Grow to nourish: eggplant curry with green beans and lemongrass

Something from the garden, to nourish the body, the soul, our senses.

The eggplants are plump, the chillies are ripe and the beans should have been picked days ago. There's lemongrass that seems to just grow without any help from me (it looks like the weeds that grow around it so I forget it's there and very rarely feed it), basil that I know will be coming to an end soon, and a mere sprig or two of coriander.

It all calls for curry.

You know, years ago when Graeme and I would order in a Thai curry from our London home, or before that when we'd sample dishes from a Thai restaurant in Newtown, it never occurred to me that one day I'd have the makings of a fragrant curry in my garden. A few herbs, yes. But eggplant, chillies and lemongrass? Really? And yet they really are some of the easiest things I've grown.

I do have a jar of green curry paste in the fridge, but I haven't used it in months. When I've got beautiful coconut oil and vegetables from the garden, it somehow seems wrong to spoil it with something that sits in a base of vegetable oil – especially when I can pick most of the aromatics and make one myself. (One day soon I might even have my own dried garlic hanging in the kitchen and a little kaffir lime tree.)

A few notes:

• Chilli grows exceptionally well in pots – great if you're renting. And it's a perennial, which means that it's a plant that keeps giving! I have four chilli plants, all in pots. Two of them are a hotter variety – Graeme's favourite. When I have a glut, I make harissa spiced with cumin and coriander seed. I love how chillies dangle and add lovely splashes of red throughout the garden.
• Lemongrass is quite happy in the freezer. I have a few stalks in there from when we've picked more than we need.
• Basil is an annual warm-season plant, so it doesn't grow through the winter here. I grew mine from seed this year; I have some in pots and some in raised beds. I actually grew too much of it this season, so aside from making pesto and adding to pizza and tomato sauces, I've been making basil oil. A revelation... We have a jar of it on the table for a lot of our meals now. So easy to make and I'll share that one very soon.

If you're inspired to grow your own aromatics for a curry, build a simple no-dig garden or even discover the magic of making your own compost to add goodness to your garden, have a look at Nicola Chatham's gardening e-course Abundant Veggie Patch System which is open for enrolment until 11 March. It's exactly where I started over a year ago. To find out more, watch Nicola's videos one and two. And you can see a preview of the course here. *

Eggplant curry with green beans and lemongrass – serves 4

My aim is to inspire, not prescribe, with my recipes. Use what you have; I had carrots and pumpkins at the time, but you could easily use mushrooms, zucchini, sweet potato or spinach, for instance. Play around. I used my milder chillies in this paste and both boys ate the curry – I could have added more. If you're using a hot variety, you may want to use less.

I actually forgot to add salt when I made this, but as I now put a pinch-pot of mineral-rich Himalayan salt on the table, we all just helped ourselves as we ate. 

2 eggplants, cut into chunks

A few carrots, sliced

A large chunk of butternut squash or pumpkin, cut into chunks
1 tsp turmeric

600ml vegetable or chicken stock

A big handful of green beans, halved
A can of coconut cream (or coconut milk)
1-2 tsp sea salt

As much basil and coriander as you like

Steamed rice, to serve

For the curry paste:

2-3 large red chillies, seeds scraped out

2 plump stalks of lemongrass, outer leaves removed and roughly chopped

A knob of fresh root ginger, peeled

4-5 garlic cloves, peeled

3 tbsp coconut oil

Start with the paste. In a food processor, blitz the chilli, lemongrass, ginger and garlic, then add the coconut oil to make a paste. Scoop out and heat gently in a pan. Add the eggplant, carrot, pumpkin and turmeric and stir through, adding a little more oil if it starts to dry up. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then leave to simmer for 10-15 mins or until the vegetables are soft – I like to throw the beans in towards the end so they retain some of their bite. Turn the heat right down once the beans have had a few mins and stir through the coconut cream – don't boil or it will split. Add the salt and very gently heat through and scatter over the basil and coriander leaves. Serve with fluffy rice.




* These are affiliate links, which means I receive a payment if you enrol on Nicola's online course through my blog. I did this course early last year and paid for it myself and because it helped me so profoundly and affected such a shift in the way I now grow food, I'm happy to recommend it to you. It feels good to be upfront – I put a lot of work in what I do here so it works all round!