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Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

kashmiri vegetable coconut masala with a spicy chana masala

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… we were stuck down in London this weekend in a moment of madness when The Viking and I decided to stay here as we’re so busy, rather than drag our tired arses up and down the motorway.  It’s really rather silly but we tend to mooch around the flat when we’re in London, pacing like caged animals when really there’s so much to do… it’s just we’re so tired we can barely move so we tend to fester a little, so we were saved somewhat when we bumped into our neighbour Jenny who persuaded me to go shopping to an amazing Indian vegetarian supermarket in Neasden called Shayona… as you can imagine it was an aladin’s cave of spices and sauces and row upon row of bel puri, rices and pulses… we were in heaven and so curry night it was…

kashmiri vegetable coconut masala with a spicy chana masala
the kashmiri vegetable curry is those ‘authentic’ curries that is made by throwing stuff into a pot and hoping for the best, we also used one of those brilliant Patak’s pastes which makes everything so simple but still feels wonderfully real… whereas the chana masala loosely follows a proper recipe… fortunately Jenny and I have a very similar ad-hoc cooking style, we rarely follow rules – in fact i’d say we flaunt them, so it’s entirely possible that if you read her beautiful new blog My Little Orange Kitchen you may see a different set of ingredients and methods but the general idea is there… yes there are a lot of ingredients and yes we made a huge mess but bellies were full all weekend and it all tasted bloody marvellous!

as with most dishes like this, both tastes so much better made well in advance and re-heated when ready to serve

for the kashmiri vegetable coconut masala
one onion – chopped
2 cloves garlic – chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger – chopped
a bunch of coriander stalks – chopped
2 medium carrot – peeled and cut into batons
1 cauliflower – cut into florets
3 sticks of celery – cut into batons
7 or 8 small vine tomatoes – halves
1 courgette – roughly chopped
a handfull of frozen peas
4 large tablespoons of patak’s kashmiri paste
2 tins coconut milk

in a large, deep pan with a lid, heat some butter and olive oil and then gently saute the onions until beginning to soften then add the garlic, ginger and coriander stalks (you could whizz these together in a blender to make a paste as we did before adding to the onions) and let them all melt together for about 5 mins

add the kashmiri paste, stir it in and again let it cook for another few minutes before adding the carrots, cauliflower and celery and stir in, pop the lid on, turn the heat down and let the veg sweat for a further 5 minutes.

stir in the rest of the veg, then add the coconut milk, place the lid back on and simmer for 20 minutes or so, then turn off the heat and set aside until ready to eat

for the chana masala

one onion – chopped
2 cloves garlic – chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger – chopped
a bunch of coriander stalks – chopped
2 teaspoon ground cumin 
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 tablespoon ground coriander 
1 teaspoon dried chilies
1 450g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tins chickpeas – rinsed in cold water
1 tins worth of good quality vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon amchoor powder – or mango powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala

the juice of half a lemon
fresh spinach (added extra)
in a large, deep pan with a lid, heat some butter and olive oil and then gently saute the onions until beginning to soften then add the garlic, ginger and coriander stalks (you could whizz these together in a blender to make a paste as we did before adding to the onions) and let them all melt together for about 5 mins
turn the heat to medium and add the coriander, cumin, paprika and tumeric and stir in before adding the tomatoes, chickpeas and stock
add the amchoor, garam masala and lemon juice and I also throw in a little sugar and the dried chillies, cover and cook for 10 minutes then turn off the heat and set aside until ready to eat
serve with rice and bread of your choice with plenty of yoghurt and mango chuntey
eat and of course, enjoy!


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Comments

  2. Karen S Booth says

    BRILLIANT post and recipe, and although M and I, and the wine and French cheeses we got for you, missed you and The Viking on Sunday, I'll let you off now, as this is JUST my kind of curry! LOL! I am now making my way over to the Little Orange Kitchen! Karen xxx

  4. belleau kitchen says

    I know… so upset that we didn't get to see you but we simply needed to be back in London (proof that I was at work at 8am this morning…) we'll do wine and cheese again soon I promise xx

  13. Baking Addict says

    I'm not a fan of Indian food mainly because I don't like coconut and a lot of the spices that they use but I occasionally get a craving and your chana masala is exactly what I would want. Hope you had a good weekend x

  16. The Kitchenmaid says

    It is bitingly cold here and I am very much wishing I had this for dinner! And I think that is one of London's greatest charms – just when you think you can't stand another minute, there's a delightful surprise just around the corner (hopefully in a good way, not like a dog turd or a badd'un with a knife).