Indian patties and curry (with persimmon)

Yes, I have found another use for the 50 some-odd persimmons I bought last week --- its as a sauce thickener (and slight sweetener). I was have been contemplating this for many days and finally, yesterday, decided to chance disaster and mix persimmon with tomatos as a base for an Indian curry. I dare say it went off without a hitch. I also found use for much of the 1.5 kilogram brick of goat cheese I got at the cheese shop for a measly 6$. Stay tuned and you too will learn how to cobble together a meal out of stuff you bought on impulse without thinking.
That premise of dinner last night was that my cousin Johanna (who was very helpful in the kitchen) was visiting (I got tickets to the Daily Show and she was coming with) and we had decided to have my other cousin and my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner. Cooking didn't commence until like 8. The menu was to be Indian vegi and cheese patties, rice, and a thick curry sauce. Think Malia Kofta... but don't think that too much.
Highlights of the evening were:
1. Tricking everyone into thinking that they were drinking Johnny Walker Blue Label and listening to their high praise (it was really old Canadian club in a Johnny Blue bottle).
2. Realizing that despite trying to make Indian patties, I was really just making Indian Latkas (no potato, but they really look the part).
3. The success of Persimmon as a thickening/creamening agent.
4. The use of a significant portion of my goat cheese.

Wow, as I write about the evening I realize that what I am saying is pretty boring. So rather than blabbing more, here's the recipes.

Indian Patties. (I'll try to make this a recipe for 4 or 5)
1 can chickpeas
2 carrots
1 zucchini
1 cup goat cheese
1 cup crushed cashews
some flour
1 long hot pepper
1 or 2 eggs (depending on size)
1 small onion
4 cloves garlic
Curry mixture (red pepper powder, cumin/ coriander, tumeric, or curry powder)
Drain and was chickpeas. Add to large glass bowl, with the cheese and eggs and cashews. Peel and julienne carrots, zuchinni and pepper into almost thick pieces (the thinner the better). Mix in with diced onion and well crushed/chopped garlic. Spice with indian spices and salt/pepper. Then add in a few spoonfuls of flour to thicken up the mixture. Let sit for a little. Take you favorite cast iron skillet and cover bottom with oil. Heat and then (just wait until Hannukah's post) shape into latka like patties (maybe 2-3 inches in diameter) and place into the pan. Let these get browned before flipping and repeating. Occasionally add more oil, and when cooked place them on paper bags for draining. Yum.

Curry sauce (also with 4-5 people)
2 Persimmons, ripe (if you don't have these, no big deal... it just makes it a nicer, creamier consistency)
1/2 cup goat cheese
1- 1.5 large can of whole tomatoes
1 cup peas
1 cup cauliflower
2 carrots
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
bayleaves
dried whole red pepper
crushed cardamom
garma masala
tumeric
mustard seeds
Heat oil in a deep pan. Add bay leaves and dried whole red pepper and let sizzle for 30 seconds. Add mustard seeds, sizzle another 30 seconds, then add powdered spices and crushed cardamom. After about 15 seconds add medium sized pieces of chopped onion and garlic and hot pepper. Cook for a few minutes until onions start to get a little translucent, but not browned. Add in vegis and cook until they get a little tender. Meanwhile take 1 can of tomatoes and the two persimmons and blend in a blender to a slurry. Pour into the pan and add any additional tomato. Cook for 10 minutes or so then add in goat cheese and mix until smooth. Add salt and pepper and any additional spice to taste.

Rice
Cook Indian rice.

Eat.

Persimmon Smoothies

I wasn't sure if I had slept through Persimmon season and missed out on my favorite exotic fruit buy of the year, but just a few days ago I saw my first persimmon being sold at a fruit cart. Yesterday, after a month and a half of eating my previous chinatown cache of vegis, I took a trip to the outdoor markets under the Manhattan bridge. As providence would have it, it was a great day for shopping: Not too warm or cold, lots of stands with nice looking food. There was even a man selling freshly caught fish from the east river (I had heard people do this, but yuck). After making countless purchases of vegis, plus a nice ripe pineapple, I came to the persimmon selling. The deal was 6$ for a large box of smaller sized ones, or 8$ for a large box of larger sized ones. So as not to be bothered with regrets about getting the wrong size, I bought both boxes, a sum total of 14$ for approximately 50 persimmons.
You should ask yourself (if you didn't bother reading the title of the posting) why I would ever want to buy 50 persimmons. The answer comes in the form of the silkiest, creamiest, best smoothies ever. I happened onto persimmon smoothies after a similar purchase of a box of persimmons last year. I tasted them and was not particularly smitten with their flavor --- a little honey tasting, but nothing special for me. Left with a bunch of their fruits I figured that I'd throw them in with some yogurt, and some juice or other fruits. To my surprise, the persimmon, when blended, yielded the aforementioned attributes to my smoothie.
So, I have begun my daily smoothie regiment. A few spoonfuls of plain yogurt, a persimmon or two skinned and cut in half, some orange juice, or strawberries, or blueberries, or mango etc, and some ice. Blend it up and enjoy. In fact, since I have so many, I might just freeze some for a warmer day (yes... smoothies in the late fall are not optimal, but still with ny apartment heat they way it is, you sometimes need a smoothie to cool down).
I've been considering trying to use my previous thoughts on bok choy to make a citrus smoothie with persimmon. I'll update if I do.
Also, I have been toying with using persimmon to create creamier sauces.
Lastly, as I type I have a bowl of fermenting urad dal, channa dal, and short rice sitting five feet from me. In a few hours this will be blended and hopefully will become Dosas. I will post as to the success, and more likely failure of this exploit.