The Gent’s Curry

Ingredients:

• 150 grams of dried green lentils
• 150 grams of dried chickpeas
• 3 large white onions finely sliced
• 1 orange chilli finely sliced with the SEEDS STILL IN
• 1 teaspoon of tomato puree
• 2 tins of chopped toms
• One large cauliflower cut into florets and then charred in a dry pan
• Siffonde of coriander and stalks finely chopped
• Dash of olive oil

For the curry paste:

• Thumb sized piece of ginger peeled and julienned
• 3 garlic cloves peeled and sliced
• Dash of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of curry powder
• 2 teaspoons of toasted Gara Masala
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin

For the best results allow both your lentils and chickpeas to soak over night, as this helps to softened them, the next day cook for half an hour until they were tender. GENT TIP – don’t cook the pulses all of the way through, as they will carry on cooking in the curry and therefore result in them being over cooked.

For the Rice:

• 1 cup and half of Brown Rice
• Equal quantity of water

The Good Bit…

1. In a heavy based frying pan on a medium heat, gently toast the cumin, gara masala and the curry powder as this helps to release the natural oils in the aromats. Once the spices are ready tip them into one of the old trusty Motar and Pestle to crush and then incorporate a little olive oil.
2. In another heavy based pan add a dash of olive oil once the pan is up to temperature, add your onions the secret to a bad boy curry is firstly the caramilsation of the white onions and of course the curry paste. Once the onions are golden brown add your curry paste from step 1 to the pan. Reduce the heat or otherwise you will just burn the paste and turn it bitter.
3. Once the curry paste has been cooked out add the julienne of ginger along with chopped garlic and cook again but not to colour, as this will it help it release its natural aroma.
4. Add the tomato puree at this point and ensure that you cook this out once again otherwise it will send the curry really bitter, to reduce the heat in the pan add a little cold water.
5. To finish the basic sauce add two tins of chopped tomatoes and allow to simmer gently.
6. For the cauliflower florets, heat a medium sized pan over a medium heat with no oil, once the pan is up to temperature add your cauliflower florets and allow them to burn and char as this helps to give an authentic smokey taste. Once ready tip into the curry along with the pulses and cook for a further 30 minutes until the florets are tender and cooked through.

The Gents Top Tip: If your curry goes thick add a little cold water, by filling one can of the chopped toms with water as the remnants help to further enrich the sauce with the tomatoey goodness.

Rice Time:

For the rice use the absorption method – meaning equal quantities of both rice and cold water, for this dish I like to use brown rice as it less refined and better for you. For this dish I used 1 cup and a half of rice as I prefer more curry to rice.