19 ounce canned chick peas, drained
1 cup Jasmine rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seed
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the garlic and cumin seeds, cooking until fragrant.
2. Add the chick peas to the pan, stirring to cover with garlic and cumin. Remove from heat.
3. Meanwhile, cook rice in coconut milk and water with turmeric in a covered sauce pan over medium heat.
4. Mix chick peas into the rice and serve.

Makes 6 servings

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds beef chuck, cubed
8 scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon ginger puree
3 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
3 cardamom pods
1 tablespoon lemongrass, chopped
2 cups coconut milk
1 red chili, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons almonds, ground
salt

1. Heat a portion of the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the beef in batches, using the additional oil as necessary.
2. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside. Add the scallions, garlic and ginger to the pan and cook until onions begin to soften.
3. Add the coriander, cumin, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, lemon grass and coconut milk to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until well combined.
4. Return the beef to the pan, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook covered until meat is tender, about an hour to an hour and a half.
5. Remove the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and star anise. Stir in the almonds to thicken the sauce and serve.

Makes 4 servings

I've never had Beef Korma before, but every picture I've ever seen depicts it as a thick, red curry that's almost like a stew. After simmering for about an hour, mine still looked more like a Thai coconut soup; very yellow and very runny. The runny part was my fault because I didn't have any nuts to grind and use to thicken it, but the color has me baffled. I've looked through several recipes and they all contain the same or similar ingredients, so I cannot figure it out. Maybe I need bloodier beef or something?

I had some chick peas leftover from the Curried Chick Peas, so I figured I'd throw them into another curry-type dish, Cumin Chick Pea Rice. I'll admit that this was basically an excuse to make Thai Coconut Rice and pass it off as another dish. That and I wanted to make a tall tower of yellow rice. There's something about Jasmine rice combined with coconut milk that's just so delicious. Of course, it's just as well with chick peas and cumin, also favorite combinations to me. I used this to thicken the korma in place of the nuts and topped the dish with fresh cilantro (why I keep doing this to myself now, I don't know). It tasted like a tomatoless butter chicken. With beef instead of chicken, of course. The flavor is pleasant enough, but I prefer beef cooked in other ways and would likely cook butter chicken over beef korma in any instance in the future.