Sweet and Sour Vegetables

When me and two of my friends went to Thailand over the winter holiday, we took a cooking class while in Chiang Mai. It was a 7 hour class where they took you to the local open-air market to learn about vegetables, and then took us back to their school (which had an open-air kitchen…. so awesome) to learn how to make 7 different dishes. We learned how to make masaman curry, Thai fried rice, Pad Thai, sweet and sour vegetables, coconut milk soup, fried bananas…. we made a lot of food. The school’s slogan is, “by the end of the day, you’ll feel pregnant” and by jove… they were completely right.
Me and one of the two friends that I went to Thailand with were feeling nostalgic last night, and pining for that balmy 32 degree weather (it has been hovering between 0 and 10 degress here in Kochi recently). So! We decided to take a walk down memory lane and cook up one of the recipes we learned at the cooking school. I could almost feel that sweet sweet sunshine.

Sweet and Sour Vegetables

Goma Oil (for frying)
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 head of cauliflower, small pieces
10-12 baby corn, cut into thin strips
1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced
1/2 medium carrot, peeled and sliced
1 tomato, cut into cubes
1 cup chopped pineapple
Cooked rice

Sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup

(Makes 3-4 servings)

1. Get everything cut and separated before you start cooking.
2. Make the sauce and steamed rice before you start stir frying as well. Pour all of the ingredients for the sauce into a small bowl and stir well with a spoon so that the sugar dissolves and the lime juice mixes in well.
3. Heat up the goma oil in a frying pan for 30 seconds on med-high and add the garlic. Fry the garlic for a minute before adding the onions and frying those for 2-3 minutes. The onions should start looking translucent.
4. Turn down the heat to medium and add the cauliflower,  cucumber, carrot, and baby corn to the mix and stir fry for 5 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes, pineapple and pour on the sauce, coating all the vegetables evenly. Turn the heat down to the lower end of medium.
6. Cover the frying pan with a pot lid so that the vegetables can steam in the pan.
7. Serve over rice.