Leftover Vegetable Curry
A refreshingly fruity curry that allows you to use up leftover vegetables, whether cooked, frozen or raw.
If you have some leftover vegetables that you don't know what to do with, why not make a simple vegetable curry?
This recipe provides a refreshingly fruity dish, ideal for warm summer days when you might not otherwise feel like eating a hot meal.
For mine, I've used carrots, leek, peas and celeriac (also called celery root or bulb), but anything goes as long as it's not leafy or too starchy. Stick celery, corn, bell peppers and kholrabi, for example, all work well.
Ingredients
- 50g (2 oz) butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 eating apple with skin, cored, quartered and sliced
- 1 1/2 dessertspoons flour
- 1 1/2 dessertspoons curry powder
- 500ml (1 pint) vegetable stock
- Approx. 500g (1 lb) mixed vegetables, chopped
- 1 1/2 dessertspoons dried mixed fruit
- 1 1/2 dessertspoons desiccated coconut
- 1 dessertspoon mango chutney
- Squirt lemon juice
- A little pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt (reduce or omit if the stock is salty or if the vegetables are cooked and already salted)
- 150g (6 oz) mushrooms, sliced
Instructions
1. Heat the butter in a deep skillet and fry the onion over a medium flame until slightly soft.
2. Add the apple and garlic and continue to fry until soft.
3. Mix together the flour and curry powder, then add to the onion, apple and garlic and cook for about three minutes, stirring all the time.
4. Slowly pour in the stock. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and begins to boil.
5. If using raw vegetables, add all remaining ingredients except the mushrooms.
Put the mushrooms in with the other ingredients only if using precooked or frozen vegetables, and cook for a total of 15 – 20 minutes instead of 40 – 50 minutes, as instructed in steps 6 and 7.
If the sauce seems very thick or stodgy, add a little water or stock.
6. Cover, bring back to the boil, then simmer for 30 – 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Add the mushrooms and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
8. Serve with regular long grain rice or basmatti.
All images by Camlo De Ville
