I am eating almost normally again. And was cooking a fair bit in anticipation of this happy outcome towards the end of last week. The cooking was in part spurred on by my energy provider which regularly offers free electricity whenever they have an excess of green energy to offload. It means that for a specified hour, the value of anything I use over my usual usage at that time is credited to my account. So amongst other things I take the opportunity to do a load of batch cooking. I get my portable induction hobs out and switch the ovens on. The ovens roasted a large batch of aubergines (4 trays worth) and took care of a couple of bakes. The hobs dealt with 500g butterbeans, 500g carlin peas, a tomato sauce and a batch of pasta.
I forgot to add garlic to the tomato sauce (which is very coincidental because I had just read this by always on point Debora Robertson), and really loved the flavour. A while back I was talking to a couple of people who followed a yogic diet which restricts onion and garlic and I found the thought of doing so incomprehensible. But I do now think using them less automatically might be a good idea.
My lot fell on the carlin peas and doused in salt and vinegar for an impromptu snack of parched peas. But there are loads left. I expect they will form the basis of salad at some point, but last night they went into a curry.
For details on how to cook carlin peas, you can refer to this post or to Modern Pressure Cooking. And you can swap them out for chickpeas if you prefer - they cook in exactly the same way. And actually most beans would work too.
The curry was a bit of an antidote to a meat heavy morning - it was a bit of an exciting day because Adam was working at the farmers market again, this time doing his first ever cooking for money stint, for Grasmere Farm. I’m a Lincolnshire girl and Grasmere have been keeping me in Lincolnshire sausages and haslet for ever. They also make a Rutland sausage which is as garlicky as the best Toulouse sausages you’ve ever had. A Saturday morning ritual was always getting the kids Lincolnshire sausage hotdogs (not sure what to call them. They aren’t hotdogs, they are sausages in a bun) from pretty much the time Adam was weaned. Mark, who has run the stall forever, says he remembers Adam in his pushchair.
This is a good curry for bread instead of rice - it is just thick enough for optimum scooping. I often buy sangaki bread from the brilliant London Sangaki Bakery on farmers market days - it’s really worth going out of your way for and a must if you are ever in the Ealing area. We use this bread in place of naan, for general dipping and snacking and even for flatbread pizzas. Love its chewiness and the seeds.
1 tbsp coconut oil (or any oil you like)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
3 black cardamom pods (optional)
A few curry leaves (optional, I keep a batch in the freezer at all times)
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 aubergine, cut into 2-3cm chunks
3 garlic, cloves, finely chopped
10g ginger, finely chopped or grated
1 tbsp curry powder (just use your favourite)
250g carlin peas or chickpeas
2 tbsp red lentils
400ml coconut milk
Around 2 sprays cherry tomatoes (around 12)
Coriander and lime wedges to serve
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