It's cold outside, and it'll soon be even colder, so I'm turning to spices to rev up simple, seasonal ingredients into satisfying, warming and comforting dishes. Chillies to keep the chills at bay. Not only do they taste delicious, but their heady aromas lift the spirits and cheer the soul, banishing the winter blues and leaving you feeling perky rather than sluggish, as some heavier, creamier winter dishes can do.
Today's curried recipes can't lay any great claim to authenticity – they're not the faithful academic reconstructions of dishes I've found on my travels. Rather, they're inspired by the herbs and spices Ialways have in the kitchen, and the understanding that, much as I love cooking, I often haven't got all day.
When I look at my spice collection, Iget that feeling I got as a kid when contemplating a new box of crayons: what can I create with them next? Agarish mess with little resemblance to any known form, in the case of the crayons. Dare I say I'm a bit handier with the spices.
I'm focusing on veg today, and not just because – as regular readers will know – I think we should all eat more of the stuff. Vegetable curries are relatively quick fixes. There's no simmering for hours to get tender, falling-off-the-bone meat. A bit of frying, a little simmering, and you'll have dinner ready in less than an hour.
The one bit of Indian authenticity I do stick to when making curries is in cooking the onions. For most European dishes, we sauté onions just until they are soft, pale and translucent; for curry, they should be cooked at a slightly higher temperature until golden and lightly caramelised, so giving the dish amuch richer, deeper flavour and alovely warm, amber colour, too.
Much as I love making a fully rounded veg curry from scratch, I'm more than ready to use my spice jars for some nifty improvisations with leftovers, too: see today's recipe for curried bubble and squeak – at this time of year, that's one of our favourite Sunday suppers.
And there's plenty more where that came from: mix leftover mash with fried onions and curry powder for delicious potato cakes; stir chopped leftover veg into spicy gram flour batter to make pakoras; mix cooked spinach with fried onions, chillies, ginger and garlic, stir in some ground coriander and turmeric, and you have an easy, tasty saag curry.
Spices are among our most precious ingredients, but you don'thave to be precious with them. Let them fly.
Spinach and egg curry
The coconut milk gives this simple curry a great depth of flavour and adds an appealing edge of sweetness that mellows out the hotter flavours. Serves four to six.
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large onions, peeled, halved and finely sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
2-3 green chillies, sliced (remove the seeds and membrane if you don't like it too hot)
5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp korma or other curry powder
400g tin coconut milk
200ml vegetable stock
6 eggs
300g baby spinach
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 big handful fresh coriander, tough stalks removed, leaves chopped
30g almonds, toasted
In a large saucepan, warm the oil over a medium heat and sweat the onions with a pinch of salt until they soften and turn golden – about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, chillies and ginger, and fry for a couple of minutes. Stir in the curry powder, cook for a minute, add the coconut milk and stock, season and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.
Put the eggs in a pan of warm water, bring to a simmer and cook for five minutes. Drain, put them in a bowl of cold water for a couple of minutes, then peel. Add the eggs and spinach to the curry – put on the lid for the first minute, to encourage the spinach to wilt – and simmer gently for five minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and half the chopped coriander, and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Heat for only as long as it takes to warm the eggs through. Top with the rest of the coriander and toasted almonds, and serve with basmati rice or the pilaf.
Butternut squash curry
This easy curry tastes even better the next day. It's really good cold, too, as part of a packed lunch. Serves four.
4 tbsp sunflower oil
3 onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 small green chilli, halved, deseeded and thinly sliced
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garam masala
1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm chunks
100g red lentils, rinsed
About 700ml vegetable stock
400g tinned plum tomatoes
1 big handful fresh coriander, tough stalks removed, leaves chopped
Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions and sauté with a pinch of salt until softened and turning golden, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and green chilli, and cook, stirring, for about five minutes. Addthe ground coriander, cumin and garam masala, stir for a minute, then toss in the cubes of squash and lentils, and stir until well coated. Pour in the stock and tomatoes, crushing the tomatoes against the sides of the pan with a fork to break them up a bit.
Simmer, part-covered, until the squash and lentils are very tender, about 30 minutes, stirring from time to time. Stir in about two-thirds of the coriander, taste and check the seasoning – add salt and pepper if desired. Serve with basmati rice or the pilaf recipe below, some thick yoghurt and the rest of the coriander scattered over the top.
Curried bubble and squeak
Adding spices to traditional dishes can give them a whole new lease of life. Here, leftover potatoes and cabbage are revved up with curry powder or paste. Serve it as it is or with a poached or fried egg on top of each portion. Serves four.
2-4 tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil
1 onion, peeled, quartered and finely sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 heaped tsp curry powder or paste
About 400g cold, cooked potatoes (boiled, baked, roasted, cut into rough chunks, or mashed)
About 200g cold, cooked cabbage, greens, kale or brussels sprouts, roughly shredded or chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat two tablespoons of oil in alarge, nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and fry, stirring from time to time, untilsoftened and starting to turn golden, about 15 minutes. Add thegarlic and the curry powder or paste, and cook for another couple of minutes.
Add the potatoes and cook for afew minutes, stirring often, until they start to colour. Youmay need to add a little more oilat this stage, and you'll probably find you also need to use the edge of a spatula toscrape up some of the lovely crusty bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the cabbage or greens andcook, stirring, for another two to three minutes.
Season and serve straight away, by all means with a fried egg on top.
Aromatic fruity nutty pilaf
Beautiful, fragrant basmati rice with lots of spices, fruit and nuts makes this a substantial side dish. It's great with various curries or with fillets of fried white fish served with wedges of lime. Serves six to eight.
300g basmati rice
60g butter
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cardamom pods, bashed
1 garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced
1 good pinch saffron
1 good pinch dried chilli flakes
400g tin chickpeas, drained andrinsed
80g raisins
80g dried unsulphured apricots, chopped
600ml vegetable stock, hot
100g shelled pistachio nuts, toasted
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
1 small handful parsley, tough stalks removed, leaves roughly chopped
Rinse the rice in cold water until the water runs clear. You can also leave it to soak in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes or so, which will speed up the cooking time a bit and make it less sticky. Drain well.
Over medium heat, melt half the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or casserole for which youhave a lid. Add the onions and apinch of salt, and fry, stirring fromtime to time, until soft and golden, about 15 minutes. Add the cardamom, garlic, saffron and chilli flakes, and stir for another couple ofminutes. Add the rice, chickpeas and dried fruit, and stir until wellcoated.
Pour over the stock, increase theheat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the top of the rice with greaseproof paper torn to fit neatly inside the pan, and pop the lid on the pot. Leave to cook undisturbed until the rice is tender, about 10-12 minutes.
Remove pan from heat and let the rice rest for 15 minutes, still covered, so it absorbs the rest of the liquid. Dot butter over the top, then, using a fork, gently scrape at the rice until the grains are separated and fluffy. Fork in the nuts, dill and parsley, season if necessary and serve.
