rotis. I think they're better than tortillas.

You might also try putting the whole mess on a patacon, so I'll link to that, too. Not sure curry will go with plantains, but maybe one of you will be brave enough to try.