I’m a huge fan of flavourful curries which are easy to adapt, depending on the ingredients I have in the fridge. They are super nutritious and amazing for batch cooking too.
A couple of years ago, I was actually super afraid of the usually very long ingredients lists of curries as I hadn’t even heard of half of the spices’ names. I’ve accumulated quite a selection in my spice drawer now, but sometimes still struggle to have the complete set for some recipes. Let me tell you, it doesn’t really matter if you omit some spices and replace them with others – important is their high quality.
In case you struggle to find garam masala for this recipe, replace it with any medium spicy yellow curry mix and a bit of cumin. Have fun experimenting!
Curry
1 small aubergine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion
chilli flakes, to taste
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tomato
1 small can of chopped tomatoes (approx. 200g)
200ml vegetable stock
1 big handful of baby spinach
salt & pepper
Quinoa
60g quinoa
120ml water
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt & pepper
parsley
Serves 1
- Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a tray with baking paper.
- Chop the aubergine into big chunks, place them on the baking tray and drizzle over 1 tbsp of olive oil.
- Roast them in the oven for 20mins or until softened.
- While the aubergine is baking, slice the onion and chop the tomato into rough chunks.
- Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a big pan and gently heat up. As soon as it’s hot, turn the heat right down to a minimum and add the onion, ginger, chilli flakes and a pinch of salt. Leave them to soften, stirring regularly for at least 10mins (trust me, the longer you cook the onions, the more flavourful the curry will be).
- Add the garam masala, mustard seeds, some pepper and the fresh tomato, giving it a good stir.
- Now it’s time to mix in the roasted aubergine, tinned tomatoes and the veg stock. Bring it to the boil and simmer on a medium to low heat for about 40mins. Stir regularly and add a splash of water if it gets too thick.
- After the curry has been cooking for around 30mins, it’s time to start with the quinoa: thoroughly wash the quinoa kernels with cold water and place them into a saucepan.
- Add water, turmeric and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil and turn the heat down to a simmer, leave to bubble away for 15mins.
- Just before the quinoa is ready, wash the baby spinach and add it to the curry. Give it a good stir and leave the spinach leaves to wilt. Add some more salt and pepper if needed.
- As soon as the quinoa is cooked, stir through some fresh parsley and plate it up next to the curry. Enjoy!
Optional:
End of the week? This is a great meal to use up any leftover veggies you have in the fridge. Root veg like carrots and parsnips are great if roasted with the aubergine, other veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, peppers and courgettes I recommend to add without baking.
Not a fan of quinoa? The curry is equally great paired with brown rice, couscous or naan bread.
Like it spicier? Feel free to add as many chilli flakes as you like or even use a fresh chilli. In case it gets too hot, add a dash of coconut milk to balance it out.
What’s your favourite curry? Let me know!