Whether you are attempting veganuary or not, or just fancy a delicious, flavour-packed curry dish, this should fit the bill.
Rather than being a curry swimming in sauce (and I do love one of those), this is a dry curry (ie: with no sauce) which is ideal as an accompaniment to other curries. The carrots and swede are still succulent and bursting with flavour and work well with the spices.
I also like to pile this curry onto flatbreads or roti, along with garlicky yoghurt and a touch of mango chutney before devouring.
This is a mild curry, but you can up the heat quota by adding more chilli. I often make this using left-over vegetables from a roast dinner: the combination of carrot and swede is wonderful and I sometimes add peas or green beans. In which case, skip straight to step 2 of the recipe.
I like to add a touch of mango chutney for a subtle sweetness, but you could use lime pickle or other Indian chutney.
Recipe: carrot and swede curry – serves 3-4 as a side dish
- 3-4 medium carrots, trimmed and cut into smallish chunks (no need to peel)
- 1 small swede, peeled and cut into smallish chunks
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- about 10 curry leaves, optional
- 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced fairly thinly
- 1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and either crushed or chopped finely
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder or a little finely chopped red or green chilli, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- juice of up to 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon mango chutney
- handful fresh coriander, chopped
(1) Add the carrots, swede, salt and turmeric to a pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently just until the carrots and swede are slightly soft but still have some bite. Drain and set aside.
(2) Add the oil to a large pan and heat gently. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves and stir to coat them in the oil. Put the lid on and heat for 3-4 minutes or until the seeds start to pop. Give the pan a shake and turn off the heat, leaving the pan for a few minutes.
(3) Remove the pan lid and heat the pan gently. Add the onion, garlic, coriander powder, cumin powder and chilli and stir well. Cook for about 7 minutes, stirring from time to time until the onion has softened.
(4) Add the swede and carrot mixture along with the the mango chutney , salt and juice of half the lemon lemon juice. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes over a medium heat, stirring gently from time to time.
(5) Taste and add more lemon juice and/or salt if you feel they are needed.
(6) Stir in the chopped coriander and serve.
