Pumpkin and Red Lentil Yellow Curry with Apricot Almond Chutney and Minted Coconut Yoghurt

Read on for Recipe

It was a semi-cold night last night and I had a craving for curry and pumpkin. Probably inspired by my dinner out with Hames at the Abyssinian the previous night (I’ll blog about this place soon – it’s a real little gem). Shatha (the current guinea pig) was on the phone for a while so I just kept adding to our meal while waiting for her to be ready for dinner, and voila this dish was born! I was real impressed at how gorgeously hearty and flavoursome and it turned out for a Friday night whip-up after a stressful day.

Note: never cook when stressed or in a bad mood because it imparts negative vibes to your food. I have cooked the same dish heaps of times and do it on a bad mood and it always fails. Why do you think a natural cook’s secret ingredient is LOVE?!

Now for the recipe:

Curry
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp grated ginger (subs: ½ tsp ginger powder)
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp celtic seasalt
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 small onion sliced
1 Tbls brown sugar
1 bay leaf
juice from 1 lime (subst. lemon)
½ pumpkin, diced into 1” squares
½ c. red lentils
2 c. vegetable stock
1 c. water
1 c. Spinach, rinsed and roughly chopped

Sweet and Sour apricot and almond chutney
½ c. Dried apricots, sliced
¼ c. apple cider vinegar
3 Tbls slivered almonds
2 cloves (subs: ¼ tsp clove powder)
3 cardamon pods
1.5 cm piece cinnamon (subs: ½ tsp cinnamon powder)

Minted coconut yoghurt
½ c. mint leaves
½ small can coconut milk
¼ c. plain yoghurt (omit for vegans)

1. In a saucepan, heat some oil. Add sliced onions and sauté until starting to soften.
2. Add spices (pepper, ginger, coriander, cumin, nutmet, tumeric, salt) and sauté until fragrant.
3. Add garlic and sauté for another minute, while stirring on medium heat
4. Sprinkle in sugar and add pumpkin and red lentils. Give a good stir to coat with spices
5. Deglaze the pan by adding the stock and water. Add bay leaf. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat. Simmer gently stirring every now and again for approx 45 mins until the lentils and pumpkin are cooked.
6. Meanwhile make the chutney: take the seeds out of cardamon pods by gently bashing them to split the pod. Grind the seeds with cloves and cinnamon in a mortar and pestle.
7. Heat vinegar in a saucepan, adding apricots, almonds and spices. Simmer gently for approx. 45 minutes until sticky, fragrant and jam-like consistency. You may need to add some splashes of water if it gets too dry. Make sure you stir every now and then.
8. To mnake the mintet yoghurt: finely chopping mint. Mix together with coconut milk and yoghurt. Refrigerate while flavours develop while the rest of your meal is cooking.
9. Once curry is cooked, stir in lime juice and spinach leaves and cook until wilted – approx 2 mins
10. Serve with Basmati rice*

*Easy to cook via absorption method: rinse ½ c rice well and add to saucepan with 1 c. water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer and put on well-fitting lid. Cook for 10 mins – undisturbed – until liquid has absorbed. Turn off heat, leave lid on and let the rice steam for a further 10 mins. Fluff with fork and it’s ready to serve.