Autumn is in full swing and the need for warming comforting meals in definitely needed! With it begin Halloween I thought this recipe would be perfect. It is based on the curry I had at Cafe Eighty2 the night before my wedding. I couldn’t believe it when I realised that I haven’t made a curry since we moved into our house. It is more of a red thai curry base, but not exactly!
It is vegan and gluten free which is always brilliant and still incredibly warming and filling. Having the smoked tofu in this adds a wonderful flavour to the dish and I find I use chickpeas every time I make a curry so made a great change to the source of protein. The curry paste is very easy to make, using a small blender makes it much faster than using a pestle and mortar as it has a lot of wet ingredients in it.
Pumpkin, Aubergine and Smoked Tofu Curry
Ingredients (serves 3)
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 red chillies
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- 1 tsp tamarind paste
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 inch ginger
- zest of 1 lime
- handful fresh coriander
- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp tomato puree
- 1 onion
- 1 small pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1.5cm cubes
- 225g smoked tofu, cut into 1.5cm cubes
- 1 aubergine, cut into 1.5 cm cubes
- 1 tin coconut milk
- 225g basmati rice
Method
- To make the curry paste, toast the coriander seeds in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes. Place in a pestle and mortar and grind until fine. Place the coriander in a small food processor with the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, tamarind, lime zest, fresh coriander, coconut oil, tomato puree and chillies. Blitz until smooth.
- Finely slice the onion and place it in a pan with 1 tbsp of coconut oil. Cook on a medium heat until cooked and starting to turn brown and crispy on the edges. Add in the curry paste and cook for a further five minutes.
- Add the aubergine, pumpkin and coconut oil. Simmer gently until the pumpkin is soft. Once the pumpkin has cooked add the smoked tofu and leave to simmer.
- Place the rice in a pan of simmering water and cook according to packet instructions (normally 12 minutes).
- To serve place the rice in your bowl. Mix another handful of fresh coriander into the curry, season to taste, then place in the bowl.
Enjoy! H x
