Butter bean and vegetable curry with lime pickle

Prepare: 30 mins to 1 hour
Cook: over 2 hours
Serve: Serves 4
Dietary: Dairy-free Egg-free Gluten-free Pregnancy-friendly Vegan Vegetarian

Chargrilled vegetables add a real depth of flavour to this fragrant vegan curry, served with homemade lime pickle.

By Matt Tebbutt

From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the lime pickle

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 shallots, shredded
2 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed
1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 piece fresh root ginger, julienned
6 garlic cloves, crushed
360g/12½oz preserved lemons, quartered
3 green chillies, sliced
2 tbsp hot curry paste
3 limes, juice and julienned zest
1–2 tsp palm sugar
1 tbsp tomato purée
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the beans and vegetables

200g/7oz soaked butter beans
2 celery sticks
1 carrot, chopped
1 onion, quartered
2 bay leaf
1 small bunch fresh rosemary
2 garlic bulbs
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the curry

2 red onions, quartered
1 spring cabbage, quartered
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
handful green beans
handful sugar snap peas
15 fresh curry leaves
1 tbsp crushed fresh root ginger
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp crushed black peppercorns
1 tbsp crushed coriander seeds
3 Thai green chillies, chopped
200ml/⅓ pint coconut cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the garnish

10g/1⁄3oz fresh coriander
10g/1⁄3oz fresh parsley
2 limes, to squeeze

Method

To make the lime pickle, heat the vegetable oil and fry the shallots, spices, ginger and garlic.
Add the preserved lemons followed by everything else. Taste and season with salt and black pepper as needed.
To make the beans and vegetables, throw everything into a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Skim and simmer for 1½ hours until soft.
Drain, reserving the cooking liquor and vegetables, then dice up the vegetables. Stir through the beans with the liquor, add olive oil and season well with salt and black pepper. Set aside.
To make the curry, chargrill the red onions, spring cabbage, sweet potato, beans and sugar snap peas. Set aside.
In a separate pan, fry the curry leaves with the ginger, garlic, cumin, black pepper and add the grilled veg.
Stir in the stewed beans and vegetables then add the coconut cream and stir through the fresh herbs and freshly squeezed lime. Taste, season with salt and black pepper and serve with flatbreads, if you like, and the lime pickle.