Jamie's Cauliflower and Squash Rogan Josh

By Helen

Main Ingredients:

• Butternut squash
• Chickpeas
• Cauliflower
• Curry paste
• Spinach
• Chapattis, rice, yogurt

Week two of Veggie Lent and one of the less exciting-looking recipes. No crazy ingredients - in fact nothing I hadn't already added to a meat curry before. I wasn't convinced that this would be particularly memorable.

I started by chopping an alarmingly large pile of vegetables - two onions, garlic, most of a squash and a whole cauliflower. They clearly weren't going to fit into the saucepan I had optimistically pre-heated so once I'd juggled the whole lot into two pans I could add the Patak's paste, chickpeas and coriander.

With that bubbling away vigorously I could turn my attention to the rice (microwaved since there weren't any pans left), sprinkling the chapattis with turmeric and keeping warm in the oven, and dressing the grated carrot with ginger, lemon juice, flaked almonds and more coriander. 

Thankfully by this point the veggies were looking less raw and taking up a little less space so I could chuck in some spinach and make the ten-second lemon pickle with mustard seeds, chilli and turmeric. This was a real hit with Chris - much more fragrant and less astringent than the jars of Lime Pickle we've had before.

So, lots to do - even though the yogurt and chapattis were pretty much ready-made and one of the sides is 'BEER'. Overall it was definitely worth it - the cauliflower quickly broke down to make a surprisingly creamy sauce and the chickpeas had lost all their chalkiness, even in the relatively short cooking time. 

And the vital stats? 38 minutes and a bargainous £1.40 a head.

Best for... Feeding (and impressing) a crowd that has descended on the flat to watch a sporting event 

Taken from... Jamie Oliver - 30 Minute Meals

Chris says... The carrot salad was the perfect example of something I wouldn't have even tried before we started this project, but I loved it!