This is a really versatile recipe. You can pretty much chuck
anything in, as long as you remember the yellow theme when you choose your
ingredients. Add a carrot or two, toast some cumin seeds and add them to the
pot, or some chilli powder. I made mine pretty mild, but it would be really
good with some chilli kick.
The inspiration for this curry is our giant monster of a
courgette plant. Early in the summer it quietly started to flower and we had a
couple of pretty small courgettes to nibble on. Then we went away for a few
days and it sprung to life, providing plenty of beautiful yellow vegetables for
me to experiment with. Then we went away again and returned to this!
Around this time, of course, the markets are full of beautiful,
sweet cobs of corn, and I figured it might be nice to stick with the yellow
theme and make a soup for me and Sidney. I added turmeric and onion, a squeeze
of lemon and a stick of celery, coriander being the only green allowed. It made
a delicious summer soup, with an almost coconut flavour.
The soup reminded me of curries I’d had travelling in Asia,
and here in Vietnamese restaurants, often accompanied by cashew nuts and
chicken. So I made my own version, which is the second recipe here and which
could be made with a variety of ingredients; it would be really tasty with
mushrooms instead of chicken, for example, or with some chopped fresh chillies.
Thick Yellow
Courgette and Sweetcorn Curry Soup
Serves 4
1 corn cob, leaves
removed
200g basmati rice
a big knob of butter
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, chopped
3 garlic cloves,
chopped
2cm piece ginger,
chopped
4 or 5 yellow
courgettes (or 1 giant one), sliced or chopped
1 celery stick, sliced
a small bunch of fresh
coriander, chopped
1 tsp turmeric
50g mixed seeds, such
as pumpkin and sunflower
100ml crème fraîche
a squeeze of lemon
juice
sea salt and freshly
ground black pepper
Put a pan of boiling water on the heat and cook your corn
cob for a few minutes until plump. Remove the cob from the pan and set aside to
cool a little, then slice the corn off the cob. Cook the rice in the water in
which you cooked the corn.
Put a large heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat and melt
the butter. Add the chopped onion and carrots and cook until softened. Add the
garlic and ginger and cook for a minute, then add the courgettes and celery and
cook until browned. Add the chopped coriander, most of the sweetcorn, scatter
the turmeric over the top and season to taste. Stir the whole thing together and leave to cook down for about 10
minutes.
In a separate pan toast the seeds, then add half to the
curry mixture and transfer the whole thing to a blender, or use a hand blender,
and whizz up until smooth. Stir the crème fraîche into the soup with a squeeze
of lemon.
Spoon the rice into bowls and top with the soup and a dollop
of crème fraiched. Scatter the remaining sweetcorn and seeds over the top and
serve.
Yellow Courgette,
Sweetcorn and Chicken Curry
Serves 4
1 corn cob, leaves
removed
500g free-range
chicken pieces (or 400g boneless)
50g butter
1 onion, diced
4 or 5 yellow
courgettes (or 1 giant one), sliced or chopped
1 celery stick, sliced
3 garlic cloves,
chopped
2cm piece ginger,
chopped
a large bunch of fresh
coriander, chopped
1 x 400g tin coconut milk
1 x 400g tin coconut milk
1 tsp turmeric
50g cashew nuts
50g mixed seeds, such
as pumpkin and sunflower
extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly
ground black pepper
basmati rice, to serve
Put a pan of boiling water on the heat and cook your corn
cob for a few minutes until plump. Remove the cob from the pan and set aside to
cool a little, then slice the corn off the cob.
Put a large heavy bottomed pan over a high heat and melt a
little oil. Add your chicken and sear on all sides. Transfer the chicken to a
plate and lower the heat to medium-low.
Melt the butter in the pan and add the chopped onion. Cook
until softened and then transfer to the plate with the chicken. Add the chopped
courgettes and celery to the pan and cook until browned. Tip them onto the
plate with the chicken and onions.
Add the chopped garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for a
minute, then tip the chicken, onion, courgette and celery back into the pan
along with the sweetcorn, half the chopped coriander and the coconut milk. Scatter the turmeric
over the top and season to taste.
Cook the rice in the water in which you cooked the corn.
In a separate pan toast the cashew nuts and seeds. If you
have small children you can bash these up or put them in a blender.
Take the chicken pieces out of the mixture and set aside on
a warm plate. Add half the toasted nuts and seeds to the curry mixture, then
transfer to a blender, or use a hand blender, and whizz up to a smooth paste.
Spoon the rice onto a serving plate, top with chicken pieces
and spoon the curry mixture over the top. Scatter the remaining coriander over
the curry and top with the remaining toasted nuts and seeds.