Spicy Vegetarian Curry

A couple of friends have got me on to #MeatFreeMonday and I think it’s a glorious thing! I am a happy little omnivore but think as a cook you just try a little harder when you don’t have meat to carry a dish…. It’s a rainy blustery day here in Auckland… not cold, but very grey, so tonight I thought I’d whip up a comforting delish vegie curry, using the pumpkin I got last week…

#MeatFreeMonday – homemade curry of pumpkin, chickpea, zucchini, cauliflower, red capsicum, peas – with a yoghurt/coriander dollop for creaminess #EatTheRainbow

INGREDIENTS / METHOD
In a large soup pot add a large roughly diced onion, with a dash of olive oil, then add 1tblsp crushed garlic
Once the onion becomes translucent (‘sweat’ the onions rather then browning them) add the following to the pot:
3 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 teaspoons chilli powder (and/or fresh chilli for extra kick)
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Big pinch sea salt
Big pinch black pepper

I mix that up till you almost have a paste in your pot…. When this heats through add:
1 tin coconut cream
1 tin crushed tomatoes

This is your base, which you add your vegies to.. As above I used the following added to the pot in this order, based on how fast each ingredient cooks:

  • Pumpkin (cut very small so it cooked faster)
  • 1 tin chickpeas
  • Zucchini cut roughly twice as large as the pumpkin
  • Cauliflower (literally just break it into florets of the size you want, too easy)
  • Red capsicum cut about the size of the pumpkin
  • Peas – just use the frozen ones from your freezer, if you add at the end the colour just pops and they have a wonderful texture..
  • Tablespoon of honey

The idea when throwing this together is to let the pumpkin cook first, then throw the rest of the ingredients in…. you don’t want to overlook, it’s about freshness and colour… You can quite literally add what you have on hand, great way to make sure you’re getting enough veg, and using up the ingredients on hand.

Once ready to serve, finely cut up coriander and add to plain unsweetened greek style yoghurt… Mix up and put a tablespoon or so over the vegies for rich creaminess. 

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