Suma Bloggers Network - Chickpea, Kale and Leek Curry

Carrying on from my earlier post in relation to the International Year of Pulses, I wanted to share another recipe using pulses. I was hoping to share a baking recipe but its not quite perfected yet! Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to tweak it so I'm happy with the finished result and then share with you as a bonus recipe.

I absolutely love houmous, but I don't use chick peas very often in cooking, this is about to change. With the weather taking a turn for the worse, and getting colder, I wanted something warming and filling. I've been fighting off a lurgie of some sort for nearly 2 months now, and when everyone around me is dropping like flies I've kept going, just. 

I know my last Suma recipe was a type of curry, but when the weather is miserable and I'm feeling low curry is what lifts my mood and warms me from the inside out. I've never made a chick pea curry before, but I'm sold, and I'm sure more chick pea curry recipes will be created. For this recipe I teamed the chick peas up with a couple of ingredients from my allotment, leeks and kale and it was a perfect combination.

Ingredients - Serves 2 hungry people but will stretch to 4 servings

1 Small onion 
1 Red Chilli
1 Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled
3 Garlic cloves, peeled
1 Tsp (heaped) Garam masala
1 tsp (level) Ground coriander
½ Tsp Ground cumin
½ Tsp Turmeric
1 Tsp and 1 Tbsp Oil of choice
½ Tsp Black mustard seeds
250g Leeks, sliced
1 Tin Chickpeas drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
100g Kale, shredded
1 Tin Coconut milk
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1) Roughly chop the onion, chilli, ginger and garlic and add to a blender.

2) Add the Garam masala, cumin, coriander and turmeric and the 1 Tsp of oil and mix till it forms a coarse paste.

3) Add the other 1 Tbsp oil to a wok and the black mustard seeds. Heat slowly until the mustard seeds start to pop, about 2-3 minutes.

4) Add the curry paste and stir through the mustard seeds, cook over a low heat for a minute.

5) Add the leeks and stir, cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, adding a little water if the leeks or curry paste start to stick.

6) Add the chickpeas and soy sauce and cook for another 2 minutes before adding the coconut milk. If the coconut milk has separated into the liquid and 'cream', stir to make sure all the coconut 'cream' has melted.

7) Add the kale and cook over a low heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

8) Add the salt and pepper to taste

9) Serve over wholegrain rice

Adzuki Bean Curry - I Love Leftovers

Now, I don't know about you but I absolutely loathe food waste. Its just down right ridiculous, food is precious so I try not to throw any away although mishaps do happen. Like when I forget something in the back of my fridge and it wouldn't do me any good to eat it! But this is rare, very rare. 

It helps to plan what you're going to eat over the coming week, which I try and do. However, there are times when you have left overs and the odd vegetable in your fridge and you need to come up with a plan. Soup is always a good one, with a few herbs and spices you can make wonderful soups out of left overs. I've made soup with left over ingredients lots of times like the pea, spring onion and mint soup. I've also turned leftover soup into a curry, like my curry in a hurry recipe.

Today I'm showing you again how I've turned leftovers into another meal, most of the time my leftover creations actually double up in portions, which is even better. Remember my lentil stew from last Friday well that also turned into a curry and a delicious one at that, it must be a combination of all those wonderful spices! In making this recipe I also used up some leftover Christmas vegetables, bonus! Here's what I did

Ingredients - Serves 4
2 Portions of Lentil Stew 
1 Potato
2 Parsnips
¼ Red cabbage
2 Tsp Curry powder
2 Tsp Ground cumin
1 Tsp Chilli powder
½ Tsp Turmeric
1 Tsp Oil
130ml Coconut milk

Method
1) Cut the potato and parsnips into chunks and put in a bowl with 1Tsp curry powder, 1 Tsp ground cumin and the oil. Mix to coat the vegetables and place into an oven tray and roast for 20 minutes. By the time the vegetable have finished roasting you will be ready to add them to the curry.

2) Shred the cabbage and cut into chunks. Add to a saucepan with a little water and simmer for 5 minutes, drain, squeezing out as much water as you can.

