Vegan Malabar curry

Step 1

Peel your tomatoes, chop roughly and blend (using a stick blender or a regular upright blender) until smooth.

Step 2

Heat up 2-3 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan that you have a lid for. Once the oil is hot, add half of the mustard seeds (½ tsp) and curry leaves (12 leaves), all of the fenugreek seeds and ginger. Stir-fry for a few seconds.

Step 3

Decrease the heat to medium and add diced garlic and onion to the pan. Fry gently (stirring from time to time) until onion softens and turns dark golden (about 6-7 minutes).

Step 4

Add all the dry spices to the pan. Mix everything well so that the aromatics are coated in spices. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds.

Step 5

Add blended tomatoes to the pan. If using a ready-made tamarind paste/puree, add 1 tbsp of it to the curry. If using a tamarind block, dissolve ½ tbsp in 1 tbsp of boiling water before adding it to the curry.

Step 6

Simmer (without a lid) until slightly reduced and you can see oil separating from the sauce. Season with salt.

Step 7

Add about 60 ml / ¼ cup of water to the sauce and put cauliflower florets in the sauce. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 3 minutes and add sliced green beans and cook for further 2 minutes. Add coconut milk and allow the sauce to come to a simmer again. Finally drop in cooked chickpeas and fresh spinach. Allow spinach to wilt into the sauce. Check and adjust the seasoning.

Step 8

In a small pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil to temper the spices. Add remaining mustard seeds and curry leaves to the hot oil and fry for about 10 seconds (until fragrant and mustard seeds start to pop), then tip tempered spices into the curry.

Step 9

Serve over cooked rice, topped with toasted cashews and fresh coriander.