Friday Feast - Cheesy Vegetable Curry

Before I begin - goodbye for today Kath! It's a standing joke that Kath isn't partial to a lot of my recipes, despite being a good pal, and is often seen running in the other direction on Fridays! I think this recipe is quite unusual and not one for a 'meat and two veg. and none of your foreign muck' girl - but it could be worth reading on if you aren't called Kath :) Or perhaps you'll be racing her for the exit :))

I was given this recipe by my friend Joy a few years back, and I did raise my eyebrows a bit at the concept. But, I gave it a whirl  and we like it here, a lot. It's great for vegetarians or meat free days.

Drum roll - I present to you :

Cheesy Vegetable Curry:

40g butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, cut into strips
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 large courgettes, sliced
1 large cooking apple, peeled, cored and cut into 3/4" dice
2 rounded teaspoons curry powder (I use medium curry powder)
40g plain flour
1 pint vegetable stock (made with a stock cube)
25g sultanas
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons mango chutney, chopped or use spreadable
150g Cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2" cubes

Melt butter in a large pan, add onion, green pepper and carrots and fry quickly.
Add courgettes, apple and curry powder and fry for a further minute.

Sprinkle in the flour and then gradually blend in the stock.Add sultanas and season to taste.

Cook until vegetable are tender. This could be about 20 minutes, I keep checking with a sharp knife.

Add mango chutney and then stir in the cubed cheese.

Serve immediately with rice and possibly naan bread.

Things I do - prepare all the vegetables etc. beforehand so it means no hold ups during the cooking process once it's under way. It's a bit like being a TV chef (no wisecracks about Fanny Craddock please!) with everything neatly weighed and chopped in a selection of bowls. It's a good idea to slice the carrots very thinly as they will take the longest to cook. The eagle eyed might spot that the pepper I used is a red one and not green - that's 'cos I didn't have a green one left from the big bag I'd bought - and it didn't make a ha'porth of difference anyhow, green red, yellow, all are fine!

Previously I've chopped Mango chutney for this recipe but I managed to find Sharwoods Smooth (ie. spreadable) Mango Chutney in Sainsburys, so a bit of time saved there!

The end result is quite a sweet curry, but very tasty. NB. It's important to serve this immediately after you've added the cheese.

Hmm, there could be mixed reactions today :)

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