Coconut Paneer + Pea Curry

Hey everyone! Hope you guys are all doing fantastically. I've had such a great week hanging out & taking some time away from work over my birthday but I've been back full throttle in the last few days. 

I've been excited to launch some of my new videos including one with the United Nations where I spoke about conservation, which definitely is a great video that I'm proud of & is a fun one to look at if you're into animals and things you can do around the home! I've also been sneakily busying myself as I've been doing my first press tour, a lot of what I've been working on is finally coming the surface as you guys will see! We've also been to Portsmouth to get my first session of this particular laser hair removal on my face, I was anticipating a month of healing but I've had zero downtime so I'm thrilled. Other than that I've been setting up some lessons for me, planning some new projects including a potential new home in France. We'll be sharing some of this soon!

This week I wanted to do some different vegetarian currys, I LIVE for a good curry. They are the easiest, most tasty and comforting meals in my opinion and I thought it might be great to combine some of my inspirations and come up with some fab recipes for you.

Ingredients

  • Cauliflower

  • White Onion

  • Garlic

  • Ginger

  • Cilantro

  • Tofu (Or Paneer if you're vegetarian)

  • Peas

  • Red Chilli

  • Coconut Oil

  • Coconut Milk (Light)

  • Vegetable Stock

  • Salt

  • Chilli Powder

  • Paprika

  • Oregano

  • Cumin

  • Garlic Powder

  • Cayenne Pepper

  • Onion Powder

  • Smoked Paprika

  • Ground Ginger

  • Turmeric

  • Naan (Ginger + Chilli)

  • Mango Chutney

  • Lime Chutney

So with this recipe, it's pretty much all done in the same pan. It's so easy and I try and use as intense spices as possible to give it flavour. What I tend to start with is frying off a white onion in either olive or coconut oil, that just is the base to make a paste I guess? I then added all the listed spices above, I pretty much went through and put a teaspoon of each and cooked them off until the aromas were released. I then added a splash of water to the spices and continued to cook them until they began to dehydrate again and intensify.

I then added some fresh cauliflower, this recipe is gonna cook for about 40 minutes in total so you don't need to prep by steaming before. It's easy to go straight in as the cooking will soften it perfectly as things go on. I then added light coconut milk and brought to the boil before turning down and letting to simmer.

I added a cup full of fresh green peas, with one long red chilli and a couple cloves of garlic at this point, you can start off with the chilli when doing the onion but I find it looses some of the heat which I love? So I added it in at this part. I then added some marinaded tofu, you guys can use either paneer cheese that's been lightly pan fried in advance or tofu, it doesn't make a huge difference at all. 

I then continued to cook until the cauliflower began to break apart and was the perfect texture, the tofu had absorbed the flavour and finished the dish off with some fresh, loosely chopped coriander. If you want to cheat and turn the flavor up, add half a stock cube at this point as it really adds even more.

So here is the final dish! How easy is that? Seriously the most simple dish but packed full of flavour. Instead of serving with a rice I chose to have a naan, I grabbed this garlic, ginger and chilli one which I thought would marry everything together. I then served up with some vegan butter in a star shaped little cutter to melt within the pan, you could use a yogurt to cool it down or what not, but I thought it looked cute haaa. I then added some lime chilli chutney and some mango chutney to a dish and that's the tea!

I hope you guys love it! Let me know if you try this recipe out at home, it's a hit with meat eaters and vegans alike. I'll pop a couple more different variations so please enjoy!

Joseph Harwood