GUIDE TO DELICIOUS CURRIES

Whether it’s a marvellous Madras or a delicious dhal, there’s a curry to suit everyone, says Rachel Allen, who has some delicious vegetarian recipes for you to try. Photography by Tony Gavin

One of my favourite things about curry — apart from the fabulously fragrant flavours and their huge versatility — is that they have a delicious sauce that demands to be mopped up by rice or flatbreads such as naan, paratha or chapati. The word curry actually comes from the Tamil word kari, which means sauce or gravy.

Defining exactly what curry means, apart from a spiced dish with sauce or gravy, is not easy. Curries and curried dishes are eaten across the world, and they vary hugely. The curries that are eaten in India can be very different from those in its neighbouring countries, not to mention curries that come from Guyana, Trinidad, Singapore or Japan.

Each spice in the curry is important, adding its own layer of flavour and complexity. If you can, toast and grind whole spices for each dish. It gives a deeper and more powerful flavour than ready-ground spices, and is always worth that little extra effort.

Whether you’re a vegetarian, or a committed carnivore who wants to up the veggies and pulses in your life, these vegetarian curries will hopefully also deliver on the convenience front, as they can all be made in advance and reheated, or even frozen.

The humble but delicious chickpea is an important staple food across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Chickpeas are hearty, full of nutrition and can be stored for years when they are dried. The quick chickpea curry, right, is easy to throw together and completely delicious. It’s just as good, if not better, if it is made a day or two in advance, and it’s ideal for making extra to freeze, for those nights when you need a meal in a hurry.

The roasted vegetable coconut curry, also right, is a feast of a curry, with a gorgeously creamy consistency from the coconut milk, a lightness from the yoghurt and a buttery crunch from the toasted nuts. For this curry, roasting the vegetables in the curry paste really brings out their sweetness. It’s worth making a big batch, as, even if you won’t need all of it at once, it’ll freeze a treat.

Dhal is a split grain or pulse in India, and this version, far right, of the ubiquitous, delicious dish that uses red or yellow lentils, is a favourite of mine. Served with rice and a nice squeeze of lemon, and perhaps a cold glass of beer, this, for me, is as comforting as curries get.