When we were very small, anything green at mealtime was a signal that something unpleasant awaited. Seven layer salad. Canned asparagus. Groene bonen on boiled potatoes (again). Salad-courtesy-of-the-chef's-back-yard. Spinach fandango.
Mem's Curry Rice was an exception. It was green in a not entirely natural way. In a nature-says-stop-this-is-not-edible way. In a 90s turn-a-turtle-into-a-ninja way. In a definitely-not-a-vegetable way. I still don't know how she got it so green.
I loved the way it smelled cooking down in the plug-in skillet. I loved the way we passed around the can of tomato sauce with two triangular punch-holes from plate to plate as we impatiently waited our turn to create a masterpiece in livid green and red or play tic-tac-toe with our food. It was the meal I most associate with the gezelligheit of my upbringing. It must have been convenient to make too, because we ate it a lot. Mem usually ate something else, though Heit dove right in with us.
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp curry
1 cup rice
1 3/4 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 dab butter
8 oz tomato sauce in can
Process
Brown the hamburger in a skillet with the onion. Drain off the liquid. Mix in the curry, Add the rice, water, salt and butter. Cook on low for 20 minutes. There it is, dead simple. The art comes in when serving: get an old fashioned can punch-style opener and put a small and a large triangular hole in the lid of the can roughly opposite each other. Pour the tomato sauce into the individual bowl in your favorite impressionist style.
-Thanks to Reanna Bergman for codifying a lot of this recipe.
NB: while looking for a picture of an old-fashioned can punch, I learned that the tab on the back of some bottle openers is for lifting the tab on an aluminum can.
