Roasted Vegetable and Chickpea Curry

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower
• 200 g red lentils
• 3 red bell peppers
• 4 white onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tin chickpeas, drained and washed
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 100 g baby spinach, washed
• 200 g tomato puree (or 100 g double concentrated)
• fresh ginger, 1 inch piece
• 2 teaspoons madras powder (a good curry powder will do)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon garam masala
• pinch chilli powder
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons salt
• rapeseed oil
• bunch coriander

Method

Soak the red lentils in 200 g of water overnight.

Dice the red peppers into 1 or 2 cm squares. Chop the cauliflower into small florets, ideally no bigger than 3 cm. Then chop the onions very finely, grate the ginger, and chop the garlic as finely as you can.

Heat 95 g of oil and fry the garlic until brown, around 1 minute. Then add the chopped onions, salt, cinnamon sticks and bay leaf, and cook. Once the onions are nice and soft, add the ginger, all the spices and chopped tomatoes. Then cook on a low-to-medium heat for at least 30 minutes, until the oil is rising to the service, which should look like lots of tiny volcanoes erupting. You’ll need to stir regularly during this crucial stage to stop it sticking.

Heat your oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7. Toss the diced red peppers in a little oil and roast for 15-20 minutes. Once roasted put to one side.

Once the base of the curry is at the volcano stage described above, add 650 ml of water, the tomato puree, sugar, cauliflower and soaked red lentils, and simmer for around 15 minutes, until the lentils are soft and the cauliflower has a slight bite. If the sauce has over thickened add a splash more water. Then finish with the drained chickpeas, roasted red peppers and baby spinach. Bring back up to the boil, stir in the chopped coriander and season if required.