3) Pour the two portions of lentil stew into a saucepan and add the other tsp of curry powder and ground cumin and also add the chilli powder and turmeric. Stir to combine and place over a low heat, stirring occasionally.

4) While the curry is heating through pour in the coconut milk and stir to combine and bring to a simmer.

5) Add the drained cabbage and stir through.

6) Remove the roasted vegetables from the oven and add to the curry. Stir again so everything is incorporated and serve in bowls or with rice or poppadoms.

Specials Board: Courgette Curry

Courgette Curry and Vegan Mofo Day 27

I am still over run with courgettes and there is still a few on my plants so expect more courgette recipes soon! As the nights are starting to draw in (has anyone else noticed that) and its getting darker a lot sooner than I'd like and its definitely got a little nippy, I thought a curry would warm me up and comfort me. So, courgette curry it was. 

I raided my spice cupboard and rather than use a curry powder, which I do use, I fancied making one from scratch. So out came all the curry type spices and I realised I had no ground coriander. I wasn't going to make a special trip to the supermarket just for that, so I used coriander seeds instead and ground them myself. Feel free to swap the seeds for ground if you make this.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp Groundnut oil
½ Tsp Mustard seeds
1 Onion, chopped
2 Garlic cloves
Knob of ginger (6g)
1½ Tsp Ground cumin
1 tsp Garam Masala
½ Tsp Coriander seeds
½ Tsp Hot chilli powder
¼ Tsp Salt
2 Tomatoes, chopped (225g)
680g Courgette
1Tin of coconut milk
1 Tsp Arrowroot

Method
Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, they will start to pop almost straight away. When the majority of them have popped add the onion and sauté for 5 mins or until the onion starts to go golden brown.

Using a fine microplane, grate the garlic and ginger and add to the onions.

Grind the coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar and add to the onion mixture along with the cumin, garam masala, chilli powder and salt. Cook for another minute.

Add the tomatoes and stir to combine everything. Sauté for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes start to break down.

Add the courgettes, give everything another good stir and sauté for another couple of minutes.

Add the coconut milk, stir again and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of your courgette pieces.

If you're happy with the curry sauce thickness leave out the arrowroot, but if like me, you like your curry sauce a little thicker mix the arrowroot with a little cold water and add to the curry, the mixture will thicken slightly. 

Serve with rice.

Fathers Day Dinner

Yesterday I explained that I had been busy in my small garden and therefore had not posted a recipe from my June menu, but as the June menu showed I do have something to share with you for Fathers Day. To make up for the lack of recipes I haven't got one recipe for you, nor two recipes but four!

You don't have to make this just for Fathers day invite some friends round and have a curry party. That's right my Fathers Day Menu is a 'thali'. Three different curries, with rice, cauliflower rice, poppadoms and mint raita. As it was Fathers Day I wanted to spend my time with my Dad and not in the kitchen all day preparing the meals, so I'll be sharing my cheats version for the third curry and the mint raita. You can make all three curries the day before and reheat, in fact most curries taste better the next day!

Without further ado, let me introduce you to the first curry: 

Spinach and Potato

Ingredients
1 Tbsp Light Olive oil
1 Onion, diced
1 Chilli, de-seeded if you don't like it hot and finely diced
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 Knob of Ginger, grated
½ tsp Ground cumin
½ tsp Ground coriander
½ tsp Ground turmeric
400g new potatoes
1 Tomato, diced
1 Tsp Tomato puree
½ Tsp Vegetable bouillon powder
200ml Water
100g Spinach, washed, spun dry & shredded
Water as required
Fresh Coriander, finely chopped

Method
Cut the potatoes in half if they are small or quarters if they are larger, you want all pieces to be roughly the same size so they all cook through.

Fry the onion in the oil for 5 minutes or until translucent, add the garlic, ginger and the spices and cook over a low heat for another two minutes continuously stirring so nothing burns.

Add the potatoes and stir so they are coated in the onion mixture. Add the tomato and continue to cook for another 5 minutes until the tomato has broken down. If the potatoes start sticking add a splash of water to the pan.

