Lovely spicy food ideas please

[janeite]

The dds both love spicy food and are both veggie, as am I. Anybody got any good ideas of Indian/Mexican/other things I can make, beyond the obvious?

No tinned tomatoes (I hate them), mushrooms (dds hate them) or aubergines (we all hate them).

Thank you!

have a look on nigel slater's website in the autumn section he has a lovely looking pumpkin curry

he also does a wicked laksa which you can add any veg to - broccoli, beans etc

also just got an amazing old family recipe from a friend for a lentil dal. can post if you are interested, I think it has got tinned toms in but not so you'd notice them in an obvious way

Oh I posted a chilli bean soup on here pefore but it does involve using tinned toms, its really easy and yummy

Chop 1 onion and saute with 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp ground corriander, 1 tsp of ground cumin, 1 crushed garlic clove.

Then add 1 400g tin of Kidney beans, 1 Tin of chopped tomatoes and 600ml of veg stock
simmer for 15 mins and then blend

to serve put some tortilla chips stickng out of soup and sprinkle with grated cheddar, only takes amin for cheese to melt, yum!

Roast butternut squash. Softened onion. Coconut milk. Red chilli. Heat through. Whizz to make soup.

Delia's egg and lentil curry, not hugely spicy but you can give it more kick with extra curry powder. Thai green or red curry (curry paste and coconut milk) with squash or sweet potato and green beans instead of meat.

Oh, also I am not a veggie but I made bobotie the other night with half meat and half lentils as a health/economy measure and it came out really nicely. Maybe try all lentils or veggie haggis instead of the mince?

Thank you all.

I absolutely can't cope with the idea of tinned tomatoes in anything - makes me feel ill just to contemplate it.

What is boboti?

We love Thai curry and I make that a lot. Love butternut squash too.

Any more ideas please?

Bobotie is a really nice South African mince dish--quite fruity tasting so good for kids if you don't make it too spicy. You fry onions and apples and add some curry powder, then add mince (or veg equivalent), an egg, breadcrumbs, sultanas, almonds and mango chutney, spread out in a baking tin and bake for 1/2 an hour or so, then beat another egg with a little milk and pour on top and bake until the egg sets. I sometimes add other dried fruit and lime pickle as well.

Thanks ever so. You're going to think I'm really awkward though, as another thing I don't like is fruit in savoury dishes.

I love frying up pieces of halloumi cheese and butternut squash (boiled or roasted) with garlic and chillies; add pasta, maybe a bit of lime/lemon and olive oil & done

Yum to halloumi - that sounds fab. And has the added bonus that dd1 wouldn't eat it, so more for me, dd2 and dp!

I don't like fruits in savoury dishes either.

Is fresh tomato OK? Try this sambal. It's lovely. Use as sauce or marinate. Bet it's nice on halloumi too.

Thank you. Looks interesting, though food without tomatoes is always better imho. And I couldn't have the fish sauce.

Has anybody got any fabbo curry recipes? Or something Mexican?

janeite - I did one batch with lemon juice instead of the tamarind and fish sauce and it worked quite well. Know what you mean about tomatoes, but this one is quite nice.

Great. Thanks again.

I've just been copying out my recipe for bobotie into my recipe book. DH and I both love it and I hate fruit in savoury dishes. You could leave out the sultanas (they are the only fruit I add) - but if mango chutney doesn't cut it for you then you won't like it at all!

I do like mango chutney. Will google vegetarian boboti.

Found this which looks nice. DD1 wouldn't eat it though, as it has eggs in. Gah.

This is one of mine favourites. To make it more substantial I add a tin of chick peas.
Saag aloo
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1-2 tsp curry powder
6 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
spinach as much as you like.
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbls vegetable oil

Method
Par boil potatoes until they begin to go soft.

Dry fry the cumin seeds for 30/40 seconds and then add the oil. Fry the potatoes until they begin to go golden.

Stir in the onion and garlic and cook until the onion softens. Add curry powder, tomatoes, salt & pepper and cook until tomatoes begin to break down.

Add the spinach and cook until it has wilted. Serve.

i made this the other day, absolutely LUSH. didn't have the same veg, it didn't matter, and while it looks like a lot of ingredients the only one i had to buy was umeboshi, the rest was knocking about. the tip about pre-frying the pak choi (i used bok choi) in sesame oil first was vg.

Vegetable Laksa (adapted from Nadine Abensur, The Cranks Bible)
serves 2 generously

1 tbsp groundnut oil
1 head pak choi, quartered
Soy sauce or fish sauce to taste
2 small carrots, thinly sliced
100g mini corn, split down the middle
A handful of shiitake mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 tbsp red curry paste
1 litre vegetable stock
200ml coconut milk
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
4cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
2 stalks lemongrass, bashed and split open
2 noodle nests or squares
1 courgette, finely diced
1 small bunch coriander, coarsely chopped

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and throw in the pak choi. Stir fry until it wilts, seasoning with a bit of soy sauce (or fish sauce) when it's nearly done. Remove and keep warm in a dish.

In the same pan, add the carrots, corn and mushrooms. Toss over high heat for a few moments. Stir in the curry paste and continue to toss, letting it sizzle, for a few seconds. Pour in the stock and coconut milk and add the garlic, ginger and lemongrass.

Bring to the boil and add the noodles. Stir the noodles to loosen, then add the courgette and bring to the boil again. Keep at a steady boil until the noodles are cooked (about 4 minutes).

Fish out the lemongrass, season to taste with soy sauce/fish sauce, and stir in the chopped coriander. Serve immediately in large bowls, with the pak choi on top.

The vegetables can be varied according to what you have on hand (pea pods, different mushrooms or greens...) and you could add tofu or seafood if you like, but it's quite substantial as it is. Happy cooking!

Yum. Thank you.

What other curries can I make (other than coconut milk ones) that don't use tinned tomatoes?

btw the laksa is the work of twenty minutes or so, a proper quick and filling meal.

just leave the toms out of that recipe, it'll be fine.

Saw on one of those appalling Gordon Ramsey in India program - I think it was an Assam recipe: chicken cooked with turmeric and chilli and coriander paste and thickened with black sesame paste. We tried it with ordinary sesame paste rather than black sesame paste and it was very nice. Unusual, but nice. Not sure where to find recipe - maybe channel 4 has it.

Oops. Just realised chicken dish not vegetarian. But the principle's there ...