Peanut Butter Curry

I made this curry a couple of days ago and it was unbelievably delicious, as well as being very nutritious and protein-heavy.

Like an idiot, I was so busy stuffing it in my face I failed to take a single picture, either while I was making it or when it was finished.

So - imagine it! Think creamy, fatty, with orangey-pink colours, pops of chilli slices and the little black specks of mustard seed, poured over fluffy brown basmati.

TIP:
You don't have to include the sweet potato, plain spuds will do, but you could stir any robust vegetables into it.

To make the paste:

2 tsp coriander seeds (toasted)
2 tsp cumin seeds (toasted)
1 tsp sesame seeds (toasted)
2 tbsp dessiccated coconut (toasted)
1 inch ginger
6 cloves garlic
4 tbsp peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, doesn't matter)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

To make the rest:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 tsp salt
1 green chilli (finely chopped) 
2 tsp fenugreek powder
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tomatoes (chopped)
1 tin coconut milk

handful green beans
handful kale
handful mangetout 

3 sweet potatoes (roasted & cubed) or one massive one

To Serve:

Basmati Rice

Garnish:

Coriander
Crushed peanuts

To make:

1 Put toasted seeds in a food processor & whizz them u into a powder.

2 Add the garlic, ginger, peanut butter, vegetable oil & whizz it all up into a thick paste.

3 Warm the vegetable oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds & wait until you hear a light popping sound.

4 Add the onions & cook them until they’re well done (not burnt). 

5 Add the salt, chilli, fenugreek powder and stir it together.

6 Add the tomato puree & stir that in too. 

7 Add the chopped tomatoes & stir that in so they’re softening and losing their structure. 

8 Add the paste you made a little earlier and cook it until the aromas from the paste are well released.

9 Add the coconut milk & stir it in so you have a lovely creamy sauce.

10 Add the spring greens, stir them in & then stir in the sweet potato chunks.

11 Serve immediately over basmati rice and finish with crushed peanuts and coriander.

It's especially good a couple of days later - put a lid on and keep it in the fridge.

Cocoa Gravy

This version of our classic Vegan Gravy was created after a tip-off from Pete Gardner at Cocoa Amore, Leicester's independent chocolate boutique.

You will need:

- 1 teaspoon of oil
- half a medium sized red onion, finely chopped
- 5 finely sliced medium sized mushrooms (you don't want big slices)
- a healthy pinch of freshly ground pepper
- half a pint of cold veg stock, preferably kept over from veg cooking
- one Kallo mushroom stock cube
- two heaped dessertspoons of fine cornmeal
- 2g 100% pure cocoa/cacao* (no added sugar, milk etc. - pure cocoa) - more if you want, after you've tasted

Do this:

Add the finely chopped red onion and mushrooms to the oil, and sautée gently till the onion's going clear and the mushrooms floppy and cooked through. Add the black pepper.

Crumble your Kallo mushroom stock cube to the (cold) veg stock, mix thoroughly.

Stir in the cornmeal, and pour gently into the onion and mushroom mix. Stir well.

Bring to the boil till it starts to thicken, then turn down and simmer gently.

Break the cocoa/cacao* into pieces and add to the gravy, stir till it melts, and stop cooking when it's as thick as you like it!

VEGAN TOAD IN THE HOLE. Yes.

You thought the Yorkshire Pudding mix was the Holy Grail, and it was - but this is the discovery of King Richard III under the car park...sort of. Well he had strong connections with York...

Tonight we made Toad In The Hole by pre-heating the oven to 220 degrees C (VERY HOT), adding a significant lump of vegan marge (you can use an oil if you prefer, it'll be a little greasier) to a metal pan and placing it in the oven to pre-heat.

After 5 minutes, add 4 un-meat sausages (Fry's are good, we don't recommend Linda McCartneys' for this) to the heating pan. Put it back in the oven.

Meanwhile, mix up our vegan Yorkshire Pudding Mix. For four sausages, divide the mixture's quantity in half. The quantity of batter mix in the original recipe will be good for 6+ sausages.

Once well mixed, take out your pan with sausages (don't leave more than about 10 minutes).
The fat should be smokin' hot and the sausages starting to brown.
Pour in the batter mix, distributing evenly over the sausages, quickly, and put back in the oven.

Cook for 20 minutes, and check nay poking the a sharp knife into a fat bit after 20 mins - it's OK for it to be a bit sticky inside!

Serve with Cocoa Gravy, roast spuds and plenty of green veg.

MOLE'S BALLS.

We have needed a decent protein ball for a long time, since we are doing more in the gym and Leigh is currently also engaged in some heavy wood-manipulation (we have a woodburner to feed, which in turn feeds the whole house with heat and hot water).

So this is what I came up with. It is a combination of several recipes with my own alterations and additions! It's simple and you can knock up a batch every Sunday like we are now, ready for down-the-week pre-/post-gym or anytime-in-between protein injections, or in your packed lunches.

I also thought these made a good 'BACKATCHA' to Katherine's Raw Carrot Cake Bites - these too are raw.

[Note: Do not use whey protein - it behaves differently from plant-based protein and will not keep as long either (and it make your balls smell funny.)]

INGREDIENTS
Use the same sized cup for everything.
I used a mug, and it made about 20 balls.

1 cup of almonds
1 fistful of cashew nuts (about a quarter of a cup)
1 cup of soya, pea, hemp or other plant-derived protein powder
Pinch of salt
2 x tablespoons pure cocoa powder (not hot chocolate)
2 x tablespoons of coconut oil (MELT GENTLY till liquid)
5 x tablespoons of maple syrup
0.5 cup coconut, almond or soya milk
3 teaspoons of organic (non-propylene glycol) vanilla essence
1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes - half as an ingredient, half for rolling the balls in


WHAT TO DO

Put the dry ingredients - almonds and cashews, protein powder, cocoa powder and salt - into a blender/food processor (we do it on the top of the Kenwood Chef).
Leave the coconut aside for now.
Blend carefully till crumbly but a wee bit sticky-togethery.

Then, in a separate bowl, mix together by hand the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, soya milk and vanilla essence - basically, all the wet ingredients.

Add half the coconut to the wet ingredients once mixed.

Scrape the wet ingredients into the dry stuff in the blender and blend carefully.
You'll probably need to scrape it down from the sides now and again (WITH THE BLENDER SWITCHED OFF!)

When it's well mixed - good and squidgy - dump the lot into a bowl being careful to get ALL that precious mixture out of the blender with a spatula.

Roll into balls neatly about the size of the bottom half of a hen's egg, and roll in the coconut.

Place into a lidded tin on a layer of baking paper, and leave them with the lid off for the first 12 hours or so (or overnight) - this helps them firm up a bit.

Then stuff them in your face.