Spicy potato, butternut squash, pea and paneer curry with orange-scented rice

recipe

Spicy potato, butternut squash, pea and paneer curry with orange-scented rice

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Brighton's Food For Friends restaurant: One morning, while we were cooking this recipe in the restaurant, the telephone rang. It was a member of staff from the restaurant opposite, saying that her general manager had asked if we could send some of whatever we were cooking over. How's that for a compliment? Feel free to change the ingredients around with this recipe; you could use any root vegetable, just make sure that it has the same texture as the one you are replacing - if you use sweet potato the curry will have a sweeter flavour.

Ingredients

100ml vegetable oil
3 large onions, chopped
4 red chillies, finely chopped
10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
5 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp mixed sweet spice
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp salt
1 large bunch of fresh coriander, coarsely chopped (including stalks)
1kg butternut squash, peeled and cubed into 1.5cm pieces
1.25kg potatoes, peeled and chopped into 3cm cubes
500g garden peas
250g paneer cheese, cubed
3 tsp groundnut oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
550g white basmati rice
1.2 litres boiling water
2 rounded tsp salt
a handful of flaked almonds
1 orange, the grated zest and carefully peeled segments
1 tbsp of chopped coriander

Serves: 8

Directions

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Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan and sweat the onions slowly over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Add the red chillies and garlic. Using a mortar and pestle, mix all of the spices together, and then add them to the pan, mixing thoroughly so the spices really cook through.
Add the tinned tomatoes, the salt and half the coriander, stir them in and continue to cook. It will taste salty at this stage as the vegetables have not yet been added - they will counteract this.
Peel and deseed the butternut squash, and cut the flesh into 1.5cm cubes. Add these to the curry base in the pan, and cook for another 20 minutes.
Then peel the potatoes, add them to the curry and continue to cook for another 15 minutes (don't add them at the same time as the squash; they will cook more quickly and turn to mush).
Add the peas 10 minutes before serving and, while they are cooking through, pan-fry the paneer cubes in a little oil and then stir them into the curry. Add the rest of the coriander right at the end.
For a vegan version pan fry cubes of firm-textured silken tofu and add them to the curry at the end with the remainder of the coriander.
For the rice: Heat a large frying pan on a medium heat, then add the oil and onion and let it cook for 3-4 minutes, until slightly brown.
Add the rice and stir the grains so that they are coated in the oil. Then add the boiling water and the salt and stir it through once only. Cover the pan with a lid. Turn the heat to the lowest setting and do not open the lid or touch the rice for about 10-12 minutes.
After this time, uncover the pan and tilt it to see if there is any liquid; if there is, put it back on the heat for another minute. If there is not, the rice is ready.
Remove the lid and cover the pan with a clean tea towel for 10 minutes before serving to allow the rice to steam through. Then transfer it to a warmed serving dish and fluff it lightly through with a fork.
Sprinkle with the almonds and orange zest, and decorate it with the orange segments and coriander.