Monday, May 18, 2009

Tangy Chinese curry/gravy with POM Juice!

We got six bottles of POM juice recently from POM who wanted us to try the juice. While we love to drink it as a juice, inspiration hit us right on our creative bone and we decided to make it into a savory gravy sauce. The only cuisine that seemed to go great with such a ridiculous idea was Chinese. The all forgiving stir fry which was suddenly going to be bathed for the first time in a tangy red sauce. We had this with tons of fresh vegetables and with some steamed rice, and it was such a satisfying, yet indulgent meal. For a person like me who loves tangy food, this was pure delight! Here is the recipe.

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Ingredients

For the sauce:

16 oz POM juice
1/3 cup Tomato sauce
2.5 tsp dark Soy Sauce
5 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Chopped Ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Red Wine vinegar
1 tsp corn starch
Salt to taste

Vegetables:

1 medium broccoli, cut and stems diced
1/2 cup sugar snap peas with pod
1/2 cup carrots, sliced lengthwise,
1/3 cup spring onions, chopped
1/3 cup green bell peppers, chopped or sliced lengthwise
1/2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
2/3 cup tofu cubed
3 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Salt to taste

1. First, use half the oil from the 'Vegetables' section to fry tofu. We just add some oil on our tava/skillet and let the tofu become crisp. Keep aside.

2. For the vegetables, cook the broccoli in the microwave for about 5 mins and keep aside. Cook carrots similarly.

3. Meanwhile, add all the sauce ingredients, make sure there are no lumps and bring it to a boil. Let this sauce reduce and thicken on medium heat for about 15 mins.

4. Heat the rest of the oil from the 'Vegetable' section and add scallion and garlic, sugar snap peas and cook for 3-4 mins. Then, add bell peppers and let cook for a good 3-4 mins. Add the carrots and the broccoli and toss around with salt for 2 mins. Once they are crunchy and half-cooked, add the vegetables into the sauce and close. Cook for about 7-10 mins until the vegetables absorb the flavours of the POM sauce gravy!

5. Serve hot with steamed rice.

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I must admit I was quite skeptical of A's idea. So, I ended up drinking 2-3 bottles of the 6 bottles of POM juice after my morning run in about a week's time. It is super tasty and I must say, very natural! It boosted my weekday mornings. And it is a must buy if you are buying your juices for summer. We have it in the refrigerator now and is great even just as a juice! But then, well, A had other ideas :|

He very smartly hid the last 2 bottles and the day I spent searching for the juice, he made this sauce for dinner while a very skeptical me kept aside a small quantity of veggies aside, just in case :P However, all this changed and I threw in the veggies quickly into the POM sauce and had it along with steamed rice. If you don't like tangy food, then this isn't for you, but then, who doesn't right? :)

54 comments:

Archana said...

What a brilliant idea ! This sounds amazing...and its fun to just add anything you get into a stir fry - always works out in the end !!

Elyse said...

What a great use of the POM! Stir fry is always a great vehicle for different sauces, and your POM sauce seems to really jazz up the stir fry. Yummy! Thanks for sharing this inspired recipe.

Cham said...

I love Pom juice to tea.... What a great idea involving as sauce!

chef and her kitchen said...

That looks really yummy...Loved ur bowl..

delhibelle said...

mmmm..just finished having chinese for lunch, and you got me hungry again!

delhibelle said...

just noticed..5 tsp cayenne? Gotta love that;)

amna said...

juice in gravy? nice! and you received POM juices? so cool!! nothing coming my way to SG I think.. sigh..

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

wow.. thats so creative! nice idea.

Priya Suresh said...

Thats so innovative...never heard or tried out sauce with juice...Curry looks amazing!

Parita said...

Wow looks wonderful..never heard of this before..delicious :)

Savi-Ruchi said...

hats off to your creative brains..
great work A & N :)

sra said...

Nice experiment! I like sugar snap peas but we get them only very rarely here!

SJ said...

wah wah wah!!! You made a gravy that too chinese from POM??? Besh besh!!

indosungod said...

That is really creative and a good way to use the new miracle food - POM juice.

Donna-FFW said...

I like the tang! This sauce sounds incredible.. with the veggies and rice, probably so tasty!!

I made sangria with the POM I was sent. I have yet to post it, wasnt happy with my photos, and NO that isnt an excuse to make the sangria again;)

Laavanya said...

I love POM as is.. but what a lovely idea to make a tangy sauce with it for stir-fried veggies.

