Butternut curry with spinach and cashews Colourful, fragrant, and full of texture, this dish shows you don’t need meat to make a good curry. Lentils, chickpeas, and nuts add protein to the melting pot of vegetables and spices for a healthy, balanced meal.
INGREDIENTS •medium butternut squash, about 21⁄4lb (1kg) • 1 onion • 4 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil • 1 tbsp butter • 2 cloves garlic • 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger • 1 small hot green chile • 1 tsp ground turmeric • 1 tsp cumin seeds • 1 tsp ground coriander • 2 cinnamon sticks • 1 tbsp freeze-dried curry leaves (optional) • 1⁄2 cup (100 g) red lentils • 3 or 4 ripe tomatoes • 1 (14-oz/400-g) can chickpeas, drained • 3⁄4 cup (100 g) cashew nuts • 2 large handfuls baby leaf spinach • salt and pepper
METHOD 1 Peel the squash and cut into 4 pieces. Scoop out the seeds. Cut the flesh into large cubes about 3cm across. 2 Halve and slice the onion. Put a large frying pan, or wok over medium-high heat. Add the oil and butter, wait for 30 seconds, then add the squash and onions, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables are starting to soften.
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3 Thinly slice the garlic and finely grate the ginger. Slit the chile, without cutting through the stem (stalk) end. 4 Boil a saucepan of water. Stir the garlic, ginger, chile, spices, and curry leaves into the pan and cook for 2 minutes, until fragrant. 5 Stir in the lentils, then pour in 400 ml boiling water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Preheat the oven to 180°C and coarsely chop the tomatoes. 6 Stir the tomatoes in with the chickpeas, then simmer for another 10 minutes Season the curry with salt and pepper. 7 Sprinkle the nuts over a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 5 minutes. 8 Stir in the spinach leaves and sprinkle the nuts over the top. Serve with chapatis, naan breads, or rice and your favorite relish or chutney.
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