RECIPE / A.C.E.
February 18, 2019
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 13
Daniel J. van Ackere/America’s Test Kitchen via AP
Zhang Yimou’s One Second
dropped from Berlin film festival
This vegetable curry has bold
flavors to keep everyone happy
By America’s Test Kitchen
V
egetable curries are a great hearty
choice for a vegetarian meal. Filled
with bold flavors and a good
variety of vegetables, they can be healthy,
satisfying, and delicious — as long as the
vegetables are well cooked and the flavors
are balanced.
To nail the bold flavor, we turned to a
few pantry-friendly items like curry
powder, garam masala, garlic, and tomato
paste while fresh ginger and a serrano
chile pumped up the flavor even more. A
combination of sweet potatoes, canned
diced tomatoes, eggplant, green beans,
and chickpeas guaranteed everyone would
walk away from the table satiated.
We started by cooking the sweet
potatoes since they would take the longest
to become tender, followed by the eggplant
and green beans. We also found that 20
minutes of simmering eliminated any
tinny taste in the tomatoes and allowed
the chickpeas to turn from crumbly to
creamy.
Finishing the dish with a generous
handful of cilantro and a dollop of Greek
yogurt helped add brightness and brought
our flavors into balance. You can adjust
the spice level of this dish by either
including less of the serrano chile or
adding its seeds.
America’s Test Kitchen provided this article to
The Associated Press. More recipes, cooking
tips, and ingredient and product reviews are
available at <www.americastestkitchen.com>.
Indian-Style Vegetable Curry
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 45 minutes
1 (14.5 ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons canola oil
4 teaspoons curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
2 onions, chopped fine
12 ounces sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon no-salt-added tomato paste
1 pound eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
2 cups water
1 (15 ounce) can no-salt-added chickpeas, rinsed
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
2/3 cup 2% Greek yogurt
Pulse tomatoes with their juice in food processor until nearly smooth, with some
1/4-inch pieces visible, about three pulses.
Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add curry powder
and garam masala and cook until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add onions, sweet
potatoes, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are
browned and sweet potatoes are golden brown at edges, about 10 minutes.
Stir in garlic, chile, ginger, and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 30
seconds. Add eggplant and green beans and cook, stirring constantly, until
vegetables are coated with spices, about two minutes.
Gradually stir in water, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in tomatoes and
chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until
vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Off heat, stir in cilantro and 1/2 teaspoon
salt and season with pepper to taste. Serve with yogurt.
Nutrition information per serving: 260 calories (83 calories from fat); 9 g fat (1 g
saturated, 0 g trans fats); 2 mg cholesterol; 344 mg sodium; 37 g carbohydrate; 10 g
fiber; 13 g sugar; 9 g protein.
Celebrate
the
Year of the Pig!
February 5, 2019 to
January 24, 2020
BEIJING (AP) — The latest film from
famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou has
been dropped from the Berlin Inter-
national Film Festival for what the
festival described as technical reasons.
A notice on the official Weibo
microblogging service account for the
movie One Second apologized but gave no
details other than to say it was not possible
to show the film at Berlin.
The festival said the film was pulled
because
of
“technical
difficulties
encountered during post-production.” It
said the movie would be replaced at its
scheduled showings with Zhang’s action
epic Hero, which premiered in 2002 at the
Great Hall of the People, the seat of
China’s legislature in the heart of Beijing.
Possibly China’s best-known filmmaker,
Zhang has oscillated between big-budget
extravaganzas favored by the ruling
Communist Party and edgier fare touching
on sensitive political and social topics. His
well-known releases include Shadow,
House of Flying Daggers, and Raise the
Red Lantern.
One Second is set amid the chaos and
violence unleashed by Mao Zedong during
the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, a
period rarely discussed in history books or
portrayed on film. It’s slated for release in
China next year.
The party is hyper-sensitive to all direct
FILM DROPPED. Chinese director Zhang Yimou
holds his award for Best Director at the 55th Golden
Horse Awards in Taipei, Taiwan, in this November 17,
2018 file photo. The latest film from Zhang, One Sec-
ond, has been dropped from the Berlin International
Film Festival for “technical reasons.” (AP Photo/Billy
Dai, File)
or implied criticism and its control over the
arts includes deciding what films are
released based on largely secret criteria.