Ashwini said...

Love POM juice..or anything made with it. Sauce looks yummm

Sakshi said...

Every time you start your post with the red letter WE I cry buckets for all my hard work in the kitchen that goes unnoticed by a certain M ...sobs he just eats everything and burps!!

POM in gravy?? wow and I thought I was the innovative one to pour it into falooda instead of roohafza?? I love tangy and spicy food but M doesn't so this one is ssure to be recreated in my kitchen...

Soma said...

Way to go guys! what a delightful idea to use the juice in a gravy.. the juice did have the right tang & sweet. we just drank ours in a few days & got to make one mocktail.. which is in the draft forgotten.

Indhu said...

brilliant idea... juice in a gravy... am with you for being skeptical.... and also with you for coming to your senses and throwing the vegetables into the sauce :)

marriedtoadesi.com said...

What a cool idea to use POM for this! Looks great!

I'm going to try the Tom Kha soup, its one of my hubby's favorites. Only thing is its hard to find kaffir lime leaves! In downtown chicago of all the places!!!

Kanchana

Shreya said...

You are amazing! Love the recipe, pom juice in curry is new to me..the pics amazing with the white background, the colour of the veggies..yummm!I think I should be able to manage this dish despite the ingredients list that will require a quick trip to the store. Bookmarked:D

Lisa Turner said...

That's certainly an inspired creation! And I love the photos! Gorgeous.

Deepthi Shankar said...

I love tangy stuff & this sounds just cool like all yr other dishes

Bong Mom said...

A is indeed brilliant

TBC said...

POM juice in Chinese food! :D
This reminds me of the time I added tomato juice (cos I had a huge Campbell's bottle that was nearing its expiration date) to my dosa batter. My husband thought I was nuts but he ate the dosas without saying a word! ;-)

The dish looks very nice.:)

SJ said...

N as of now I only have frooti so you think I can make something like this with that?

I am not joking serious question.

Vani said...

Very creative indeed! I've used OJ in some of my curries (yeah, curries!). Yet to venture into POM or any other juice for cooking spicy stuff. Looks great!

Anonymous said...

LOVE it! genius way to incorporate POM into a completely Asian dish!

Manju said...

this is such a brilliant idea!!

Vibaas said...

what a neat idea! i dont like pom juice as a juice. this will be a gr8 way to have it.

Jaime said...

this is so creative! i would have never thought to use the POM juice for this

Bharti said...

I like it! That is indeed a creative use of the juice.

Vegetarian Zest said...

You guys rock. The dish looks amazing and as well as the picture.

Hannah said...

I don't usually think to use pomegranate in savory dishes, but this sounds delicious!

Nithya Praveen said...

Thats a fantastic idea...i love tangy food...a must try dish.Never thot of using POM juice in food...great attempt:)

Usha said...

What an innovative idea, never would have thought to use POM in a savory dish, love it !

Madhuram said...

That's a very neat idea. I too love POM. I used to drink it regularly when I was pregnant.

Vaishali said...

Lovely use of the Pom. I can imagine the flavor would go very well with the other Asian flavors. The gravy looks so delicious-- that's a great color.

Cakelaw said...

This looks amazing! The POM juice gives it such lovely colour.

Priya Sriram said...

Adorable pictures A&N! Loved it! :)

ST said...

wow.. thats so innovative! nice idea.

AnuSriram said...

Thats very innovative and a neat idea.. Looks delicious!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

LOL, oh, ye of little faith! He was right and it was yummy?!

Sounds interesting, I love sauce to pour over my white rice.
~ingrid

Btw, I'll email you the link to the twins' games when its time!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

I think I would enjoy this one!

Vegan_Noodle said...

What a creative use of the POM!! It sounds delicious!

Sia said...

LOL, even I would have hid POM juice first. good one A. wish K could be this creative ;)

Unknown said...

You are a food blogger! And all along I thought you were bickering about cooking on twitter! And worst, somewhere I had made you my lazy-cook soulmate! :P

NKP said...

I love tart flavours, looks delicious! I am thirsty for a Pom now..

Raaga said...

nice... I remember my mom adding orange juice to her chinese veggie sauces :)

A_and_N said...

Thanks so much all of you!

The Caked Crusader said...

what a clever idea! I love how the veg still has colour and bite to it - great photos!

miss v said...

love your creative use of POM!

Tricia said...

The best dish that i can imagine ever!..Can't wait to try this over the weekend. My kids will surely love this