Coconut cumin veggie curry

One of the best things about making curries is that you can literally just improv.

I know and readily accept that the curries I make are not even remotely authentic, but I like them nonetheless. And I particularly love a veggie curry.

But when making a veggie curry, I find you need to make sure you have lots of different and exciting ingredients involved - well, as exciting as a vegetable can be - so different colours and textures etc.

This is my latest fave veggie curry. It's healthy, it's hearty, it's simple and it's just really bloody delicious tbh.

I realise that it would look a lot better had I sprinkled on some coriander, but anyone who knows me will know that coriander is my main nemesis in life (along with mint and parsley) so I'm afraid you're going to have to do with my pictures of yellow mush.

It tastes a lot better than it looks, trust me.

I don't like my curries super spicy, and this one is subtly sweet and mild but also far from bland. And of course, you can adjust the spice levels to your taste.

The reason I focussed on coconut and cumin was because the lovely gang over at Bounce challenged me to make a recipe inspired by their new range of V Life Bounce Balls.

Now being a fan of original Bounce Balls, I was keen to try out the new flavours and see what I could come up with in the kitchen. I think the almond kale ball is actually my favourite - it tastes like marzipan! - but the coconut cumin is definitely the one with the most savoury undertone.

So I decided to turn it into a curry! Sort of.

This is a really easy one-pot dish and you can serve it with whatever you like - I went for quinoa, which I cook in chicken stock and Marmite. Trust me, it's amazing.

Depending on your portion size, this recipe serves about four.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp tikka curry paste
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
1 small head of cauliflower, broken into florets
1 can coconut milk
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 can chickpeas
2 handfuls kale
A sprinkle of seeds, cashews and coconut flakes, optional
Quinoa or rice to serve


Method

1. Gently fry the onion in the coconut oil in a large saucepan over a low heat for a few minutes  and once starting to soften, add the garlic. Sauté until cooked.

2. Add the cumin and curry paste and stir, followed by the squash and cauliflower, then the coconut milk and stock. Season with salt and pepper and stir well before adding the chickpeas and kale.

3. Bring to the boil then simmer for about half an hour or so until the veggies are cooked through and the sauce isn't too runny. Check the flavour is strong enough for you and add more cumin or curry paste if you like. In the meantime, cook your rice or quinoa.

4. Serve the curry with the rice or quinoa and top with a scattering of cashews, seeds and coconut flakes. Dig in!