Golden coconut, chickpea & pumpkin curry

After what felt like a very (very) long winter (I blame this on the fact that I was lucky to skip last winter in favour of Europe’s summer), it’s finally spring in Melbourne! Strawberries and asparagus are arriving back in shops, mornings are getting lighter and evenings longer, and we’ve had our first day of t-shirt weather. It never fails to amaze me how much of a difference sunshine makes to mood at this time of year. Other than slogging though the last few weeks of medical school and work, I’ve been busy planning an upcoming trip (any tips for Japan and South Korea would be extremely welcome!), training for the Melbourne half marathon, and baking batches of banana bread (the Violet Bakery version with added dark chocolate is a current winner) and miso, walnut and dark chocolate blondies.

Freezer meals have been a saviour through the dreary months. I blame it on the fact that I get bored of eating the same meal but am also too lazy (or busy) to cook something new every night. I’m not a big meal prepper: yes, I’ll make a salad to last for a few days of lunches (and not any ordinary lettuce and tomato mix – something like this herby soba noodles or roast cauliflower with hummus), but the thought of having identical containers of dinner lined up for the week makes me want to cry. Instead, once a week or so I’ll make a big batch of something that freezes well and pop a few serves away – so after a few weeks, you have a couple of different frozen meal options to alternate with nights cooking. It lends itself best to wintery comfort food, but my summer version is quick zucchini frittata, corn fritters, tomato panzanella or peach and burrata salad. Apart from today’s turmeric coconut, chickpea & pumpkin curry, other favourites this winter have been:

• Ottolenghi’s curried lentil, tomato & coconut soup
• Hetty Mckinnon’s red curry pumpkin soup (I add sautéed tofu and greens)
• Izy Hossack’s vegetarian bolognese (just add pasta) and eggplant veggie chilli (I love to top it with sweet corn and avocado)
• Ottolenghi’s spicy baked beans

In saying that, this turmeric coconut, pumpkin and chickpea curry would also be perfect for a wintery dinner with friends, or a weeknight family meal. The base is a mesh of some of my favourite curry and dahl recipes – sliced red onion, garlic and ginger, loads of spices (but you’ll probably have most of them in your cupboard already), a couple of cans of chickpeas and coconut milk with grated tomato for sweetness and acidity. It’s versatile and colourful, and even if I cop a bit of flak for making dinner look fancy, toppings also give layers of texture and flavour – vibrant greens, caramelised roasted butternut pumpkin, crunchy toasted cashews, creamy yogurt and puffy flatbread make for a hugely satisfying DIY bowl. The flatbread are fool-proof – just mix all the ingredients together before you start cooking, leave to rise while you make the curry, then roll out and cook in a hot pan for a few minutes right at the end until bubbly and golden.

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Golden Coconut, Chickpea & Pumpkin Curry

Author: Claudia Brick

Ingredients

• 500 g butternut pumpkin, approx
• 1 large red onion thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 3 tablespoons finely grated ginger
• 1 red chilli finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 400 ml can coconut milk + 400ml water
• 2 tomatoes coarsely grated
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander root + 1/2 cup remaining leaves roughly chopped
• couple of handfuls of baby spinach
• 400 g green beans
• 1/3 cup cashews toasted and chopped
• plain yogurt to serve

Flatbreads

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 x 7g sachet)
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Instructions

Coconut, Chickpea and Pumpkin Curry

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C fan. Cut the butternut pumpkin into chunks (leave the skin oand place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes or until golden and roasted.

2. If making the flatbreads, make the dough now and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a heavy based saucepan sauté the sliced red onion with a splash of olive oil over low heat until soft (5-10minutes). Add the ginger, garlic and red chilli and cook for a further 2 minutes.
4. Add all the spices and cook for a further 2 minutes until fragrant (be careful not to burn them here).
5. Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas and stir to coat in the spices.
6. Add the coconut milk and a can-full of water (400ml). Grate the tomatoes into the curry (I just hold a box-grater over the pot). Add the chopped coriander roots.
7. Bring to a simmer and cook for approx 15 minutes until slightly thickened.
8. If cooking the green beans in the sauce, add 5 minutes before serving. Otherwise, you can blanch them separately and add at the end (this leaves them a more vibrant green colour).
9. If making the flatbreads, cook them now.
10. Right before serving, stir the spinach through the curry.
11. Serve up bowls of curry with flatbreads, roasted pumpkin, a dollop of yogurt, chopped cashews, the rest of the coriander leaves and red chilli.

Flatbreads

1. In bowl, mix together all ingredients to form a shaggy dough. Mix vigorously with a spoon for 3-5 minutes. It should be shaggy and sticky (too sticky to knead by hand), but still hold together.
2. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 30-45 minutes.
3. When ready to cook, rip off chunks of dough with floured hands. On a well floured surface, roll out the dough into circles approx 5mm thick.
4. Heat a heavy based fry pan over high heat (dry, no oil). Alternatively you can use a barbecue flat plate. Place a flatbread on the pan and leave to cook until bubbling and golden underneath (1-3 minutes), then flip and cook for a further minute or so on the other side. Wrap in a clean tea towel to keep warm until you serve up. Repeat with the remaining flatbreads.