Lamb and Vegetable Coconut Curry
I love a good curry in the winter and I've generally stuck with the same recipe for curry for the longest time. One of the key ingredients for my signature curry is yoghurt but I wanted to make a version that would be really easy to modify for vegan and vegetarian palates. Coconut cream to the rescue!! I won't harp on about it, give it a go and if you don't love the smell of your kitchen and the taste of this dish, you definitely just don't like coconut!
I recommend some vinyl gloves for the first part as the chilli on your hands can be hazardous.
Serves 2
500g minced lamb
1 tsp thyme
1 medium red onion
2 chillies, optional (serrano-mild, bird's eye-hot, habanero-🔥; deseed the chillies if you know it's too hot for your tastebuds)
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 sweet potato (double all veggies if vegetarian/vegan)
120ml vegetable or chicken stock
175ml coconut cream
1/2 courgette
1/2 aubergine
salt and pepper
- Season the lamb with some salt and pepper then chop half the onion and 2 cloves of garlic and add to the mince. If you've got fussy eaters, you'll need to finely chop the onions and garlic to avoid complaints.lol Add the chilli powder, cumin and curry powder and mix thoroughly with your hands.
- Roll out into meatballs about 2cm in diameter and then set aside whilst you prep the vegetables. Remember, they don't have to be perfect!
- Chop the sweet potato, courgette and aubergine into 1 inch thick pieces...you want them to be roughly the size of the meatballs but not so big that they take ages to cook.
- In a large frying pan, heat up half a tablespoon of coconut oil on a medium high heat and fry the meatballs for about 3 minutes until they're browned all over.
- Whilst the meatballs are browning, slice the rest of the onion into half moons and thinly slice the last clove of garlic. If you're using the fresh chillies, slice these up then add all to the browned meatballs.
- Allow the onions to soften then add the sweet potato and stock and reduce the heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the turmeric and stir together then add the coconut cream and stir gently together until everything is well combined.
- Bring to a boil and add the courgette and aubergine then taste for seasoning.
- Simmer for a further 5 mins before serving.
