Ginger Cardamom Carrots

It’s weird but the older I get the more I crave carrots. I beeline for the salsa counter in Mexican restaurants, where I pile up a plate of the pickled spicy ones alongside the pickled jalapenos. Carrot salad, carrot cake, roasted carrots, I’ll eat them wherever I find them.

I’ve cooked them a billion ways, and this one is the current fave — I’ve tried tweaking this approach in various ways, but I keep coming back to it. There are two secrets/tricks to making this addicting side dish: cutting them in the right shape, and judicious quantities of freshly ground cardamom. Here’s how it’s done:

Peel six or seven fat carrots, and cut off the ends. Slice them down the middle, lengthwise, and put the halves flat-side down so they rest flat on the cutting board. Then slice it again four times lengthwise, leaving four long strips/planks. Then slice those on the diagonal. I don’t worry about uniformity, I just follow this basic guideline; there is beauty in irregularity! Throw those into the wok or chef’s pan.

Then mince a few tablespoons of ginger and one medium onion, and throw those in. Heat the pan on high, add some ghee/butter/olive oil (or any combo of these three), and start to cook over high heat. Add plenty of salt and pepper. While it’s cooking, grind up enough cardamom seeds to yield about a tablespoon. It seems like a lot, which it is, but go for it. Continue to cook until everything is soft, and taste for salt. Top with chives, or other herb of choice (the purple in the photo is from a chive blossom). Prepare for addiction!