Roasted cauliflower, chickpea and spinach curry with brown rice and yoghurt By Harriet Maule-ffinch
We cook this curry pretty much every Friday night in my house! It takes a little bit more time than a midweek curry, where I wouldn’t bother with the whole spices (cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves and cardamom pods) but the flavours they bring really do make it worth the effort.
Ingredients:
- ½ head of large cauliflower (or 1 whole small one), cut into florets
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 cloves
- 6 cardamom pods
- 1 large onion or 2 small onions, chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- Large thumb of ginger, grated
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 x 400g tin of tomatoes
- 250ml water
- 1 x 400g tin chickpeas
- 100g spinach leaves
- 1 tbsp fenugreek leaves
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- Handful of coriander, chopped
- 100g brown rice
- 2 tbsp full fat Greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C and pop in a roasting dish with 1 tbsp of the coconut oil to melt. Once melted, coat the cauliflower florets in the coconut oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for 30 mins until tender, turning halfway through cooking.
Put the other tbsp of the coconut oil in a heavy based saucepan, and once hot, add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves and cardamom pods (remember how many cloves and cardamom pods you add so you know how many to take out later!*). Fry for a minute or so until the seeds are sizzling and really fragrant.
Add the chopped onion, fry for a good ten minutes until translucent before adding the ginger, garlic, turmeric, garam masala, ground coriander and chilli powder. Cook this for a couple more minutes (if it starts to stick, add a little water).
Add the tomato puree, tinned tomatoes and water and cook for 20 minutes on a low heat.
Rinse the uncooked rice in cold water and boil for 20 minutes or until cooked.
Remove the cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves and cardamom pods from the curry*(count them in, count them out!). You can blend the curry at this point or leave chunky (I tend to blend).
Add the roasted cauliflower and chickpeas to the curry to heat through before adding the spinach leaves, fenugreek leaves and maple syrup. Cook for a couple of minutes until the spinach is wilted.
Serve the curry with the coriander, the yoghurt dollop and brown rice. Enjoy!
You can add any veggies you like to this dish but I particularly like roasted cauliflower and can’t bring myself to make this curry without it! I also roast the tender cauliflower leaves as they are so delicious – they cook quickly so take them out before the rest and eat as a little starter. I do add other veggies that need using up, a fave is roasted aubergine, which adds creaminess. Just make sure you always have some protein like chickpeas, lentils or beans, and coupled with the brown rice, this meal has all the amino acids to make a complete meal. You can also add coconut milk or coconut cream towards the end if you like a coconut flavour to curries.
