Keralan Curry and Sambar

I love being home as it means that I get to eat the things I wouldn't cook for myself because they are difficult to scale down to serve one person such as vegetarian lasagna and roast dinner! This week my international meal also fit this but using a pile of delicious vegetables and an amazing mix of spices, this is a great recipe to try!



Our Morrisons store has just got a new section in the fresh food aisle including fresh turmeric, plantain, curry leaves and other more exotic foods that we haven't been able to get which made this meal a possibility We were able to get all of the ingredients to create a deliciously authentic curry from Kerala in south-west India.

Adapted from the recipe in May 2012 Good Food Magazine - mostly changed to suite my like for mild food, so if your like it spicier, up the chilli! (they recommend 5 green chillis in the curry and 7 dried red chillis in the sambar but that makes me hot just thinking about it!)

Keralan Vegetable Curry
serves 3
500g mix of vegetables - we used plantain, carrots, aubergine and squash (could also include okra or potato) cut into chunks
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 red chilli, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
100g freshly grated coconut *
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
5 curry leaves
75ml plan yogurt

1. Put all vegetables in large pan and cover with 300ml of water, add turmeric ad bring to the boil
2. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until all the vegetables are tender
3. Blend chillis, cumin, coriander, 60g of coconut and onion in food processor to form a paste
4. When vegetables are tender, add paste and whole curry leaves
5. Simmer for a further 5 minutes
6. Stir through the yogurt, simmer for 1 minute more
7. Scatter with remaining coconut to serve
8. Enjoy served with a little rice and sambar

* This was the first time I have had fresh coconut and had a lot of fun bashing it with a rolling pin to get to the flesh inside - this is undoubtedly not the easiest way to get into your coconut but if you have any frustrations I recommend it :) Apparently it is easier to use a hammer and a screwdriver (according to my Dad) *

Sambar
serves 4 (or 3 with leftovers for lunch!)
250g dried red lentils
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp tamarind paste
1/3 onion
1/2 tsp fenugreek (if you can't get ground, use a pestle and mortar to smash up some seeds - works fine!)
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
10 curry leaves
1/8 red chill, chopped
140g green beans

Spice mix for lentils

1. Pour lentils in a large pan with 400ml water, turmeric and tamarind paste, boil for 25-30 minutes until very soft - stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan
2. Meanwhile, fry onion for 5-8 minutes until softened
3. Add fenugreek, mustard seeds, chilli and curry leaves to onion and cook for 2 minutes (should look amazing and smell very fragrant
4. Cook green beans in the microwave for 4 minutes or until cooked and softened
5. Once lentils cooked, add onion spice mix and beans, stir
6. Enjoy served with vegetable curry

Taste - ****
Speed - ** (I had my Mum's help, would have taken me longer to do the whole thing by myself due to the preparation required!)
Repeat - Yes :) We all really enjoyed it! Didn't need much rice as the lentils were a great accompaniment but it was nice to have some to soak up some of the sauciness of the curry

Love Rebecca

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