I do love reading about food. A favourite Saturday morning relaxation is to read Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian Weekend magazine and then browse my recipe books for tasty ideas for the week ahead. If I am feeling stressed at work, or just in need of a break/lift I surf the net for recipes to add to the collection (usually based around whatever was in the veg box this week, repetition of unusual veg can make you quite creative).

So when I had an urge for a curry the other day, the crisp weather and quick night made me hanker after a colourful and spicy dinner, I turned my recent reading into the perfect composite dinner. The curry is from Skye Gyngell in The Independent (I have slightly simplified it) and the accompanying roti’s are from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian Weekend

Serves 3/4

Curry - Ingredients
from Skye Gyngell in The Independent

1 medium squash (onion, butternut etc)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 red onion
3 medium garlic cloves
1 green chili
10 curry leaves/ tablespoon curry powder
1 bunch of coriander
1tsp mustard seeds
1tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp caster sugar, or to taste
2 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
2 limes
15-20 little ripe San Marzano tomatoes (optional)
1 tin good-quality peeled plum tomatoes
250ml coconut milk (fresh or tinned)

1 Chop onion and add to heated oil in heavy bottomed pan - fry gently for 10 minutes
2 Chop chili & coriander stalks (reserve leaves for later), crush/chop garlic - add to pan with curry leaves/powder, whilst you…
3 Toast mustard and fennel seeds - crush and then add to pan, cook for a further few minutes whilst you…
4 Chop squash into thinnish 5 cm chunks (no need to peel, just remove middle fibres) - add to pan, cook for 5 minutes
5 Juice limes, mix with sugar and fish sauce - add to pan and check sour/heat/salt/sweet ratio (should be a good balance of each - amend as needed)
6 Add toms (tinned and fresh, if using) and cook for 30-35 minutes half covered
7 Add coconut milk and coriander leaves, cook for a further 5 minutes
8 To serve allow to cool and reheat gently with fluffy rice, a warm roti and some blanched chard/spinach/kale tossed in lime juice and olive oil. Oh and lime pickle - No curry is complete without it!

Roti - Ingredients
from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian Weekend

100g strong flour
1 small pinch salt
60ml flour
knob of butter for brushing

1 Mix all ingredients - except for butter  - together on a bowl, knead on floured surface for a few minutes.
2 Separate into 6 balls, roll out into thin pancakes (15-20 cm across)
3 Heat non-stick frying pan and put in first roti, after about a minute, as bubbles appear, flip over and cook other side - spread with butter, move to a plate and cover with tea towel to keep warm whilst you do the next ones.

Tags: butternut squash, Coconut, curry, indian food, Lime, squash

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 1:48 pm by urban foodie and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.