Category: Curry

Sweet Potato Curry

Posted on by Trish

The area of London where I used to live and the area of London where I live now have something in common – good South Indian restaurants.  Hence I know the delights of dosas, sambhar and coconut chutney and would take them over poppadoms and something eye-watering with rice any day.  Last time I went to my favourite South Indian Restaurant I was informed that their dosas contravened my no-dairy rule, which made me go ‘meh!’.  Then I thought “I bet I can make my own and make it dairy-free!”.  And I nearly did.  By the time I’d got the hang of how to fry the dosas there was only enough mixture to give everyone a tiny one by the side of their plate.  Fortunately the curry got the seal of approval from everyone who tried it, including the lovely neighbours, who have provided me with the photo below.

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The dosa and sambhar are from a packet I bought at Morrisons although you can buy them online here
The dosa is based on rice and lentil flours but there’s a disclaimer on the pack that says it’s packed in a plant that processes wheat flour also so I don’t know if that counts as safely GF
The curry’s fine though – the amount below makes 3 portions

  • 350g sweet potato (one large one)
  • 125g carrots (I think about 3 medium-sized)
  • 1 red onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • Teaspoon sunflower oil (or other neutral oil)
  • 125g red kidney beans, cooked or canned and drained
  • 80g french beans (or dwarf or runner beans)
  • 100ml coconut milk
  • Teaspoon curry powder
  • Teaspoon stock powder
  • 2 medium tomatoes
  • Squirt of agave nectar
  1. Boil the sweet potato and the carrots till almost soft, steam the french beans over the same saucepan if you’re lazy (I am, BTW)
  2. Fry the onion and garlic in the oil in a wok or substantial frying pan
  3. Transfer potato and carrots to the same pan
  4. Add curry powder, tomatoes and (both lots of) beans and stir in
  5. Pour on enough hot stock to cover and simmer
  6. Add coconut milk and agave nectar
  7. Keep simmering till liquid reduces and potatoes and carrots go a bit mushy

In the interests of learning to make things that tend towards the healthy, I’ll be marking some of these recipes with Weight Watchers Pro Points values.  I know a number of my friends are doing Weight Watchers and I’d like to put recipes on here they can try so you’ll see at the bottom of some recipes the letters WWPP and a number.   People who are unconcerned with or even anti the whole Weight Watching thing are welcome to ignore the letters and the number.

WWPP: 6

Cauliflower, mushroom and chickpea curry

Posted on by Trish

I was aiming for something like a korma here but without too much sugar and fat.  Serve with rice for bonus amino acid points 🙂

Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 small cauliflower
  • some mushrooms (I used 2 of those giant mushrooms chopped into bits)
  • 1 can or packet of ready-to-eat chickpeas
  • Oil for frying
  • Curry powder mix (I used mild curry powder and added extra cumin)
  • Vegetable stock
  • Coconut milk
  • Agave nectar
  • Salt to taste
  1. Fry onion and garlic until the onion is kinda see-through
  2. Add cauliflower and mushrooms and fry some more
  3. Add spices (curry powder mix)
  4. Add chickpeas and give it a good stir
  5. Add vegetable stock, enough to almost cover, and boil for about 8 minutes (primarily to get the cauliflower softer)
  6. Add agave nectar then turn the heat down to a simmer
  7. Add coconut milk, not loads, just enough to get it tasting creamy
  8. Taste, then add salt and whatever else you like to get it tasting how you want

Lentil and tomato curry (because we can’t spell Dhaal …see?)

Posted on by Trish

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Back in my early 20’s I was a thrifty cook, mainly out of necessity and brokeness.  Thus there were some things I made often because they were economical and nourishing.  Some of them even tasted ok, although they wouldn’t have won any beauty competitions.  One such thing is the following lentil curry, which may look like someone has chucked into the pan but which caused my human guinea pig to wonder this evening just why we give so much money to the Indian takeaway place.  I even fried poppadoms to go with it (you need a LOAD of oil in the frying pan and it gets scary but it’s cheap so your fear is saving you money!).

You’ll need:

  • Some red lentils
  • Some tomatoes (either a tin of or some large, fresh tomatoes, which is what I prefer to use now that I earn money)
  • An onion
  • Some garlic
  • Curry powder (although am still using spice mix given to me by the lovely Danielle in 2008)
  • Soya margarine (yes, I know it’s actually called ‘spread’ but nobody calls it that, do they?)
  • Oil for frying
  • Stock powder and/or salt
  1. Wash the lentils and boil for 10 minutes, simmer for another 20-30 just till they’re soft and squidgy
  2. Meanwhile fry onion, garlic and tomatoes and simmer till mushy
  3. Add curry powder/spices to onion, garlic and tomato thing, also add stock powder or salt if wanted
  4. When lentils are done, drain and add to the onion, garlic and tomato thing
  5. Stir together with a knob of soya margarine

People who are allowed to eat dairy may want to use butter instead.  Go on then, just to spite me.  Serve with poppadoms or bread or rice or any combination of those and you too, my friend, may question your allegiance to your local curry house.