Courgette Curry

Morning Campers!
What a fab sunny day! Definitely no heating going on here anytime soon! 
Now onto the heart-racingly exciting topic of courgettes (I know! I might have to have a sit-down in a minute!) If you are a home veggie-grower, you'll know all about the annual courgette glut. The plants go out around late May Bank Holiday & sit there in an impressive sulk for about a month, before deciding to grow......or not. We've had quite a glut of them this year & they haven't quite calmed down yet. 

Made this courgette curry yesterday. It's tasty, low calorie & if you grow courgettes, as cheap as chips. If you have a glut of tomatoes too, even better, as you need both.

Here's what you do:

Slice 700g courgettes & 1 large onion. Skin, de-seed & chop 450g tomatoes. Crush 3 cloves garlic. OK, that's all the prep.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pan & sizzle half tsp of cumin seeds & half tsp of black mustard seeds for 30 seconds. Add the onion & garlic & fry until just starting to turn golden.  Now add half tsp turmeric, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, quarter tsp chilli powder & half tsp salt. mix well & continue to fry for a couple of minutes. Next tip in the courgette slices, stir well to coat them with the spices & cook for 5 mins or so. 

That's my favourite bit, as they start smelling really good. They should start to cook, but not to burn, so stir them gently now & again so they don't catch. Now add the tomatoes which you prepped earlier, 1 good rounded tbsp of tomato puree & 150ml water. Stir well. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat, cover pan & simmer for about 12 mins, stirring occasionally. Add 1 tsp garam masala, replace lid & simmer for a final 4 or 5 mins. If you have any fresh coriander, you can chop some on top of the curry to serve.

This is really easy to make & freezes well, so if you are at that point where you feel you will actually turn into a striped green vegetable if you have to eat another one anytime soon, you can pop the curry away into the freezer for later in the year. It is good as a healthy side dish, or as a meal in its own right with rice, on a jacket potato or with the garlic flatbread recipe I shared a few posts ago. I think this is quite mild spicing. You can always turn the heat up if you prefer something hotter.....I should do that here, really, as the Bigger Hairier Half of the Relationship is blessed with an asbestos mouth!

There follows, I am surprised to say, a picture of a Genuinely Very Helpful Cat. I've got the cauldron bubbling this morning (apple chutney) & he's generally mithering around under my feet in case his dinner might be coming out 6 hours early. Today however, for the price of precisely 5 'Dreamies', he was content to sit on his blanket & contemplate the meaning of life.

Hope there is some of this autumn sunshine wherever you are, today. Until next time.......& honestly, each time I look at my Blogger stats, I can't believe how many people read my ramblings......
Love from,
C x