4. VEGETABLE STEW.
1-1/2 lbs. (when prepared and cut up) of mixed seasonable vegetables, including, whenever possible, tomatoes, celery and spinach; one tablespoonful of water.
Cut up the moist, juicy vegetables such as celery, spinach, onions and tomatoes, place them with the water in a casserole, put lid on and slowly cook for about one hour until enough juice is extracted to safely add the rest of the cut-up vegetables. The whole should now be placed in a slightly greater heat and simmered until the last added vegetables are quite tender. The mixture should be stirred occasionally with a wooden spoon.
V.—CURRIES.
I do not recommend the use of curries. Many food-reformers eschew them altogether. But they are sometimes useful for the entertainment of meat-eating friends, or to tide over the attack of meat-craving which sometimes besets the vegetarian beginner. Of course there are curries and curries. Cheap curry powders are very much hotter than those of a better quality. When buying curry powder it is best to go to a high-class grocer and get the smallest possible tin of the best he keeps. It will last for years. Those who prefer to make their own curry powder may try Dr. Kitchener's recipe as follows:—
1. CURRY POWDER.
3 ozs. coriander seed, 2-1/2 ozs. tumeric, 1 oz. black pepper, 1/2 oz. lesser cardamoms, 1/4 oz. cinnamon, 1/4 oz. cumin seed.
Put the ingredients into a cool oven and let them remain there all night. Next day pound them thoroughly in a marble mortar, and rub through a sieve. Put the powder into a well-corked bottle.
A spice machine may be used instead of the mortar, but in that case the tumeric should be obtained ready powdered, as it is so hard that it is apt to break the machine. The various ingredients are generally only to be obtained from a large wholesale druggist.