Flipping the balance . . .

Butter chicken is one of the most searched recipes online to cook and enjoy at home, says author Olivia Andrews in her cookbook Three Veg and Meat. Her version below has far less chicken than your average butter chicken, but is still high in protein, containing 60 percent of the recommended daily intake for women in every serve, and 50 percent for men — with half the protein coming from plant sources . . .

Butternut chickenThe pumpkin in this recipe gives the sauce a lovely sweetness, and using the home-made, yoghurt-based sour-ish cream (also featured in the book) means you don’t need to add saturated fat–laden cream, and can keep the butter to a minimum, too.

INGREDIENTS:

2–3 long red chillies, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon garam masala

4cm knob of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

200g sour-ish cream (page 192 of book)

300g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm chunks

250g peeled and seeded butternut pumpkin

500g cauliflower

½ cup (50g) almond meal

400ml Roasted tomato passata (page 207 of book), or store-bought tomato passata (puréed tomatoes)

1 tablespoon butter

¾ cup (150g) brown or white basmati rice

½ cup (75g) blanched almonds, lightly toasted

mint and/or coriander (cilantro) leaves, to serve.

METHOD:

• Using a stick blender, blender or small food processor, blend the chillies, garam masala, ginger and salt to the smoothest possible paste.

• Transfer the spice paste to a cold saucepan and stir in the sour-ish cream until well combined. Mix the chicken pieces through and leave to marinate while you prepare the remaining vegetables.

• Coarsely grate half the pumpkin into a bowl, and cut the remainder into 2cm pieces. • Finely chop the cauliflower, by hand or using a food processor.

• Add the grated and chopped pumpkin to the chicken, along with the almond meal and passata, and stir to combine.

• Place over medium heat, then cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the pumpkin is tender, stirring occasionally.

• Add the butter and stir until melted, then season to taste with sea salt. For a thinner consistency, stir in 3–4 tablespoons water if desired.

• Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. If using brown basmati rice, cook the rice for 10 minutes, then add the cauliflower and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the rice and cauliflower are tender.

• If using white basmati rice, add the cauliflower at the same time as the rice and cook them together for 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain.

• Serve the curry with the rice, scattered with the almonds and herbs.

TOP TIPS

If using a food processor to chop up the cauliflower, be careful not to take it too far, or too much water will leach out of the cauliflower, making your rice lumpy and soft. You can avoid this by chopping by hand.

Chillies can be hotter at different times of the year, so if you’re more inclined to eat milder curries, use only two chillies.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER

For a vegetarian curry, replace the chicken with an extra 1 cup (125g) cauliflower florets, and/or a drained 400g tin of chickpeas. Or to cook the chicken separately, place on a foil-lined grill (broiler) tray, season with salt and grill under high heat for 8–10 minutes, until cooked through.

• Serves 4

•???2 serves wholegrains + 1.5 serves protein per serve.

•???Great source of fibre and vitamin C.