RECIPE Here is a hearty and heart wise vegetable curry that will satisfy you on a cold winter night. Serve it over rice, or with heated Pita bread. Jalapeño peppers are not always carriers of the same "heat". If you are skittish about spiciness, you may cut down on the jalapeños, and add a bit of cayenne at the end if the result is too bland. Aloo is potato in Hindi, and gobi is cauliflower. Since we also use green peas, our version ought to be called Aloo Gobi Matar.

Aloo Gobi  (8 servings)

The Paste:

In the food processor, purée finely

• Half a bunch cilantro (not too many stems)
• 2 jalapeño peppers, caps off
• 1 generous tablespoon grated garlic
• 1 generous tablespoon grated ginger
• 2 plain yogurts
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut (optional)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon grated garlic
• 2 jalapeños, caps off, then sliced
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 4 to 5 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
• 1 huge or two smaller heads cauliflower, cut in florets
• 1/2 bag frozen peas
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Half a bunch chopped cilantro

In a large thick-bottomed pot, heat the oil until quite hot, but on a medium fire.

Throw in the cumin seeds, and after a few seconds, throw in the onion, garlic and jalapeño. Stir often until nicely golden. Add the salt.

Meanwhile, in another pot, cook the potatoes with the turmeric in one inch to one-and-a-half inch of water (the potatoes won't all be under water, but you will cover with a lid, so they will steam). Stop cooking when the potatoes are almost done, not quite.

Back to the onion pot: when it seems like the onions are going to start sticking, add the yogurt paste and stir nonstop until the paste is boiling.

Add the cauliflower to the onion pot, and also the potatoes and their turmeric water.

Cook carefully, stirring often, until the cauliflower and the potatoes are just done.

Turn the fire off and stop the cooking by adding the frozen peas, the lemon juice and the cilantro. Check and correct the salt.