Vegetable Rack

While cooking my chicken korma recipe, I thought I could make my life a bit more fun (or should it be difficult), making a curry dish seconds for the first time, on our curry night. This is one of the girlfriends "my favorite curries, so had a search online and came across this recipe for Vegetable Balti Curry on BBC Food Good site. I knew she would be happy when saying that it is rich in fiber and vitamins, low in fat and we hope very tasty!

This recipe seemed perfect, but I wish I could make the dough for this and the Korma! Instead, I had to get a jar of Patak's Balti Curry Paste that I had never used before, but fingers crossed hoping would do the job ok.

Having obtained all the ingredients for the loan and having Korma Korma paste, I began to peel, chop and cut all the vegetables needed for this dish. I have not used all the vegetables the same as those mentioned in the Good Food website, but used what I had in my pocket-vegetables, which was close enough! My only major change has been using parsnips instead of turnips and only use half the amount of butternut squash and do the rest, using sweet potatoes that were to be used.

I found this recipe for this easy to do and I was very pleased to be able to leave this to simmer and cook while working on more complex Korma same time.

The best part of this curry, the fact my girlfriend and I both thought it tasted as good as the Balti vegetables from our local restaurant. We ate half our curry night and froze the rest in the hope of having a new night soon! What I think will become a regular favorite at home with us.

Serves 4

On 1 tablespoon vegetable oil soup
1 large onion, thickly sliced
1 large clove garlic, crushed
An eating apple, peeled, cored and chopped
3 c. tbsp balti curry paste (we used Patak's)
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into
2 large carrots, thickly sliced
200g of turnips, cut into pieces
1 medium cauliflower, weighing about two ounces 500g/1lb, divided into florets
400g chopped tomatoes
425ml hot vegetable stock
4 c. tablespoons chopped cilantro, plus extra to serve
150g pot low-fat natural yogurt

1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add onion, garlic and potatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender, about 5-8 minutes. Stir in curry paste.

2 Tip the vegetables into the pan and add tomatoes and broth. Stir 3 tablespoons chopped coriander. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover with lid and cook for half an hour.

3 Remove the lid and cook for another 20 minutes until vegetables are tender and liquid has reduced a little. There should be some liquid remaining, but not too much. Season with salt and pepper.

4 mix 1 c. chopped coriander to yogurt to make a raita. Pour the curry into bowls, add a sprinkle of cilantro raita and more. Serve with remaining raita and naan breads warm mini.

Try different vegetables - onions, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, peppers and mushrooms that go well together.