Do you like your food spicy like me? Or are you a little bit more like my family – who just can’t handle the heat (bless ’em!) This simple dish is almost too mild to be called a curry – it is however incredibly tasty and consequently very people-pleasing – a great thing to whip up if you are feeding people with a whole variety of tastes.
The recipe is very flexible; we have recently started on a veg box scheme so my recipes at the moment focus on whatever we get sent that week – in this case, carrots and courgettes – but you can just experiment with using whatever you have in your fridge/cupboard, as the creamy coconut milk, peanut butter and tomato base is great at carrying different flavours. The chickpeas and moong dal can also be swapped out for other tinned and dried pulses respectively. You can even make it spicier with chilli powder if the people you are feeding can handle it!
Play around and let me know what you come up with!
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tin/400ml chopped tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp tomato puree
- 1 Tbsp cornflour
- large handful/30g basil, chopped
- squeeze of lemon juice
- (optional) 1 tsp maple syrup
- salt and pepper
- 450g carrots, chopped into rounds
- 3 medium courgettes, chopped into half moons
- 2 tins/800ml coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp ground turmeric
- 1 Tbsp ground coriander
- 2 Tbsp garlic powder (or substitute for cloves)
- ¾ cup/155g moong dal (dried yellow split peas)
- 1 tin/400g chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup/130g peanut butter
METHOD
- Heat the olive in a large saucepan on a low heat and then gently sauté the onion for 5 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, cornflour, basil, lemon juice, maple (if using) and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Next add the carrots and courgettes, followed by the coconut milk, turmeric, coriander, garlic powder and moong dal. Bring up to the boil and then simmer for 30-40 minutes – until the moong dal and vegetables are tender and ready to eat. Stir regularly during cooking to stop the dal sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Add the chickpeas and peanut butter and stir through, until combined and piping hot.
- Serve with rice. If you’re feeling fancy, you could sprinkle some crushed roasted peanuts on top!
