Curry in my tummy

I've been feeling the cold like everyone else in the British Isles for the last few weeks, and foolishly turned to chocolate and pub lunches. Noooooo! Hearty fare does not always mean heart failure. So I decided to make a curry stuffed with veg an comforting aromas. And don't worry, I'll cook with something other than butternut squash soon, they're just soooo good and healthy!




Butternut Squash, Cabbage and Chickpea curry
serves 4

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash
1 red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 savoy cabbage (or kale if you can find it - the flavour is amazing)
2 garlic cloves
1 can chickpeas
1 pint vegetable stock
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp fresh chopped coriander
1 inch ginger
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp LittlePod vanilla essence
2 tbsp no fat plain yoghurt

Instructions:

Start by peeling and chopping the butternut squash, and roast it in the oven with half the oil for 30min. Meanwhile, chop the onion and heat the rest of the oil in a deep sided frying pan. Add the chilli flakes, cumin, dried coriander and grated ginger for a minute before adding the onion, and once they're soft, add the garlic and LittlePod vanilla paste. Keep moving it around for a few minutes, and enjoying the smells, then add the chickpeas and chopped cabbage. Turn the heat down as ow as it will go, adding the roasted butternut squash and stock, and cover. Let this bubble for at least half and hour, to turn into something special. If it's looking too watery, take the lid off for 10/15min.

Get some rice on the go while you're waiting - I'm really into brown basmati at the moment and that seems to take ages to cook. Your curry will wait for the rice, don't worry, the mushier the better. At the last minute, add the yoghurt and mix in the fresh coriander. Serve with a nice lime pickle or mint raita (mango chutney is so full of sugar I avoid buying it now, the temptation is too much,) and enjoy something warm, filling and good for you.

Believe me, it will give you a big boost! My blip away from my 5 a day has made me realise the big difference in my energy levels, what we put in to our bodies really effects it's performance. Obvious, but easy to take for granted.