Spiced green vegetables with yogurt

Spiced green vegetables with yogurt

Spice paste

• 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons of white mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon of white pepper corns
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 mild green chilli (seeds included or excluded, to taste)
• 1 level teaspoon of rock salt

In a frying pan, dry roast the coriander and mustard seeds along with the white pepper corns until the coriander seeds start to change colour and the mustard seeds begin to pop.  Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile in a pestle and mortar crush, along with the rock salt the garlic and green chilli, adding a little corn oil to help lubricate the paste.  Add the roasted spices and crack them and make as smooth a paste as possible, but don't worry if doesn't grind right down as this adds to the character of the dish.

Vegetables

• 25 grams of gee or melted butter
• Spice paste
• 2 large white paprika - roughly chopped
• 2-3 green peppers or similar (Sivri/Charleston are favourites of mine) - roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion, halved and sliced thinly
• 150 grams of okra, topped and sliced on the diagonal
• 150 mls of water
• 1 large courgette - cut once lengthways and then sliced thinly on the diagonal
• 50 grams of chopped parsley
• 150 mls of thick yogurt (Greek yogurt is my preference but use the type you most like)

To a deep pan, add the gee/melted butter and spice paste over a medium heat.  Add the pepper and onion and stir occasionally until they begin to soften.  Add the okra and half the water, cover and allow to cook for ten to fifteen minutes, checking and stirring every few minutes.  Then add the courgette, and if the pan is quite dry, add the remaining water and all but a few tablespoons of the chopped parsley.  Cover and allow to cook for a further fifteen minutes or so, or until the courgettes begin to go opaque.

There should be very little water in the base - perhaps five or six tablespoons, but if more than this, drain a little away.  Take the vegetables off the heat and add the yogurt and remaining parsley. 

 

Serve immediately, pictured below with Ten bean red curry.