Hot? No meat
Indian Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar is back with a new cookbook, Curry Everyday– and it’s 100 per cent vegetarian. Pictures by Mike Cooper.
Chermoula cauliflower
SERVES 4 AS A SHARING DISH
Ingredients
• 1 large head of cauliflower, trimmed and left whole
• Sea salt
For the chermoula sauce:
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4tbsp olive oil
• 4tbsp runny honey
• 1tbsp ground toasted cumin seeds
• 1tbsp smoked paprika
• ½tsp ground black pepper
• Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
• 4tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 30-40g fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• Slivered almonds, toasted, to garnish
• Lettuce leaves on the side, to garnish
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6 and line a roasting pan with baking paper, making sure the baking paper comes up the side of the pan.
To make the chermoula sauce, combine the garlic, olive oil, honey, ground cumin seeds, paprika, black pepper, lemon zest and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the lemon juice, then add about threequarters of the coriander leaves.
Place the cauliflower upside-down in the bowl and spoon over the chermoula sauce. Use your hands to rub the sauce all over the cauliflower, top and bottom, making sure it goes between the florets. Push any leftover sauce into the gap between the central core and florets on the bottom – you don’t want to lose any of that flavour.
Transfer the cauliflower, rightside up, to the roasting pan. Pour over any sauce remaining in the bowl and cover with foil, pressing the foil around the cauliflower. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.
Uncover the pan and continue roasting for a further 25 minutes, or until it the cauliflower is tender and slightly charred. You should be able to slide a knife into the core easily. Sprinkle with the remaining coriander leaves, add the rest of the garnishes and serve.
Persian pumpkin and chickpea curry
SERVES 3-4
Ingredients
• ½ large pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into bite-sized cubes, about 400g prepared weight
• Sunflower oil
• Ground cinnamon
• 75g walnut halves
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 7cm piece of cinnamon bark
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 1tsp ground turmeric
• 2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 100ml pomegranate juice
• 75g pomegranate molasses
• ½tsp salt
• ¼tsp ground black pepper
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste, or a pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 unwaxed orange, zested
• About 500ml water, as needed
• Maple syrup, optional
• 80g pomegranate seeds
• Salt and ground black pepper
• Chopped flat-leaf parsley or coriander, to garnish
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/Gas 7. Put the pumpkin cubes
on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle with sunflower oil and lightly dust with ground cinnamon, then shake the tray so all the cubes are well coated. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender and the tip of a knife slides through easily.
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan, ideally non-stick, over a medium-high heat. Add the walnuts and toast, stirring often, until lightly browned. Leave to cool, then transfer to a food processor and process until finely ground. Set aside.
Heat about two tablespoons of sunflower oil in a large saucepan over a mediumhigh heat. Add the garlic and onion and fry, stirring often, until the onions start to soften. Add the cinnamon bark and continue frying, stirring, until the onions are light brown.
Stir in the cumin, turmeric and half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and stir together for 30 seconds. Add the chickpeas, pomegranate juice, pomegranate molasses, salt, pepper and a good grating of nutmeg. Increase the heat and bring to the boil, stirring.
Add the pumpkin cubes and ground walnuts and return the mixture to the boil, stirring until the stew thickens. Add the orange zest and stir in just enough water to get the thickness you like. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary, and if you think it’s too sour add maple syrup to taste. Stir in the pomegranate seeds and garnish with parsley before serving.
Mango and tempeh curry
SERVES 4
Ingredients
• 1tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 mangoes, halved, stoned and flesh cut away in
cubes
• 200ml water
• 2tbsp palm or light brown sugar
• 500g tempeh or seitan, cut into bite-sized cubes
• 400ml coconut milk
• 8 baby tomatoes, quartered
• Sea salt
• Spring onions, chopped, to garnish
For the curry paste:
• 4-6 candlenuts or macadamia nuts
• 2 fresh red bird’s-eye chillies, coarsely chopped • 3 shallots, chopped
• 2 thick lemongrass stalks, outer leaves removed
and the stalks bashed and chopped
• 1 long, thin green chilli, coarsely chopped
METHOD
First, make the curry paste. Put all the paste ingredients in a food processor and process until a fine paste forms, scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary. Alternatively, you can use a pestle and mortar.
Heat a large wok over a high heat. Add the oil and swirl it around. Reduce the heat slightly, add the curry paste and stir-fry until it is lightly coloured. It’s important to cook the shallots at this point, and don’t stop stirring, because the paste can quickly burn.
Add the mangoes and stir until all the pieces are coated in the paste. Stir in the water, sugar and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer just until the mangoes begin to soften.
Add the tempeh, coconut milk and tomatoes, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for a further five to seven minutes until the tomatoes begin to break down and the flavours blend. Taste and adjust the salt, if necessary. Garnish with spring onions and serve.
■ Curry Everyday by Atul Kochhar is published by Bloomsbury Absolute, priced £26.