Satsuma chickpea curry

Or "chana dahl," which I'm fairly sure means a chickpea curry of sorts. This was a bit of a "Oh my, what is hiding out in the fridge?" adventure. Spicy and fragrant hint-of-coconut rice and a cucumber and mint raita accompany this hot and slightly fruity curry.

For the rice:

Basmati rice

3 cardamom pods

1/4 tsp very coarsely ground black pepper

2 - 3 tbsp coconut milk

Rinse and drain the rice before setting it over a high heat with 1:1.25 ratio of rice to water. Add cardamom and black pepper to the pan, bring to the boil, and then cover and move to lowest heat to steam. Stir in coconut milk just before serving.

For the raita:

4" piece cucumber

7 or so leaves of fresh mint, finely chopped

3 dsp Greek yoghurt

Black pepper

Seasalt

Cut the cucumber into small cubes, peeling and/or discarding seeded part if you prefer. In a bowl mix up the yoghurt, mint and seasoning. Stir in the cucumber, and adjust dressing to taste.

For the chickpea curry:

1/3 onion, finely chopped

1/2 red chilli, roughly chopped

1/2" piece of ginger, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1/2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

3 whole cloves

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 small green pepper, diced

1/2 head of cauliflower, broken into small florets and steamed

1/2 can chickpeas

Pieces of leftover beef, vegetable (optional)

1 - 2 cups hot water

1/2 satsuma, all pith and segment skin removed

1 dsp sultanas

1 tbsp mango chutney

1/2 tbsp tomato purée

2 - 3 tbsp pumpkin purée

1/4 cup thin coconut milk

2 tbsp Greek yoghurt

1 - 2 tsp potato starch, mixed with a little cold water

Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the spices, and stir to release oils.

Add onion, chilli, ginger and garlic to the pan, and sauté until onion has softened.

Stir in green pepper. Then add cauliflower, chickpeas and any additional leftovers (e.g. beef.) Heat through.

Add hot water to just cover contents of pan - a lovely bright orange yellow and fragrant sauce should now be simmering. Add the pieces of satsuma and the sultanas. Stir in the mango chutney, tomato and pumpkin purées. Leave to simmer until vegetables are just cooked.

Shortly before serving, add the coconut milk. Thicken the sauce a little with the potato starch slurry (taking care as it is far more powerful than cornflour, and quite viscous in quantity.) Stir in the yoghurt, and serve up over the fragrant rice and with a good helping of raita. Leftover chickpea latkes and flatbread make good accompaniments, too.