I wont even attempt to bill this as a proper from scratch curry, which is something I one day hope to master. What this is is a quick, simple dinner best utilised on a cold Wednesday night when you really don’t have it in you to mess around too much but must resist the call to beans on toast or a dirty takeaway.
Don’t believe the hype kids, banging out a healthy dinner on both a time and monetary budget in less than an hour is completely possible, and if you get it right even preferable.
Boom Boom Cheat’s Curry
Serves 2
For the sauce:
3 small white onions
1 courgette
5 cloves of garlic
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2-1tbspn curry powder of your choice
1/4 tsp tumeric (optional)
a small red chilli (or dried)
150g plain yoghurt
Oil for frying
For the bulk*:
Fresh broccoli,
Carrots
Brussells sprouts, ended and halved
One tin of chickpeas, drained
Green or red peppers
Frozen peas
*you can sub for any other seasonal or preferred vegetables
Fresh broccoli,
Carrots
Brussells sprouts, ended and halved
One tin of chickpeas, drained
Green or red peppers
Frozen peas
*you can sub for any other seasonal or preferred vegetables
Fresh coriander to serve.
Roughly chop the onions and courgettes, mince the garlic. Heat some oil (do not use olive oil) in a pan gently then add the spices and garlic and heat through for a minute, moving around to avoid burning. If you’re not a fan of too much heat then leave out or at lease de-seed the chilli. When the aromas of the spices are being released (as in, you can really smell them) add the onions and turn up the heat. Stir for a couple of minutes then add the courgettes and 2 tablespoons of water. Give it a good stir then cook through until the onions are translucent and courgettes well softened- this will be quicker if you cover the pan but keep an eye on it. Take off the heat and set aside for now.
Next prep the rest of the veg you are using for the bulk of the curry into bitesized chunks.
Now take the onion and spice mix and blend with the yoghurt until you have a thick, uniform textured sauce. If you don’t have a blender you could grate the onion and courgette before cooking and stir in the yoghurt instead. Set aside.
Add a couple of spoons of water to the pan you cooked the onions in and put on the heat. When boiling, add your broccolli and carrots then cover and leave to steam for a few minutes before adding the Brussels sprouts. After another few minutes add the peppers. You can cook to your own taste but I like to keep the veg just cooked with some crunch! A couple of minutes before the veg is fully cooked add the chickpeas and cook for another minute. Add the frozen peas, stir to combine then add the yoghurt sauce. Cook now for long enough to heat through the peas and sauce then serve immediately, garnished with lots of chopped fresh coriander.
Boom.
Variations: to veganise this dish you can use a vegan sub yoghurt or use almond or soya milk to make the sauce, though obviously this affects the flavour quite significantly. For the carnivores you could add chicken or turkey cut into chunks and fried off before adding the veg and following about method, or serve alongside a pork chop. If using lamb swap the coriander for mint. You really can use any veg you like but I’d avoid anything too starchy like potatoes unless you want to take the ‘quick’ out of this recipe. Up or down the heat to taste with some fresh or dried chillis and you could swap the chickpeas for cooked puy lentils.
Food. Boom. 