Store Cupboard Curry

Curry is delicious and it makes the house smell amazing. It can also be made with store cupboard ingredients. Canned chick peas, coconut milk, frozen spinach and spices served with rice. I have used fresh potatoes but you could used canned. You can swap the fresh sweet potato for frozen or use frozen pumpkin or butternut squash.. I used fresh onion but you could use frozen or dried. I used a mixture of individual spices, you could use your favourite curry paste or powder.

The key with store cupboard cooking is a bit of flexibility with what you have available. You could use a range of fresh or frozen vegetables – peas, cauliflower, peppers etc. I have thrown in left over roast vegetables and steamed veg from a meal before.

And store cupboards can have lovely Indian accompaniments sitting n the house. Poppadoms can sit in the cupboard for months and they cook up quickly in the microwave and all the chutneys and pickles are just great, once opened they could sit in the fridge for a long time (but they never last long our house).

If you are in Paris and would like to get really good Indian ingredients then head over to Little India near Gare du Nord once confinement is over!! As a Brit who loves curry, when I headed over there, I was like a child in a toy shop!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 onions (or about 200g of frozen onions)
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1tsp each of cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (could use frozen, puree from a jar or dried)
• A thumb size piece of ginger (could use frozen or dried)
• 1 sweet potato (200g of frozen sweet potato or pumpkin/butternut squash)
• 3 waxy potatoes (you could use canned potatoes)
• 1 can of chick peas
• 500 mls stock
• 1-2 tbsp tomato puree
• 200ml coconut milk
• 2-3 blocks of frozen spinach
• A generous sprinkle of frozen coriander.

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pot and cook the onions until they start to turn brown.
2. Add the spices or curry paste and coat the onions.
3. Add the chopped vegetables and coat with the spices/curry paste.
4. Add the chick peas and stock, tomato puree and frozen spinach. Let this simmer for 30-40 minutes.
5. Add the coconut milk or cream and heat through. Just before serving add some frozen coriander if you have any.
6. Serve with rice (brown rice if you would like to up your fibre intake a bit more) and Indian pickles and chutneys. I like some creme fraiche or yoghurt or raita too.