Curry Shepherd's Pie
We love curry recipes and we love Shepherd's pie recipes. They're both utterly delicious in their own right. We've made many-a-curry with great success over the course of the last couple of years and the Shepherd's Pie in the (best vegan cook book of all time?) BISH BASH BOSH! We decided to have a crack at blending these two gastronomic behemoths together to see what would happen. What happened, was magic. Absolute and total magic. This dish will genuinely send you into a total tizzy and put you under a delicious spell. You have to give it a bash. A brilliant vegan family meal with a twist, a really exciting an interesting vegetarian recipe!
Serves
Ingredients
For the dahl filling
<item-todo-done>2 tbsp coconut oil<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 tbsp ground cumin<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp turmeric<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 tsp garam masala<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp caster sugar<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp ground coriander<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp ground fenugreek<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 onion<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>20g fresh coriander<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>3 garlic cloves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>3cm ginger<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 red chilli<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>200g red lentils<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 x 400g can x 400g can(s) of chopped tomatoes<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 x 400g can of coconut milk<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>500ml vegetable stock<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> Salt & pepper to taste<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>10g coriander<item-todo-done>
For the Bombay potato topping
<item-todo-done>1 tbsp vegetable bouillon<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tbsp salt<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>3 tbsp coconut oil<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp cumin seeds<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp mustard seeds<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1kg potatoes<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp turmeric - + 1tsp<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>3cm piece of fresh ginger<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>3 garlic cloves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>4 spring onions<item-todo-done>
For the raita
<item-todo-done>200g coconut yoghurt<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>3 spring onions<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>¼ cucumber<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>½ tsp caster sugar<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>½ tbsp salt<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>5g fresh mint<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>5g fresh coriander leaves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>½ Juice of 1 lemon<item-todo-done>
To serve
<item-todo-done> mango chutney<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> popadoms<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> side salad<item-todo-done>
Before you start
Preheat oven to 180°C | Fine grater | Large saucepan | Lasagne dish | Frying pan | Saucepan
First, make the filling
- Peel and finely dice the onion
- Pick the leaves from the coriander and finely slice the stalks
- Peel and grate the garlic and ginger
- De-stalk and finely slice the chilli
- Prepare the stock
Make the dahl
- Warm the coconut oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion, a pinch of salt and stir for 4-5 minutes until soft
- Add garlic, chilli, ginger and coriander stalks to the pan and stir for 2 minutes
- Turn the heat down and add the cumin, turmeric, garam masala, sugar, ground coriander, fenugreek and a splash of water to the pan
- Stir for 1-2 minutes to combine
- Add the lentils to the pan and stir for 1 minute
- Add the chopped tomatoes and coconut milk to the pan and stir to combine
- Pour the vegetable stock into the pan, bring it to the boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, put the lid on and leave to simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the lentils are almost cooked
Prepare the potato topping
- Wash the potatoes and cut into ½ cm thick slices
- Peel and grate the garlic & ginger
- Peel and finely dice the spring onion
- Pick the coriander leaves and finely slice the stalks Put the slices of potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, sprinkle the vegetable bouillon, salt and 1 tsp of turmeric into the pan
- Bring the water to the boil over a high heat and leave to simmer for 5 minutes
- Drain the potato slices with a colander and leave to steam dry
- Warm the coconut oil in a frying pan over a medium heat
- Add the onion and a small pinch of salt to the pan and stir for 5-6 minutes
- Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to the pan and stir for 30 seconds
- Add the garlic, ginger and coriander stalks to the pan and stir for 1-2 minutes
- Take the pan off the heat, add the slices of potato and picked coriander leaves to the pan and gently fold them into the flavoured oil
- Set the pan to one side
Now assemble the Indian Shepherd’s Pie
- Pour the filling into the base of the lasagne dish and smooth out with a spoon
- Carefully layer the slices of potato over the top of the filling in a decorative fashion
- Cover the lasagne dish with foil, place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes
- Take the dish out of the oven, remove the foil, return the dish to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes to crisp the bombay potato
- To make the Raita, trim and finely slice the spring onions
- Coarsely grate the cucumber and use a clean tea towel to squeeze out the excess water
- Pick and finely slice the mint and coriander leaves
- Add the spring onions, cucumber, mint and coriander in a bowl with the caster sugar, salt, yoghurt and lemon juice and fold everything together to form the raita
Time to serve
- Plate up the Indian Shepherd’s Pie with some raita, salad, mango chutney, some pappadums and serve