This dish is a Moroccan specialty but was first introduced to me by an Italian friend of mine called Ros, who came up with the dish after visiting Morocco. It is usually made with meat and cooked meat can be added to this recipe towards the end when the roasted vegetables are added. In this is a vegetarian version she uses a mixture of spiced pumpkin and root vegetables. If you don’t have all the spices listed then try using a shop bought curry powder such as a masala curry powder. However some curry powders can be deceptively strong so try adding just a teaspoon towards the start of cooking and then if necessary add more to taste towards the end.
Ingredients
½ Butternut squash or pumpkin
½ Kilo of Potatoes
150g Carrots
2 Medium Courgettes
2 Medium Onions
5 Cloves of Garlic
1 Green Chilli
1 inch (2cm) piece of fresh ginger
1 Tin Chick Peas
1 Tin Tomatoes
Bunch of Fresh Coriander
1 teaspoon of Cardamom Seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
3 teaspoons of tumeric
Black pepper
1 teaspoon of bouillon or vegetable stock powder
(You can add whatever root vegetables are available – i.e. carrots, beetroot, sweet potato)
Method
- Peel and cut the potatoes into 1 ½ inch 3cm pieces then par boil them for around 10 minutes – if using other hard root vegetables such as beetroot in may be necessary to par boil them first also.
- Cut the carrots and squash into 3cm/ 1 ½ inch cubes and put on a roasting try with some olive oil.
- Roast for around 45 minutes on gas mark 6/ 2200C
- Chop the onions, crush and chop the garlic, deseed the chilli (unless you like very hot food) and chop, peel the ginger, then add them all to a pan on a low-medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft
- Then add the remaining spices and after a minute or so add the chopped courgette
- After around a minute of stir-frying the courgette add the tin of tomatoes and the bouillon/vegetable stock
- Drain and wash the chickpeas then add to the pan adding more spices if necessary
- Cook down for a couple of minutes then stir in the roasted vegetables ensuring they are covered in the sauce
- Add the pepper then simmer on a low heat for around 10 minutes
- Serve with brown rice, crusty bread or specialist Italian bread such as focaccia.
