It’s veggie heaven! Squash and lentil curry & Chicken curry

So we are doing something a little different this week at Molloys, because you spoke and we listened! Several customers have mentioned that more and more people in their house are leaning towards a plant based diet but would still like to be part of the main meal so here’s what we’ve come up with to try and make your lives easier and cook one meal for the whole family. This one / two pot wonder is delish, so delish in fact, that it’s hard to believe it’s so healthy and nourishing. The ginger, garlic, turmeric, squash and spinach are super immune supportive foods that I think we could all do with at this time of year. The onions and lentils pack a fibre punch and there is wonderful healthy fats from the coconut. Please don’t be put off by the long list of spices and ingredients, I bet you have most of these on your spice rack if you take a look. I often use frozen butternut squash chunks (most supermarkets have these with their frozen veg) to save prep time

The Veggie Option: Serves 6

  •  1 medium butternut squash – approx. 700 gms peeled and diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
  •  3 inches fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  •  3 medium onions, finely chopped
  •  1-1.5 litres of vegetable stock
  • 250gms red split lentils, well rinsed in a sieve
  •  ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 bar creamed coconut (Biona brand or Thai Gold from Ardkeen Stores or Full of Beans) or swap for 2 x 400mls tins of coconut milk and reduce the veg stock by half.
  •  1 tsp ground turmeric
  •  1 tbsp of ground coriander
  •  1 tbsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp of ground clove ( OR use 1-2 whole cloves, but remember to fish them out before serving)
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 good handful of spinach
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 small lime, juiced
  •  50gms fresh coriander
  • Optional
    ½ tsp cayenne or chilli flakes – for some heat if you like it hot!

The Carnivore Option:

  •  500g chicken breasts, finely sliced.

Method:
1. Place the garlic, onion, ginger in a large saucepan with 1 tbsp of oil. Fry over a medium heat for 3 minutes and then add all of the spices and chilli if using. Fry gently for 2-3 minutes to gently toast the spices.
2. Now, add the squash, lentils and the creamed coconut and cover with the vegetable stock. At this point divide your amount into vegetarian and meaty curry ie how many want chicken / veggie curry so you will be working 2 pots from here on in. Add chicken strips to the meaty pot. Now let them both simmer on medium for 15-20 minutes until the lentils and squash are soft. You might wish to add the extra 200ml (1 cup) of water during cooking – it depends if you like your curry thicker or thinner. Lentils “drink” a lot of liquid during cooking so watch it as it simmers and stir occasionally.
5. In the last 2 minutes, add the spinach and stir through.
6. Turn off the heat, add the sea salt and pepper, the juice of the lime or lemon and check for seasoning and consistency. If it’s too thick with not enough sauce, thin it out with some extra water or veggie stock.
7. Stir through the roughly chopped coriander and serve with some basmati or cauliflower rice. Enjoy!

Butchers wife tip:
The vegetarian version of this suits me sometimes, not always, but is nice for a change, so I make a big batch and have vegetarian version one day and the chicken version the next day, sorted. Back to that batch cooking again.

Enjoy xx

PS – we are still delighted, in fact we encourage you to bring in your resuseable containers. We will gladly pack your purchases in your reuseable containers!!!