Dissolve the vegetable bouillon powder in the water and add the tomato puree, stir to combine and add to the pan of potatoes. Continue to cook until the potatoes are cooked all the way through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add further water if they start sticking to the pan.
Note to self, next time I make this I will par-boil the potatoes first!

Add the shredded spinach to the pan about 5 minutes from the end and wilt, you will need to do this in batches unless you have used a big pan! Add the coriander, saving a little for a garnish.

Tofu Tikka Massala

Ingredients
2 Tsp Coriander Seeds
2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
2 Tsp Paprika
2 Tsp Garlic Granules
1½ Tsp Garam Masala

1 Tsp Dried parsley

1 Tsp Chilli flakes

1 Tsp Ground ginger

1 Tsp Tumeric

Himalayan salt & Black pepper

2 Tbsp White wine vinegar

2 Tbsp Water

Block of Tofu, drained & pressed, I used 396g block from Cauldron

6 Tbsp Soy yogurt

1 Tbsp Light Olive oil

I Onion, diced

1 Chilli, de-seeded if you don't like it hot and finely diced

2 Garlic Cloves, crushed

1 Knob of Ginger, grated

200ml Warm water

1 Tbsp Tomato puree, heaped

Fresh Coriander, finely chopped

Method

Dry fry the coriander and cumin seeds until they release their aroma and then grind in a pestle and mortar to a fine powder. Tip into a bow and add the next 7 spices and mix, add a good grind of black pepper and a smaller grind of Himalayan pink salt and mix again. Add the vinegar and water and mix to a paste.

Transfer half of the paste to a bowl and add 4 Tbsp of the soy yogurt to make a marinade. Dice the tofu and tip into the marinade. Leave the tofu to marinade over night if you can but if you're short on time at least 45-60 minutes.

Once the tofu has marinaded you will need to thread them onto skewers and place under a hot grill turning from time to time until the tofu forms a crust of the marinade on the outside. Remove the tofu from the skewers and set a side while you make the sauce.

Fry the onion, chilli, garlic and ginger in the oil for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent, be careful not to burn the ginger and garlic. Add the remaining paste you made earlier and cook for a further two minutes, your kitchen will start to smell wonderful.

Add the warm water and tomato puree and bring to a simmer, continue to cook for another 5 minutes. If you want a smooth sauce transfer this mixture to a food processor and blend, but you can leave the mixture to give the dish a bit of texture.

Add the tofu to the sauce and mix thoroughly, cook over a low heat and add the remaining yogurt be careful not to cook too quickly as the yogurt will curdle. Cook for another 5 minutes and add the coriander, saving a little for a garnish.

Mushroom Madras
The Cheats version

Ingredients
1 Tbsp Light olive oil
1½ Onions, sliced
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 Knob of Ginger, grated
3 Tbsp madras curry paste, heaped
500g Chestnut mushrooms, quartered
1 Tin Coconut milk
Fresh Coriander, finely chopped

Method
Fry the onions in the olive oil until they start to go brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another 2 minutes before adding the paste. Cook for another 2 minutes and add the mushrooms. Give everything a good stir to coat the mushrooms with the spice paste, cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk, bring to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the coriander, saving a little for a garnish.

Mint Raita
The Cheats version

Ingredients
250g Soy Yoghurt
1 Tsp Ground cumin
½ Tsp Ground coriander
3 Tsp Mint sauce 

Method
Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Crumbled Tofu Curry & Cauliflower Rice

I have been meaning to try cooking with frozen tofu for absolutely ages! But having no freezer it has proved difficult until my Mum kindly offered me some space in her freezer - thanks Mum!

Frozen tofu has a completely different texture to tofu bought from the cooler section in supermarkets. It almost resembles a sponge. There is no need to press frozen and defrosted tofu as you can squeeze the liquid out of the frozen tofu just like you would a sponge! It doesn't break up like 'normal' (unfrozen) tofu. When you break it up it kind of looks like a sponge too!

I found that there is no need to marinade the frozen and defrosted tofu as it soaked up the flavours of the other ingredients during the cooking time. So in my book its a win win and something worth buying a freezer for!

I have also frozen the basil tofu so I'm looking forward to creating a recipe with that too, watch this space........

