thai curry (sorta)

emptying the fridge into something comforting. this is a very egalitarian dish as it welcomes pretty much any ingredient into it. what it isn't is authentic. i spent my day off the other day trying to search out a few things for my kitchen. i was recently inspired by the how to make tofu post on the i eat food vegan blog. i have yet to order my cultures yet, but there was the clever idea to buy muslin at a fabric store instead of shelling out five bucks for two square feet of cheesecloth at the grocery store, or even half that at home depot. so, i am now the proud owner of about five yards of muslin that i picked up for ten bucks, and can strain to my hearts content for about the next ten years or so. i was also looking for agar agar which i failed to find, so i think it'll have to be the internet for that one.
anyway, i was in whole foods searching, and ended up buying tempeh again. i keep thinking i must be doing something wrong, and am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that i just don't like tempeh.
i marinated it in soy, garlic, ginger, rice wine, and sesame oil for an hour, then stir fried it until golden brown, basting with the marinade, before adding it the curry. and it still tasted like soggy bread to me. eh. i need some lateral thinking here, cause i still have the other half of the block in my fridge to use up.
firstly, i had no curry paste to speak of, so i made a quick curry powder by first toasting pepper, cloves, cumin, mustard seed, fenugreek, coriander, dried curry leaves, and nigella seeds in a dry wok. i then ground these with turmeric and a little rock salt in a mortar.
the rest of the ingredients were:

• 1 green pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 carrots, cut on the bias
• 2 ribs celery, cut on the bias
• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut on the bias
• half a small cabbage, shredded
• handful large green beans, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (these were from my garden, they're getting too big to eat super fresh and need to be pretty well cooked)
  
• 3 large scallions, cut on the bias
• about 4 oz tempeh, marinated for an hour and pre-cooked (i recommend tofu instead, unless you know how to make tempeh taste good, in which case, please enlighten me)
• 3 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 habanero, minced
  
• thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 can of coconut milk
  
• handful fresh basil leaves

i stir fried the carrot, celery, and scallions in a wok with some oil for about two minutes before adding the zucchini, cabbage, and the beans. i let those stir fry for about five minutes before adding the garlic, ginger, and chile. tossed those around for about five minutes before adding my curry powder, though i think a thai curry paste would be better. then i added the lime juice, coconut milk, and basil and let it simmer for ten minutes before serving over white rice.