Winter Warming Chickpea and Coconut Water Curry, with Homemade Peshwari Nan

At my birthday, someone brought round a carton of coconut water….and left in in my fridge. I wasn’t immediately sure what to do with it, however after tagging along to by boyfriends gig with Nell Bryden, a lovely New York singer/songwriter, I saw her gulping down litres of the stuff and assumed it was tasty! Yet on returning home the next day and the coconut water soaked my pallet, I was surprised how icky it actually was served straight. There was no way I would be able to finish the whole carton, I thought to myself. So whilst making curry in the evening, I came upon the idea of using it in place of regular water. It lends itself really well in this recipe, with the subtle coconut flavour and ever so slightly salty taste. Worth a go, but just use regular water if you haven’t been laden with a big old carton that you don’t know how to shift!

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 Serves 4

a thumb size piece of ginger

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander seeds

tbsp turmeric

3 whole cardamom pods

a dash of oil

4 tbsp desiccated coconut

1 small dried red chilli

1 tbsp mild curry powder

1 large onion

half a head of cauliflower

half a head of broccoli

4 baby potatoes, peeled

1 tin chickpeas

half a mug of channa dall (yellow lentils)

300 ml coconut water (use tap water if not at hand)

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp of Pumpkin Jam, recipe here. Or substitute with mango chutney

200ml natural yoghurt

2 tsp garam masala

fresh coriander leaves to garnish

salt to taste

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Rinse the lentils well in running water, then soak for 30 min.

Meanwhile prepare the veg, by washing a chopping them.

Next make the curry paste. Finely chop the garlic and ginger and mix with the turmeric and curry powder adding a dash of water.

In a dry large pot, gently toast the cumin and coriander seeds, then add the oil and onions and stir for a couple of min. Now add the paste, and stir. Add the remaining vegetables, chickpeas, chilli and cardamom pods. Stir to coat the vegetables in the paste. Then add the coconut water, drained lentils and tomatoes and bring to a gentle simmer for 35 min or until the lentils are tender. If the curry starts to look to dry, add more water as required.

Now add the jam/chutney and yoghurt, season with salt and simmer for 10 min.

Finish by adding the garam masala to the curry.

Serve with rice and Homemade Peshwari Nan, get that recipe here.