I've also been meaning to try cauliflower rice for some time too and this curry was the perfect opportunity to try it out!

Ingredients
1 Cauliflower
1 Block of tofu, frozen & defrosted
1 Tbsp Groundnut oil
3 Tbsp Soy sauce
Knob of ginger, finely grated
2 Cloves of garlic, finely grated
1½ Tsp curry powder
1½ Tsp Tomato puree
1 Onion, finely diced
1 Aubergine, finely diced (using processor)
8 Cherry tomatoes, quartered165ml Coconut milk 

Method
First, break up the cauliflower into florets and add to a blender, pulse until it resembles rice. Transfer to a microwaveable bowl and set aside.

Squeeze out the liquid from the tofu and crumble into a large bowl. 

Mix the soy sauce with the grated ginger & garlic, curry powder and tomato puree to a thick paste and pour over the crumbled tofu. Fold the crumbled tofu through the paste until all the tofu has been coated.

Saute the onion in the groundnut oil until translucent, about 4-5 minutes.

Chop the aubergine into chunks and tip into your food processor, pulse until you have very fine pieces. Transfer to the pan with the onions and saute for another 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly, add a little water if needed.

Add the tofu mixture to the pan and stir to combine and continue to cook over a medium heat for another 5 minutes. Stir regularly to stop the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Pour over the coconut milk, there is only enough to coat the tofu and thin out the mixture slightly. (I can buy 165ml cans from home & Bargain for 19p, great to stock up on). Cook for another 5 minutes.

Add 4 Tbsp of water to the bowl with the rice cauliflower and microwave on full for 2 minutes, give the bow a shake and microwave for a further 2 minutes.

Serve the crumbled tofu curry atop the cauliflower rice and enjoy!

Curried Parsnip Soup

I can't believe we're in the third week of February already, time flies! I've shared the recipes for 6 of the 8 dishes form my February menu and here is the 7th, soup of the day; Curried Parsnip. Be warned this soup is fairly spicy but also flavoursome. If you're not too good with heat then either halve the chilli or omit completely.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Small red onions, finely diced
1 Chilli, finely diced
2 Cloves of garlic, crushed
1 Thumb sized piece of ginger, finely diced

1 Tbsp Soy sauce
575g parsnips, diced
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Coriander
1 Litre vegetable stock

Method

Fry the red onion in the olive oil for 5 minutes, then add the chilli, garlic and ginger and fry for another minute.

Add the soy sauce and stir to combine all the ingredients, it will sizzle like mad!

Add the parsnips and give everything another stir so the parsnips are coated with the fresh spices. Add the cumin and coriander and give everything yet one more stir.

Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the parsnips are cooked. I like mine with a bit of bite, not too soft.

Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour back into the cleaned saucepan and re-heat if necessary. Serve with a little fresh coriander on top and enjoy! 

Curry in a Hurry

Do you remember the Three Lentil Soup I made on Sunday? Well hubby and I have been enjoying this for lunch on Monday and Tuesday, with the spicy potato and onion bread, but there was still some left over. I hate to waste food, so I had to come up with another recipe which used the remainder, which was about a portion and a half. 

The soup was fairly spicy and had thickened in the fridge, it reminded me of a curry sauce, which gave me an idea, curry in a hurry. Jamie Oliver isn't the only one who can use leftovers to make another meal! You don't have to use the vegetables listed any will do, you could use the left overs from your Sunday dinner. 

After adding the vegetables the one and a half portions of soup turned into a meal for 4 people so we can enjoy it for lunch tomorrow too, bonus!

Ingredients
2 Red onions, cut into wedges 
Handful of frozen peas
1½ portions of three lentil soup
1 Tsp Chipotle paste
2 Tsp Ground coriander
1 Tsp Ground cumin
½ Lime, juiced
2 Carrots, sliced
100g Green beans
Small head of broccoli, broken into florets
2 Small potatoes, diced
12 Sprouts, halved
100ml vegetable cooking water


Method
Fry the onions in a little olive oil for 5 minutes, add the frozen peas and continue to cook for another 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the chopped vegetables to a pan of boiling water and simmer for 5-8 minutes until vegetables have cooked but still have a little bight to them.

