chick pea & potato curry

A delicious vegetarian & vegan curry that is so simple to make but is still full of flavour.

You can serve this with naan, chappatis or even simple boiled rice 

2 tsp mustard seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

3-4 curry leaves

3 medium onions chopped

2tbsp garlic puree/4 cloves crushed

2tbsp ginger puree/3 inch peice crushed

1 1/2 tsp salt 

3 green chillies 

1 tsp hot curry powder 

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 x tin chopped tomatoes 

3 x tin chickpeas -water drained

3-4 medium potatoes chopped into chunks par boiled
Fresh coriander chopped for garnishing

• Start by heating a little oil in a large pan on a meduim heat. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds & curry leaves. Cook the spices together until the mustard seeds begin to pop.
• Add in the ginger, garlic and chopped onions. Cook the onions until they are completley soft, and lightly golden. If the mixture begins to catch, add a splash of water.
• Add in the green chillies and salt, continue to cook on a 9medium heat until the chillies begin to soften 
• Stir in the tomato puree, curry powder and chopped tomatoes. Lower the heat, stirring occasionally until the oil begins to separate from the curry masala and the tomatoes begin to mush a little. You can speed this up slightly by mashing evverthing together with a potato masher.
• Turn the heat up a little, add in the chickpeas stirring intermittently.
•  Cook until the chick peas slightly darken in colour & the masala sticks to the chickpeas. The oil should start to separate and appear more visble, any moisture in the pan should have completely evaporated and you should be left with quite a dry mixture.
• Carefully add in the par boiled potaotes and again stir intermittently until the potatoes are completely cooked through.
• Pour in 150-200ml of water and leave to simmer on a low heat for a couple of minutes until the curry has thicked up a little. If you prefer it to be the consistency of a bhuna & slighty hotter, add just a splash of water to loosen and do not simmer
• Garnish with coriander just before serving

Bhindi Aloo - Okra & potato curry

Todays post is one of my favourite vegetarian curries- Okra, or ladies fingers as there sometimes known as are also great with chicken or lamb, but i love them simply with potatoes or even on their own.

What makes this dish even simpler from when i was younger is that now frozen okra are readily available in all Asian food stores, I've even seen them in Asda & Tesco, so you can save your time washing and chopping them which takes up most of the time when cooking this curry.

To serve 4-6 people you will need 

2 x 400g bag frozen chopped okra

3 medium onions

4 green chillies chopped

1 1/2 tsp salt 

2 tsp garlic paste / 2 frozen garlic cubes

3 tsp ginger paste / 3 frozen garlic cubes

1 tin plum / chopped tomatoes

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp mustard seeds

2 tsp curry powder

fresh coriander to garnish

• Start by adding a small amount of oil into a heavy based pan, add in the ginger & garlic, and fry on a medium heat, stirring to ensure the garlic and ginger don't catch at the bottom of the pan, meanwhile, finely slice the onions.When the garlic and ginger have browned, add in the onions
• Brown off the onions till they are golden brown in colour on a medium heat, then add in the salt & the chillies
• When the chillies have softened and cooked through, add in the curry powder and the tin tomatoes. break up the tomatoes with the spoon or even lightly mash them, and leave to simmer on a low heat 
• In a small frying pan, on a low heat toast the mustard & cumin seeds together. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, take the pan off the heat and put aside.
• Add the chopped okra to the curry masala, and leave to simmer, for 20-25 minutes on a low heat, or until the okra are soft and cooked through. Stir the okra half way, to ensure they cook through evenly and aren't catching on the bottom of the pan. If you find them catching, add a splash of water, stir through and continue to simmer till they're cooked.
• Once the okra are cooked, add in the cumin & mustard seeds, stir through. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander and serve