Delishuss Blog

I’ve made this dish over and over again. It’s a fall back recipe for me when I need to use up some vegetables that are nearing the end of their existence. It’s sooooo easy, there’s no real technique involved. I added purple sweet potato this time around. I’ve never had it before. I love it. It keeps it’s integrity really well when it’s cooking and doesn’t go mushy. I tend to keep this fairly rustic and roughly chop my veg as they are the star of the dish. I served it with rice and a dollop of Greek yoghurt. A lovely buttery naan would be fab, to scoop the sauce up. Yum, yum.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 purple sweet potato (a smallish one is fine), cubed

1 onion, chopped 1/4 jap pumpkin (any pumpkin or squash will work), cubed

1 red capsicum

1 clove garlic, minced

1 red chilli, finely chopped

3 tablespoons tikka masala paste

1 courgette, cubed 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tin of chickpeas

Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Salt and pepper to season

Olive oil

Method

1. Heat a deep frying pan and add a glug of olive oil. Heat the oil for a minute or so. Add the onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes. 2. Add the chilli and garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Remove onion, garlic and chilli from the frying pan and set aside. You may ask why I do this. It’s something that my mum thought me. You get the residual flavours from the ingredients on the pan but you don’t burn it by over cooking it.

3. Add some more olive oil to the pan if needed and heat. Always heat the oil as if you don’t it can turn the food soggy. Add the remainder of the veg and sauté for 6 minutes. Remove the veg from the pan.

4. Add the masala paste and fry off for a couple of minutes so that you start to get those lovely curry aromas wafting through your kitchen. Add all of the veggies and stir through the paste. Stir in the chickpeas and the tomatoes.

5. Season with salt and pepper. At this point, I add have of the chopped fresh coriander. The professionals say that you shouldn’t add soft herbs during cooking, probably because they wilt and lose their flavour a bit but I don’t think there should be rules in cooking. I add it during cooking to bring out that coriander flavour and then at the end to lift the freshness of the dish.

6. Simmer the curry for about 15-20 minutes until the potato and the pumpkin has softened. And you’re done.