Sometimes it can be difficult to get your family (including your husband!) to eat their greens, and so making a curry is an excellent way to give them all a good dose of many different nutritional vegetables. My husband doesn't usually eat broccoli, courgette or spinach, but he really enjoyed this curry, thank goodness! Those of you who are familiar with my recipes will know I don't use any flavourings from jars or pastes or whatnot, but simply use tasty fresh ingredients along with spices and herbs to create the desired tastes (and in this case, the desired spicy-hotness too). As usual I do recommend using organic vegetables to avoid those nasty pesticides and GMOs, but if you're unable to get organic at least try to use the clean fifteen and not the dirty dozen!
I always make large quantities of curry, as it takes a while to prepare and so it makes sense to make lots and freeze some for future meals. This makes enough for at least three meals for two people, or two meals for a family of four. Although the curry contains pinto beans which replaces the need for meat, I sometimes steam some extra veg such as broccoli to bulk it out if I'm feeling particularly hungry. (Plus in my opinion you can never have too much broccoli on your plate... yum yum, if you could marry a vegetable I totally would). This curry isn't too spicy - it's similar to a tika masala, so feel free to increase or reduce the quantities of spice as you so wish.
One final comment - wholegrain basmati rice is a fantastic alternative to white rice (which is pretty devoid of nutrition) because it looks and tastes almost exactly the same as white. I've served wholegrain brown basmati on many occasions to guests, and none of them realised until I told them half-way through eating what it was. It's available in most supermarkets so you don't even have to buy it from a health food shop.
What you will need:
100g (per person) wholegrain brown basmati rice
1 head broccoli
1/2 large courgette
1 green pepper
100g spinach
2 apples
2-3 white onions
10 cloves garlic
200g green lentils
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
1 x 400g tin pinto beans, or 2 cups cooked-from-dried beans*
300ml water
(optional 2 tsp wheatgrass powder)
1 tblsp basil
1 tblsp parsley
1 tblsp turmeric
1 tblsp medium curry powder
1 tblsp cinnamon
1 tblsp coriander
1 tblsp cumin
1 tblsp paprika
1 tblsp black pepper
2 tblsp honey
* I always have a stash of cooked-from-dried beans in little jars in the freezer, which is super handy if you do a lot of vegetarian cooking. Please see my previous post on the easiest way to batch cook beans. If you use tinned or carton beans, make sure to drain off the liquid and rinse thoroughly as preservatives are usually used and it's not good to ingest them.
Method:
Prepare the vegetables - peel the onions, garlic and apples (remove apple core). Cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds. Roughly chop all the veg, including the broccoli stem as it contains as many nutrients as the florets. Mince all the veg in a food processor/veg chopper.
Put the lentils in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until softened, then drain.
Saute the minced veg in 2 tblsp coconut oil (or healthy oil of your choice). Saute on low-moderate heat for about 8-10 minutes until softened (but not mushy).
Add the lentils and all the herbs and spices.
Add the coconut milk, water and pinto beans and stir in. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
To cook the rice: put into a saucepan and cover with plenty of cold water. Bring to a covered boil on medium heat and then reduce heat to simmer for about 30-40 minutes until soft and fluffy (it will look and feel just like white rice).
For extra texture (and because I adore broccoli) I steamed some broccoli florets to have with my curry, as my husband had chicken with his. You can use any vegetables (or meat if you wish), or simply have the curry as it is. If using broccoli, lightly steam for 10-15 minutes to soften but retain nutrients.
Drain the rice and serve the curry on a bed of the rice. Enjoy!
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Many thanks.
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