Sometimes it's a write off veg curry

And you just need ALL THE VEG. Recipe for a quick, delish home-from-hospital veg curry for those nights when you need a little love

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The delicious, veg packed curry that saved our weekend

Hello my dears, how was your weekend? Mine was a bit of a write off… but it did result in this absolutely delicious, brilliantly helpful curry, which I just had to share with you today.

We didn’t have particularly grand plans for the Coronation weekend, but we were looking forward to sharing some of my ludicrously good Earl-grey sultana scones and fizz with friends, while keeping an eye on the history unfolding on the telly as the kids ran/toddled about. We’d deliberately kept plans quite loose, but were looking forward to bobbing about, dipping into some of the social stuff that was sure to be happening locally. But however much we’d been looking forward to a long weekend of fun and friends and freewheeling, sickness has a knack for rearing its ugly head just in time for such occasions, don’t you think?

Our 15-month old daughter started feeling out of sorts on Friday morning, and by Saturday, it was evident that there was something more sinister than teething going on. Without going into too much gory detail here (given that this is a food-centric newsletter) - we had a scary few hours at home where her fever spiked, she couldn’t keep anything down, and she just went floppy and wanted to fall asleep on me - behaviour so wildly out of character we knew we needed to jump in the car and drive to the nearest hospital. The drive, in which I was under strict instructions from the doctor on the phone from 111 to keep her awake, was one of the most stressful of my life, and then we spent a very long day, under the care of - as I put it on Instagram - a British institution I can really throw my love and support behind (#GodSaveOurNHS). The poor love was diagnosed with gastroenteritis, given fluids and antibiotics and we eventually made our way home, feeling so grateful for the staff at the hospital who had been so caring and attentive, if apologetic about the wait.

Hours and hours under bright hospital lights with a lunch of abysmal sandwiches, and we came home knackered and in need of a good feed and a stiff drink once the patient was snuggled down in her cot. Ordinarily after such a gruelling day I might not feel like cooking, and be more inclined to order in (and who could bloody blame me?) but something in me - perhaps driven by that horrid spiralling feeling of being so out of control earlier in the day - just wanted to slip into my crocs and cook us something, something wholesome and warming that would do us some good. And that’s one of the things I love so much about cooking, the fact it is, at its most fundamental, a powerful positive act that can boost your mood, fill you up with goodness and lift your spirits, something I feel so strongly about I wrote my last cookbook The Joyful Home Cook on the subject.

Our veg box was delivered on Friday, and I took one look in the fridge and knew it had to be a version of the curry I cook on repeat when I need to get dinner on the table within about half an hour, and I have a random assortment of vegetables I want to crowbar into us. We picked up a couple of garlic and coriander naans on the way home and had those alongside it, along with my failsafe pink pickled onions (slice a small red onion, season well with crunchy sea salt, add the juice of a lime, or a tbsp of apple cider vin, and scrunch really well).

It was, if you’ll forgive me, just what the doctor ordered, so I wanted to share it with you all here in case you’re feeling in need of something healthy, delicious and quick to rustle up in the time it would usually take you to order and wait for takeaway. It makes quite a big batch and we had two generous bowlfuls and then reheated the leftovers the following day in a foiled roasting dish. Please do share it with anyone you think might need of a fragrant, veg-packed curry night any time soon.

Home-from-hospital, mixed veg and chickpea curry (vegan)

Serves 4

I used a mixture of green beans, courgette and carrot for this, but the whole point of this recipe is that you can mix it up according to whatever veg you might have, so feel free to add cauliflower, cabbage, or play with the ratios of veg. The preparation for this curry is inspired by Sri Lankan curries (which I’ll hopefully be writing about in more soon), and these are usually my go-to thanks to their speed, frugality and deeply fragrant deliciousness. I absolutely love that they are based around seasonal vegetables and the ubiquitous coconuts of the island - the milk, water and cream of which the curries are braised in, making this totally vegan. I always have a couple of cans of organic, full fat coconut milk in my pantry for exactly this purpose, and I also make sure I’ve got Sri Lankan curry powder blends (both raw and roasted) in stock too, though I’ve used Garam Masala for this in the past too and it’s worked well. Curry leaves are crucial, so I’ll always keep a jar of dried curry leaves in my spice drawer, and grab fresh whenever I see them. Frozen work well too. The key to this is to prep all the veg first, and then you can focus on the cooking.

1 medium courgette, chopped into 2-3cm pieces

1 fat carrot, peeled and cut into chunks

1 packet of green beans (about 200g)

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp sea salt

3 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tbsp dried curry leaves (or a sprig of fresh or frozen curry leaves)

1 onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 red chilli, sliced

2 tsp roasted Sri Lankan curry powder

A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 can of full fat coconut milk

400g tinned chickpeas, drained

1 Put your courgette, carrot and beans in a bowl and toss with a large pinch of the salt, and the turmeric, chilli powder and fennel seeds.

2 Heat the coconut oil in a large, lidded frying pan or wok over a medium high heat. Add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and stir.

3 Add the onion, garlic and chilli with a bit more salt and cook for a few minutes, stirring, until the onion is starting to brown, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the curry powder and cook for another couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes and stir, cooking for 2 more minutes. Add the veg and the rest of the salt, stirring to combine with the pan contents and cooking for a further 4 minutes.

4 Pour over the coconut milk (reserving a little of the cream to finish, if you can), cover and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the carrot is tender. Add in the drained chickpeas and baste in the sauce, simmering for a couple of minutes more. Stir in the coconut cream to enrich. Taste for seasoning, adjust to taste and serve with cooked rice, naan and the pink pickled onions.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Do drop me a line below to let me know what you think x