(Written by Claire Turnbull, Director Mission Nutrition, Healthy Food Guide Nutritionist)

I adore spicy food and I can’t go past a good curry! There are endless meat and fish curry recipes out there, so I thought I would share a couple of ideas with you which involve getting in more veg.

You can serve either of these recipes on their own (I always have the eggplant one by itself with rice) or you can make them as side dishes to go alongside a meat or fish curry!

Enjoy!

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 1 tsp oil

• 1 very large egg plant or 2 medium ones

• 1 onion chopped

• 2 tsp of cumin seeds

• 1 tsp cumin powder

• 2 tsp curry powder

• 1 x 400g can of chopped tomatoes

• 1 tbsp of sliced jalapenos

• 2 tbsp lite sour cream or natural yoghurt

How to make:

1. Heat oven to 180 degrees. Place eggplant on a sheet of baking paper on a tray and pop into the hot oven – cook for 40 minutes or until soft.

2. About 10 minutes before the eggplant is due to come out of the oven heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and add the onion, cook for a minute or two until brown.

3. Add cumin seeds, cumin powder and curry powder – cook for 2 minutes.

4. Remove eggplant from the oven, carefully chop off the top and remove all the skin.

5. Chop the baked eggplant flesh into chunks and add to the frying pan.

6. Add chopped tomatoes and jalapenos to the frying pan and cook for 5 minutes or until piping hot through.

7. Stir through the sour cream or yoghurt and its ready!

Serve it up

• Serve with rice and any green veggies that you like – green beans and broccoli work really well I find! I normally add some extra yoghurt on top too for added protein.

Nutritional Information/serve (without rice or extra veg)

• KJ = 250, Carbs = 7g, Protein = 2g, Fat = 3g, Fibre = 3g

   

Saag – Spinach curry (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp oil

• 1 onion chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed

• 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

• 2 tsp ground coriander

• ½ tsp turmeric

• 450g chopped spinach (fresh or frozen)

• 1 x 400g can of chopped tomatoes

• 1 cup of cottage cheese

• Water as needed

How to make:

1. Heat oil in pan over medium heat.

2. Add onions, cook until soft. Add garlic ginger and spices, sauté 2-3 minutes.

3. Stir in spinach and water and bring to boil.

4. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10-15 minutes.

5. Remove, cool a bit, then use blender to puree in batches.

6. Return to pot, add a little water if needed, simmer for 5-10 minutes.

7. Stir in cottage cheese, briefly simmer, remove from the heat. Season and serve.

Nutritional Information/serve (without rice or extra veg)KJ = 584, 149kcals , Carbs =9g, Protein = 10g, Fat = 6g, Fibre = 7g

There's more from Claire and this recipe here.