South Indian Vegetable Curry Sauce

Our answer

Nigella's South Indian Vegetable Curry has a warmly spiced, but not excessively hot, sauce made with vegetable stock and coconut milk. It is influenced by the dishes of southern India, though is not a traditional recipe. The beauty of the recipe is that you can use up any vegetables that are in the fridge and many of the ingredients are long-life storecupboard items. The spicing can be a matter of personal taste and if you prefer something hotter then it is possible to increase the amount of chillies used.

The method suggests to cook the sauce in a casserole (Dutch oven) or large saucepan and this should be a fairly wide one. As the sauce cooks it should thicken slightly as water evaporates. However, if you are using a deeper, narrower saucepan then the evaporation may not be as great. If you are worried then we suggest maybe using only half of the vegetable stock initially, and then adding more until you have a sauce that is thick enough to your taste and is enough to hold all of the vegetables. We would also recommend using a good-quality full-fat coconut milk, as reduced and low fat versions can be quite thin.