FLOWER POT KITCHEN: SWEET POTATO AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH TAMARIND MASALA

30 Sept 2016

SWEET POTATO AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH TAMARIND MASALA

VEGETARIAN SIMPLE ONE POT COOKING

Fabulous recipe, a sweet and sour moorish gorgeous dish, this was out of my normal stick to love my favourite curry recipes probably because firstly I love my favourites and secondly I have a mischievous side, which is great but not always helpful when reading recipes, ingredients and methods and I can find myself cooking the theory in my mind which comes with a pre judging of the results, in all honesty most times my natural instinct (28 yrs cooking) is often served well however I love it when there are those recipes that have blown me away which is a great leveller and reminder to never think you know what you think you know because you actually don't know until you try something new!!!

This is one of those recipes that even while cooking and tasting I was still not sure about, but it turned out to be a brilliant side dish or main that we will cook again and again.

Prep Time 10-15 minutes / Cooking Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 2 as main 4/6 as side dish)

2 tbsp coconut oil or ghee

2 tbsp mustard oil

1 sweet potato peeled and diced

1 butternut squash peeled and diced

6 pink fir apple potatoes diced (or white)

2 fresh green chillies sliced long ways

50g ginger grated

1 small hand full raisins

100g dates chopped

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tbsp nigella seeds

1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp ground coriander

Sea Salt Black Pepper

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

3 tbsp tamarind liquid

(how to make your own below)

fresh coriander to finish

Heat the oils over a just medium heat in a deep saucepan with a lid, add the fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds and ginger, cook for a minute or so, add the sweet potato, squash and potatoes along with the chillies, coriander and chilli powder, cook on a low heat for ten minutes, add a hint (50ml) of water or vegetable stock if you feel the pan needs it, I did several times!

Then add the dates, raisins, sugar, salt and pepper and stir in well, add a hint of liquid and place the lid back on for a further ten minutes, gently turning over the vegetables occasionally, not stirring, until all the vegetables are cooked and just holding their shape.

Stir in the tamarind and now taste your wonderful dish, adjust the seasoning with the sea salt and pepper, you want a sweet and sour tangy balanced flavour then finish off with the fresh coriander serve as a side dish or as a main with lots of rice, flat breads and home made fruit chutney.

HOME MADE TAMARIND WATER

You can buy tamarind pulp already made or you can source whole and dried tamarind seed pods as shown below, I like to make my own tamarind water, all you have to do is pour over some boiling water over either of these and leave to infuse for ten minutes or so and then pass through a seive and collect the pulp and water that's all it takes.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.