Add the soup to the onion and peas along with the chipotle paste, ground coriander and ground cumin. Stir to combine and cook over a low heat for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently to stop the sauce sticking to the bottom of the pan. If it starts to stick, add a little of the vegetable water a bit at a time. Add the lime juice and stir.

Drain the vegetables and reserve the cooking liquid, see I don't waste anything! Add the drained vegetables to the pan and stir through. 

Add the desired amount of the vegetable water, I used 100ml to thin down the curry sauce and coat the vegetables.

Serve with rice. I served it with a mixture of brown basmati and basmati pilau rice.

Any vegetable water you don't use save and use as a stock base for your next soup.

To those of you who are thinking sprouts in a curry, no! Try it, you will be surprised.

Butternut Squash and Lentil Curry

Tonight I was feeling totally different to last night and there was no way a simple salad was going to fit the bill tonight. I was craving something spicy, which wouldn't take long to cook, curry was the ideal meal. 

Unfortunately I hadn't any fresh chillis or ginger so I had to use dried, but it didn't effect the flavour at all. I've been put off in the past from not using fresh chillis and ginger in my homemade curries, I'm not sure why though. But tonight has changed my thinking and no longer will I shy away from using dried ginger in a curry rather than in just cakes!

Ingredients
1 small butternut squash or ½ a large one, diced
½ Cauliflower, cut into florets
2 Medium onions
1 Potato, cubed
5-6 Button mushrooms, diced
¼ Bag spinach, shredded
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 dried chillis, crushed
½ Tsp dried ginger
1 Tsp (heaped) curry powder
1 Tbsp (heaped) tomato puree
80g red lentils
1 Bay leaf
450ml Water
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper


Method
Thinly slice the onions and saute in a little olive oil over a low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another two minutes. Add the dried ginger, crushed dried chillis, curry powder and tomato puree and stir through the onions. Add the butternut squash, potato, mushrooms and cauliflower and coat with the onion paste. Add the lentils, bay leaf and water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are al dente then add the shredded spinach and cook for two more minutes until wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice.

A Successful Meal Out

Hubby and I went out the other night, which is a rare treat these days! We had bought some tickets way back to see Al Murray and decided to go out for a meal before the show. Now like most of you who live outside London, Brighton or a big city, it's normally very difficult to find a restaurant that caters for vegans. This is especially true, where I live!

My local town doesn't have many independent restaurants and mainly consists of fast food chains, pub food or other restaurant franchises, like Bella Italia, Pizza Express and Pizza Hut. However, fairly recently one of the popular hotels which also has a restaurant, bistro and bar decided to hold a vegetarian and vegan night once a week which has proved to be fairly popular. 

The menu also includes options for vegans which are even labelled and when asked the chef is more than willing to 'veganise' a certain dish on the menu. You are never treated as a "freak" and you never get asked the standard question "a vegan! What do you eat?".

Over the last few weeks through Birthday meals at work and girly get togethers I've eaten there 4 times! The first time I was able to chose something from the specialised vegetarian/vegan menu and I chose hummus and roasted red pepper babaganoush with chargrilled flatbread as a started followed by Sri Lankan sweet potato, coconut and pea curry with cashew nuts and basmati rice. Both dishes were extremely delicious and far too tasty to stop eating and take a photo! 

The second time I went I chose from the main menu which had two vegan options, yes two, I was spoilt for choice! I chose sun blushed tomato and artichoke risotto. This time I took a photo!

The third time I went I chose again off the main menu but this time I asked if something could be "veganised". It was no problem as everything is cooked from scratch, which means that you do have a bit of a wait compared to your bog standard pub food grub but its worth it! I chose four bean and coconut curry with saffron scented rice. This isn't something I would chose normally but I was willing to give it a try as all previous choices had turned out well. I wasn't disappointed, it was delicious.

The fourth (and by no means the last) time I visited I chose the four bean and coconut curry with saffron scented rice again as I was blown away with it the first time I had it. Once again it was no problem to "veganise", but what did surprise me was that it was different to the first time I had it which just proves that each meal is cooked from scratch. This time I did take a photo of it.