I created this Vegan Curry last year, for my Indian Cooking Class/Pop Up Supper Club in Support of the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry .  The main course on the menu, featured a trio of Indian Curries, to suit a wide range of dietary preferences.

Eventually, I will also publish the recipes for the Monk-fish Curry and the Oxtail Curry.  If you want to see photos of these curries click on Results of My Second Cooking Class/Pop Up Supper Club in Support of the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 Chayote Squash
• 2 large bunches of greens (here I used rainbow chard and beet greens.  Use the freshest greens you can find.)
• 1 bunch of cilantro (leave it out if you don’t like cilantro)
• 1 large white onion
• 2 inches of ginger root
• 2 inches of fresh turmeric (use powder if you don’t have fresh)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 2 green chilies
• 1 lime
• 2 cups of cooked chickpeas drained of their liquid (you can also use canned chickpeas if you don’t want to cook them yourself.)
• 1 Tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 tsp of black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds
• 1 Tbsp of Chunky Chat masala (use an extra lime if you don’t have this.)
• 1 Tbsp of garam masala
• 2 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 3 Tbsp of grape seed oil
• salt and pepper to taste

PREP:

• Wash the greens to get rid of all the dirt.  Separate the leaves form the stems.  Julienne the leaves and mince the stems.  I do not throw the stems away, I use them as part of the aromatic base of the curry.  Fresh stems have a lot of nutrition and flavor.
• Dice the onion and tomatoes
• Separate the cilantro leaves from the stems.  In Asian countries the cilantro is so fresh that you can use the stems and the roots.  The roots in particular have a lot of flavor.  I was lucky to be able to get very fresh cilantro from the farm down the road.

  So I minced the stems and roots to go into my aromatic base.

• Mince the garlic, ginger and chilies.
• To prep the Chayote, cut it into quarters, remove the core and then chop into bite sized pieces.

MAKING THE VEGAN CURRY BASE:

• Coat a deep soup pan or a wok with 3 Tbsp of grape seed oil
• Add the onion, ginger, garlic, chilies, and the minced stems from the greens and cilantro
• Add half the cilantro leaves, reserve half to be used at the end of the cooking process
• Saute on medium low heat until the vegetables are soft

• Add the cumin and mustard seeds
• Grate in the fresh turmeric (if you are using powdered turmeric, it will be added later in the recipe with the other powdered spices.)
• Saute for a few minutes to toast the seeds and cook the turmeric

• Make a hot spot in the center of the pan by pushing the vegetables to the side
• Add tomato paste to the hot spot

• Cook the tomato paste in the center of the pan for a minute and then mix it in
• Add the chopped tomatoes

• Stir them in and saute for about 5 minutes to soften the tomatoes
• Add the Chayote squash and the powdered spices

• Mix well and saute the squash uncovered for about 10 minutes.  At this point the squash should be translucent but not fully cooked.

• Add the chick peas

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• Stir them in
• Cook covered for about 10 minutes
• Add the greens

• Stir them in
• Cook covered for another 10 minutes to wilt the greens
• Add slat, pepper and lime juice.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
• Add the remaining cilantro leaves at the end of the cooking process.

Serve as a side dish or a main dish for vegans and vegetarians.

When I was preparing this curry for my cooking class, I had tender baby spinach available so I used it in the curry.

Tender baby spinach does not take long to cook, so I just added it at the end and turned off the flame.  For dinner service, I put the curry in a crock pot set to warm.  The residual heat was enough to wilt the spinach.

The photo above shows my buffet set up for dinner service after the cooking class.  The Vegan Curry is in the center crock pot.

I hope you like this hearty vegan recipe.  I would love to hear your feedback in the comments section. 🙂