Cook up a superfood curry with Hemsley + Hemsley

Superfood sisters Hemsley + Hemsley will be cooking up a treat at the BBC Good Food Summer Show this month.

Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley will be at the BBC Good Food Eat Well Show featured at BBC Good Food Show Summer in the City on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 May. They will be cooking live in the Supertheatre, appearing on the BBC Good Food Stage  and signing their new book Good + Simple. For tickets visit www.bbcgoodfoodshowsummerlondon.com.

As a taster, we share one of their delicious new recipes – a curry that works just as well in the summer heat as the cold winter months!

Courgette and Aubergine Curry

Courgette and Aubergine Curry

(serves 4 as a main, or 6 as a side dish)

Red split lentils provide a quick-and-easy creamy base without the need to soak them. Thecoconut and ginger have incredible immune-boosting properties and, as usual, we like to sneak nourishing homemade broth into all our cooking. With this fragrant curry, the bone broth is purely for the nutritional value, so you can afford to skip it if you don’t have any to hand (but please don’t be tempted to use stock cubes).

Serve with a pile of watercress on top or add in lots of finely shredded cabbage towards the end of the cooking time.

Ingredients

  • 200 g bar of creamed
  • coconut (use the oil for frying) or 2 tins of full-fat coconut milk plus 2 tbsp coconut oil or ghee for frying
  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh root ginger (about 80 g) – unpeeled, if organic – grated
  • 6 large garlic cloves, diced
  • 200 g red split lentils, rinsed (no need to soak these)
  • ½−1 litre bone broth or water (use a little less if you are using coconut milk and depending on how thick or saucy you want your curry to be)
  • 1 large aubergine, chopped into 1.5 cm pieces
  • 4 large tomatoes, quartered
  • 2 large courgettes, diced
  • grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lime or lemon (avoid the bitter white pith)
  • 2½–3 tsp tamari or 2 large pinches of sea salt
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • a handful of roughly chopped fresh herbs, such as coriander, mint or basil (Thai basil if you can get it)

 

Method

  1. In a large wide pan, dry fry the peanuts or cashews for a few minutes to toast them, roughly chop and thenset aside.
  2. In the same pan, heat the coconut oil over a medium heat and fry the onion, ginger and garlic for 10 minutes until soft (don’t let the onion and garlic go brown).
  3. Add the lentils, the roughly chopped coconut solids or coconut milk, and then most of the bone broth or water (a bit less if you’re using the coconut milk) and stir well.This should be enough liquid for the coconut solids to dissolve, but keep an eye on the liquid levels so that the lentils don’t stick and burn at the bottom.
  4. After 6 minutes of cooking over a medium-high heat, add the aubergine and stir.
  5. After a further 10 minutes, add the tomato, courgette, lime or lemon zest and the tamari or salt. Add more bone broth or water if you think your curry needs it.
  6. After 6 minutes, turn off the heat and add the lime or lemon juice, the maple syrup and fresh herbs, then stir and taste.You might need a little more tamari or salt or lime or lemon juice to add sourness.
  7. Top with the nuts and serve with watercress or your chosen side dish. If we’re having guests round,we like to serve our curry with some little bowls of extras (nuts, herbs, lemon or lime wedges and a bowl of tamari or sea salt) so everyone can help themselves to extra toppings – a handful of peanuts or cashew nuts (preferably ‘crispy’)