Indian Vegetable Curry Pie
I grew up in Cornwall and lived next door to an Indian family. They cooked the most amazing food and sometimes would bring it over to share with us. This was such a joyful experience for me.
I call this my ‘use-up’ curry – it’s perfect for making good use of whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. Topped with puff or flaky shortcrust pastry, it makes the most delicious, full-flavoured curry pie, and, for me, it brings back memories of all the wonderful smells and the taste of my neighbours’ food.
The pie was made using shortcrust pastry for the base and wholemeal puff pastry for the top.
Ingredients 21
900 g mixed vegetables, such as sweet potato, carrot, capsicum (bell pepper), eggplant (aubergine), cauliflower, green beans, peas, leeks
olive oil, for frying
pastry, of choice
Sauce
50 g ghee
1 onion, large, sliced
6 garlic cloves
30 g fresh ginger, chopped
10 g fresh turmeric, chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
1⁄2 tsp ground coriander
1⁄2 tsp ground cumin
1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon
1⁄2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp desiccated coconut, (fine coconut)
1 1⁄2 tsp fine salt
400 g tomato passata
240 g water
30 g cashew nuts
100 g plain natural yoghurt
1 lemon, juiced
1⁄2 bunch coriander, (cilantro), leaves roughly chopped
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Method 7
Chop your larger , such as root vegetables and cauliflower, into bite-sized pieces about 2–3 cm (1 1/2 - 2 in). Roughly chop your smaller vegetables, such as beans and leeks.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and blanch the harder , just enough to take the crunch off and make them a little tender. Drain well.
If you’re using leek, eggplant or other softer vegetables, cook them with a little olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes to lightly colour and soften them, then set aside. Vegetables such as beans or peas can remain raw at this stage.
To make the sauce, melt the in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Fry the for 10–12 minutes until softened and golden. Add the , and and fry for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
Add the , , , , , and and fry for a further minute until fragrant, then add the and 100 g (3 /12 oz) of the water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the and 40 g (1½ oz/2 tablespoons) water in a small food processor and process to a paste. Alternatively, use a mortar and pestle. Stir the cashew paste into the sauce.
Add all your to the pan with the remaining 100 g (3½ oz) water and bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Stir in the , and . Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before assembling and baking your pie(s).
Urbanstead's tips
This pie also goes well with Fermented Lime Pickle or Tomato kasundi (see my recipes).
