Tag Archives: Courgettes

Chickpea & Vegetable Curry

19 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by in Main Courses, Vegan

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This recipe is adapted from Gaz Oakley – the Avant Garde Vegan – and his recipe for Chickpea Curry. I wanted to make a curry that was a little less solid than only chickpeas, so have added various vegetables. I’m going to list in this recipe exactly the vegetables that I used, but of course you can change these according to what you have. I would alway include the red and green peppers, but then alternatives for the other vegetables are aubergines, peas, green beans or cauliflower.

Do have a look at Gaz’s website, there are some great recipes there, most with how to videos.

For 4 portions

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

6 curry leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

oil – either olive or peanut

1 onion – sliced

3 cloves garlic – finely chopped

1 dessert spoon finely chopped ginger

2 teaspoons finely chopped red chilli

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 small or 1/2 large courgette

1/2 col rabí

2 x 1 cm slices from a butternut squash

400 grams cooked chickpeas – either ready cooked from a jar or can, or if you want to start with dried peas, 200 grams – soaked overnight and boiled in salted water until tender.

small broccoli florets

1 banana – unpeeled

1 tin coconut milk – full fat

2 tablespoons tomato purée

Firstly slowly toast the first four spices listed in a thick bottomed pan until The mustard seeds start to pop. Grind them either in a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large shallow pan and add the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli. Cook slowly until the onions are nicely caramelised stirring from time to time. This will take 10 to 15 minutes, don’t rush it as this gives a rich flavour to the curry.

Cut the rest of the vegetables into 1 centimetre cubes.

Add the peppers to the onions and carry on frying for another 10 minutes.

Add the spice mix together with the turmeric and curry leaves. Stir to mix.

Add the tomato purée and stir to mix this in.

Now add the coconut milk and chickpeas. Mix in and heat to a simmer.

Add the courgette, col rabí and butternut squash. Simmer on a low heat for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are just cooked.

Wash the banana and without peeling it, top and tail it then cut it in half lengthwise and the cut into thick slices. Add to the curry together with the broccoli florets. Most of you have probably never added banana to your curry before, but trust me and try it, it adds a rich sweet element to the curry.

Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Serve with plain rice, chapatis and your favourite chutneys.

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Fideua de Verduras

18 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by in Main Courses, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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It’s a cool drizzly day today and I have been busy sowing peas and planting lettuce so that they can benefit from the dampness. So after that, a warm hearty lunch is required. My first thought was to make a vegetable paella, and I found that I’d forgotten to buy rice but while looking in the cupboard I saw that I had fideuá. These are small pasta, usually, but not always, rice shaped, that are cooked in place of rice in a paella pan with similar ingredients to a paella. As with paella Spanish cooks vary the ingredients depending on what vegetables are in season, and of course if you are a meat or fish eater, then small pieces of these can be added to your ingredient list.

Today’s fideuá – this makes two portions

70 grams fideua

olive oil

1 large spring onion – sliced

1 large spring garlic -sliced

2 shiitake mushrooms – halved and sliced thinly

150 grams fresh broad beans

half a picante green pepper – cut into small cubes

200 grams courgette – cut into bite sizedcubes

150 grams fresh globe artichokes – prepared, sliced and fried

1 large tomato

few sprigs of thyme

pinch of saffron threads

pinch of smoked pimienton/paprika

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

vegetable stock

Prepare your artichokes first. I had some left from a previous dish. Clean the artichokes down to the tender leaves. Top and tail them. Cut into thin slices and fry immediately in olive oil until about half cooked. Remove from pan.

Add more oil and fry the onion, garlic and green pepper. Cook until the onion is translucent.

Add the mushroom and stir in. Cook for a couple of minutes

Add the courgette, stir in and let fry for five minutes.

Cut the tomato in half and grate the flesh up to the skin into a bowl. Discard the skins.

To the pan add the tomatoes, pasta and broad beans. Stir to mix.

Add the seasonings and then enough stock to come just to the top of the pan contents. Turn the heat down low, cover the pan and let cook slowly for five minutes.

Add the artichokes and more stock as needed.

Check the liquid level in the pan every few minutes until the pasta is cooked. If you are using the rice shaped pasta this will only be another five to ten minutes, other thicker pastas will need longer. The dish does not want to be as dry as a paella.

Once the pasta is cooked, turn off the heat and leave to sit for 5 minutes before serving with wedges of lemon to squeeze over.

An Indian Feast

03 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by in Main Courses, Vegetable Dishes

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?????????????????It is a warm summers evening and I have friends coming for dinner. I am in the mood for something spicy and hope that my guests are too. I have a piece of loin of pork that I was going to salt to have as ham at a future date, I recall this recipe for pork cubes in a creamy sauce flavoured with honey and citrus, spiced with cinnamon, cardamoms and turmeric.

I cooked far too much rice yesterday, there may be enough, if I add some chick peas there will definitely be enough. I will fry some red onions and garlic, then add the rice and chick peas to heat them through. A garnish of chopped chives should finish off the dish.

A vegetable dish then. Not in a sauce as I already have one, and picante seeing as the sauce is mild and sweet. I have in my minds eye those lovely spicy vegetable fritters that you get in Indian cooking, but I want to make them lighter and less calorific. I have some courgettes fresh from the garden, in slices they will absorb the flavours of a marinade, then I plan to dust them with Gram flour and grill them.

Some Nan bread and Sweet & Sour Lime Pickle from the farm shop will complete the meal.

 

PORK BRAISED WITH HONEY – SHIKAR KORMA

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For 4
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
2 tablespoons honey
30 grams butter
500 grams lean pork cubes
Half teaspoon Cardamom seeds
Heaped teaspoon Turmeric
1 broken quill of cinnamon
2 strips each lemon and. Orange peel
2 tubs full fat yoghurt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt
1 large onion – sliced
Cream
Fresh coriander
Peel the onion and cut up into small pieces. Put in a shallow pan with the garlic and half the butter. Fry until just starting to brown.
Put in the honey and continue cooking until the honey is thickened and starting to caramelise.
Add the pork cubes and the rest of the butter. Cook until the pork is sealed and browning.
Stir in the turmeric and cardamoms. Add the yogurt and stir in. Add the cinnamon and the strips of peel – use a potato peeler to remove the strips from the fruit.
Lower the heat to the minimum, cover and leave to cook for about 20 minutes.
The dish can be cooked in advance up to this point.
To finish peel and slice the second onion. Fry rapidly in butter until browned and dry.
Rewarm the korma if you have cooked in advance. Add the cream and continue cooking to thicken the sauce. You can remove the pieces of peel and cinnamon at this point in you want to.
Garnish with the chopped fresh coriander and the fried onions.
SPICY GRILLED COURGETTES for 4

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2 medium sized Courgettes – washed and cut into half centimetre thick slices

Marinade –

1 clove garlic

Half teaspoon salt

Piece ginger roughly 2×2 cm

Green chilli

1 tablespoon Olive oil

1 tablespoon Gram (chickpea) flour

Chop the garlic and put it into a mortar with the salt. Mash to a pulp.

Grate the ginger into the mortar and mash to blend with the garlic.

Finely chop the chilli and add to the mortar. Mash again to blend moistening with the olive oil as you go

Add the marinade to the courgettes and mix to make sure that the slices are evenly coated with the marinade. Leave to let the flavours seep into the courgettes for at least an hour.

Heat a griddle or thick based non-stick frying pan.

Dust the courgette slices with gram flour and grill or dry fry until turning from time to time until browned and cooked but still with some bite.