Broad Bean, Spinach and Paneer Curry

Ingredients:

• 200g Pack paneer cheese, cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 onions, chopped finely
• 500g Broad beans, podded (approx 150-200g of broad beans after podding)
• 1 small head cauliflower, broken into small florettes.
• 200g greens of your choice (I used perpetual spinach, but any green works great!), shredded
• 2-3 tbsp Tikka massala paste (or homemade curry paste)
• 500g passata
• 250ml Vegetable stock
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp of sugar
• Olive oil, fo frying

To Serve

• Rice or Naan bread
• Greek yoghurt
• (optional) Fresh Corriander or parsley to garnish
• (optional) your favourite chutney

Method

1. Heat some oil in a large non-stick frying pan and add the cubed paneer. Fry gently until crisp. A pair of cooking tongs can help, but you can also shake the pan and flip any pieces that require it with a fork. You will never get all sides crispy, 2-3 is perfectly fine. Remove the paneer from the pan and set aside until later
2. In the same pan (or a different one whilst the paneer is cooking), add the cauliflower with a little oil and cook for 10 minutes until softened slightly and starting to brown.
3. Add the onions and fry for an additional 5 minutes until they gain some colour and have softened. Add the garlic and the curry paste and cook for a further 2-3 minutes
4. Pour in the passata, vegetable stock and the sugar. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for around 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is just about tender.
5. Add in the shredded spinach and the broad beans and cook for an additional 5 minutes until the spinach has wilted and the broad beans are tender.
6. Add the panner and warm through before serving.
7. Serve with rice or Naan bread, with some good quality Greek yoghurt

Notes

• Depending on how mature the broad beans are, you might want to blanch them first and double-pod them to make them more tender. However, if they are young and tender, I throw the entire bean into this dish
• Broad bean season is short, so if they are not available, you can substitute them with other types of beans such as runner beans or french beans. I make this dish in the middle of winter with some good quality frozen peas as well
• Another great substitution is wild garlic for spinach. If you can get your hands on some fresh wild garlic in spring, it adds an amazing flavour to the dish.