Potato, Pea & Spinach Curry

A really lovely vegetarian main here that is pretty quick to cook as long as you are parboiling the spuds.

A quick note about cooking with yoghurt which can often curdle when cooked. The trick is to make sure you have brought it to room temperature, whip it lightly with a fork and then add it to the curry off the heat.

And speaking of which, you can use coconut milk or yoghurt if you like rather than both. I was experimenting with using both so as to be a little less calorific (coconut milk can be a bit of a shocker).

Therefore neither Thai or Indian really but rather a delicious fusion of both


Potato, Pea & Spinach Curry
serves 2

400g new potatoes, halved
200g frozen peas
2tsp groundnut oil
2cm piece of ginger, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 banana shallots, chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 cardamom pods, seeds only, crushed
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 red chilli, deseeded & finely sliced
1 green chili, deseeded & finely sliced
200ml coconut milk
125ml yogurt
100-150ml veg stock
1 tsp medium curry powder
juice of ½ lime
large handful of spinach, roughly chopped
2 tsp fish sauce
pinch sugar
small handful coriander, finely chopped

Boil a kettle & when it has boiled pour over the peas in a colander: drain them and set aside.

Meanwhile parboil the potatoes for about 10 minutes (until just tender to the point of a knife but not cooked through).

Whizz the ginger, garlic, shallots and 2 tbsp of water to a smooth paste in a grinder.

Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and when hot add the paste, cumin, turmeric, curry powder and crushed cardamom seeds. Fry over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until fragrant and the paste has thickened.

Stir in the chillies and potatoes so they are coated with the paste and spices.

Add the stock, a pinch of sugar and fish sauce and gradually add the coconut milk, stirring all the time. Cover and cook on a low heat for 20-30 minutes.

Remove the lid and if necessary increase the heat until a hard simmer for up to 10 minutes to thicken the sauce a little.

Add the peas and lime juice and cook another 3-5 minutes, then add the spinach and most of the chopped coriander.

When the spinach is wilted, remove from the heat and carefully and gradually stir in the yoghurt.

Serve with the chopped coriander leaves sprinkled over and, if you like, some lime wedges on the side.