Something different to tease your palate!  A delicious selection of veggie’s spiced up and baked in the oven with crispy finish to the rice – finished with a dollop of natural yoghurt!

I make a vegetarian meal at least once a week – and making it tasty is my main focus. This is a great dish that meets that brief.

Ingredients:

• 2 big tbsp rogan josh curry paste (or whatever you have open in the fridge!)
• 1 bunch fresh coriander
• 1 cm fresh ginger, peeled, & grated
• 3 fresh green chillies, finely chopped
• 1/2 butternut, peeled, chopped into 2.5 cm chunks
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 cinnamon stick

  

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled & grated
• 1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 aubergine, chopped into chunks
• 200 g basmati rice
• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas
• 200g tin of light coconut milk
• olive oil
• sea salt
• ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200°c
2. Add the curry paste and 2 tbsp of oil to a mixing bowl. Pick the coriander leaves & finely chop the stalks, adding these to the bowl. Ginger, garlic and the cinnamon stick with a pinch salt & pepper added next and then mixed well.
3. Add the butternut and cauliflower next.
4. Aubergine is next into the bowl. Toss everything together well and then spread out onto a baking tray and cover with foil. (I use baking paper on the tray first)
5. Bake in the hot oven for 25 mins. Take the foil off and bake for a further 15-20 minutes.
6. While the vegetables are cooking, cook the rice with the turmeric. Once cooked, drain the rice, and then return to the pot.
7. Take the baked vegetables and transfer them into a baking dish – add the drained chickpeas and coconut milk and stir everything together.
8. Sprinkle the cooked rice evenly over the top and press down lightly. Pop the dish back into the oven for 15 minutes, or until the rice is crisp and the sauce is bubbling 🙂
9. Roughly chop the coriander leaves and sprinkle over the top of the dish – serve with the chopped green chillies, some natural yoghurt and a cold beer!

Happy vegetarian dinner time xx