Regulators routinely order what can and
can’t be shown, with special scrutiny for
content pertaining to sex, criminal
activity, social dislocation, and perceived
questioning of the authority or reputation
of the party.
Another Chinese film had also been
pulled from Berlin for similar reasons.
Better Days, which portrays alienated
youth, was “withdrawn for censorship
reasons,”
trade
magazine
Variety
reported, citing unidentified sources.
Historic candidacy of princess upends tradition in Thailand
Continued from page 4
it makes it very difficult for the military
and royalists to contest, protest, or seek to
overturn the result.”
Ubolratana was not present when her
name was registered with the Election
Commission by the Thai Raksa Chart
Party. Its leader, Preechapol Pongpanit,
said its executive committee “agrees that
Princess Ubolratana, who is intelligent
and capable, is the most appropriate
name.” She made no known public
appearances.
“From my point of view, I think she
understands Thai politics. She under-
stands democracy,” he told reporters.
Because Thailand is a constitutional
monarchy, the king and his immediate
circle are not supposed to involve
themselves directly in politics. Parliament
has had members who were distant
relatives of the monarch. Ubolratana falls
into a gray area, as she is commonly called
and treated as a princess, but her highest
royal titles were taken away when she
married an American more than four
decades ago. Just hours after she was
registered,
another
political
party
supporting Prayuth filed an objection with
the Election Commission, arguing that the
action broke rules banning the use of the
royal institution as part of a political
campaign.
Ubolratana, 67, is the first-born of four
children of the late King Bhumibol
Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, with the
current king the second-born.
She was virtually disowned by her
father in 1972 when she married an
American who was a fellow student at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
They settled in the United States where
she and her husband, Peter Jensen, had
three children. Only after a divorce did she
move back permanently to Thailand in
2001.
Since then she has thrown herself into
charity work, especially her “To Be No. 1”
foundation to fight youth drug abuse. She
also frequently promotes Thai tourism and
movies at international forums. In
general, like most of the royal family, she
publicly kept herself aloof from Thailand’s
recent political turmoil.
For most of Bhumibol’s reign from 1946
to his death in 2016, the revered and
humble monarch was a stabilizing force in
Thai politics. But the election of the
telecommunications tycoon Thaksin in
2001 was transformative for Thailand.
His
populist
policies
delivered
unmatchable electoral majorities, but he
was resented by the traditional ruling
class, including royalists and the military.
Violent street protests and two military
coups have marked the years since.
Thaksin went in exile in 2008 to avoid
serving jail time on a corruption conviction
he insists was politically motivated.
His well-funded political machine
returned his allies to power twice, and his
maneuvering is seen as the key element in
arranging for Ubolratana’s selection by a
Thaksin-affiliated party.
Most observers of Thai politics agree
that Thaksin aggressively pursued good
relations with Ubolratana’s brother,
current King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and
friendship with the princess herself. These
links were formed as royalists and others
loyal to Bhumibol accused Thaksin of
showing disrespect for the throne, and
even of harboring secret republican
tendencies.
Thai Raksa Chart Party chief
Preechapol brushed aside questions about
Thaksin.
“I don’t think that Khun (Mr.) Thaksin
will be involved about this,” he said. “I
don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about a
third person.”
When King Maha Vajiralongkorn
ascended to the throne, conventional
wisdom saw him as tightening his grip on
power by allying himself closely with the
military.
The surprise entry of his sister
Ubolratana into politics — assumed to be
with the king’s approval — raises
questions about whether the long-lasting
partnership of the palace with the army is
in jeopardy.
“Assuming that this is proceeding with
the blessing of the King, this suggests that
the Crown is trying to chart its own course
through Thailand’s turbulent political
waters, placing some distance between
itself and the military,” Hicken said.
He acknowledged, however, that it is too
soon to tell what end result the king has in
mind.
Associated Press writer Kaweewit
Kaewjinda contributed to this report.