Creamy Korma

Hi, this recipe is from BOSH! Simple Recipes, Amazing Food, All Plants cookbook by Ian Theasby and Henry Firth page 71 and they also have a handy video of this recipe as well on their website here.

Overall, I really enjoyed this curry, it was quite fast and yet still gave a nice flavour. Often when making curries, there's a lot of waiting for flavours to develop and so you get a much deeper flavour with those than others. However, this dish managed to get a lot of flavour in during the time it was cooking, which is a bonus for this recipe. I enjoyed the combination of vegetables: sweet potato, squash and carrot because it kept some of the sweetness of a korma in this dish. And, by using a variety of vegetables, you get a few different textures in there too, which is really nice. 

If desired, you could change some of the vegetables in this recipe. You could try: white potato (although you may need to add a bit of sugar to get the sweeter korma sauce flavour), aubergine or courgette (if using one of these, make sure to have at least one 'harder' vegetable, as these can go quite soft when roasted and I wouldn't want them to just melt into the sauce) or some sprouts even. 

And, if korma's not your thing, why not try a different vegan curry recipe? This Ragda Chaat is delicious and such a rewarding meal to make. Or, how about a Chickpea Tikka Masala? There are so many more curry recipes on my blog for you to enjoy, have a search around if you are interested!

Enjoy!

Hazel 

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Dietary Info:

-Vegan

-Vegetarian

-Dairy-Free

-Contains Nuts

{The nuts for topping can be omitted, or if you can tolerate seeds, sprinkle some sunflower seeds on top. For the sauce, this recipe here says that you can just leave out the nuts and thicken the sauce later on with a little cornflour (as this is one of the reasons nuts are in a korma).}

-Gluten-Free

-Main Meal

Serves: 4-6

Takes: 45mins to an hour

Ingredients:

-1 large sweet potato (about 400g)

-1/2 butternut squash (about 500g) {I used frozen, and it still took 30mins to cook.}

-2 carrots (about 150g)

-3tbsp vegetable oil {I used extra virgin olive oil.}

-2 large white onions

-7 green cardamom pods

-1+1/2tsp poppy seeds {I didn't have any poppy seeds, so I used golden flax seeds.}

-2 cloves

-1 bay leaf {I used a curry leaf.}

-50g cashew nuts

-75g blanched almonds {I used blanched, flaked almonds.}

-2cm piece fresh ginger {I used dried ginger.}

-2 fresh green chillies 

-3 garlic cloves

-1/2tsp ground nutmeg

-1/2tsp ground turmeric

-1 x 400ml tin coconut milk

-2 limes

-small bunch of fresh coriander, to serve

-2 spring onions, to serve

-rice, to serve

-salt

Method:

1: Preheat oven to 180℃ / 160℃ fan / 350℉ / Gas 4. Line a baking tray. {Get out a:} Liquidiser. {and a} Large frying pan.

2: Peel the sweet potato, squash and carrots. Cut into 2cm chunks and arrange on the lined baking tray. Drizzle with 1tbsp of the oil and season lightly with salt. {And pepper.} Put the tray in the oven and roast for 30mins, turning the tray in the oven after 20mins if necessary. {Also, you may want to shake the tray, or turn the veg with a spatula to stop it from sticking to the pan too much.} Remove when softened and a little brown. Peel and finely slice the onions. {I also diced them.}

3: Bash the cardamom pods with the end of a knife and tear them open. Tip the seeds into the large frying pan. Add the poppy seeds and cloves and put on a medium-high heat. Toast for 2mins. {Be careful, as my seeds started to pop, like popcorn, and so I quickly had to add the oil and other ingredients to calm them down a bit.}

4: Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the remaining 2tbsp of oil. Add the onions, bay leaf, cashews and 50g of the blanched almonds. Stir and cook for 12mins, until the onions are soft and the nuts slightly golden, stirring regularly. {Season with salt and pepper.}

5: Peel the ginger by scraping off the skin with a spoon, then roughly chop. Rip the stems from the chillies, cut them in half lengthways and remove the seeds if you prefer a milder sauce, then finely chop. Peel and crush the garlic into the pan. Add the ginger, chilli, ground nutmeg and turmeric to the pan. Cook for another 2mins. {Until the chillies start to soften.}

6: Take off the heat and cool for 5mins. Remove the bay leaf. Transfer to the liquidiser with 200ml coconut milk and whizz to a smooth paste, about 60 seconds. Pour back into the pan and put on a medium heat.

7: Add the roasted vegetables to the pan. Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and stir gently until well mixed. Reduce the heat {This is important so the coconut milk doesn't split.} and simmer for about 5mins. Add a splash of water if the sauce is too thick.

8: Cut the limes in half and squeeze the juice over the curry, catching any pips in your other hand. Season to taste with salt.

9: Divide between 4-6 plates and serve with rice. Chop the stalks from the coriander and save for another recipe, then chop the leaves and the rest of the blanched almonds and slice the spring onions. Scatter a little over each portion.

While you're here...

I have a Pinterest for all my recipes, where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html. 

https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile

This recipe:

https://pin.it/2F5g3fA