August is a month of overflowing produce from the garden – beans, tomatoes, courgettes and herbs. Here in North Devon its also quite unpredictable weather, searing temperatures of a heatwave one minute, westerly wind streams with grey skies and thunder the next. The inspiration for this was borne out of not wanting to do too much cooking in the heatwave, but wanting to use a variety of the best fresh ingredients, without taking up too much time in one go. So its sort of based on a thali idea – lots of small dishes on one plate all brought together with a spiced coconut sauce. It can all be made in stages then just heated through when ready to serve. Don’t be put off by the long list of different seeds – just use the ones you have – the idea is to get a different flavour for each veg. I think a dish of dahl would be appropriate too and would elevate this from lunch or supper to a main meal but there is not room to include a recipe here. Although I prefer to make my own, we do have some good tinned dahl available from our shop. Serves 2

Thali style Courgette, Beans and Tomatoes with Coconut Cream Sauce

Ingredients

100g onions

1 knob of butter or a slug of olive oil

For the Courgettes

200g courgettes

1 Tablespoon butter or olive oil

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

For the Beans

120g green beans

2 teaspoons whole grain mustard

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons olive oil

For the Tomatoes

4 tomatoes approx 375g

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 teaspoon nigella seeds

1 Tablespoon butter or olive oil

pinch of salt

For the Sauce
knob fresh tumeric
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon garlic/ginger paste
1 Tablepoon olive oil
200ml tinned coconut cream
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
1 star anise
1 stick cinnamon bark
3 curry or 1 bay leaves
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
½ teaspoon garam masala

To Serve
1 Tablespoon basil chopped
1 green chilli, finely sliced
1 clove garlic sliced
cooked rice

First make the coconut sauce as this will give a standing time to allow the flavours to develop. Peel and slice the tumeric and pound it with the salt in a pestle and mortar. Heat the oil and fry the ginger/garlic paste for a few minutes, then add the tumeric paste, the cinnamon bark and the star anise. Stir around until the spices release their aroma. Add the lemon zest, chilli powder, the leaves, 200ml water and the coconut cream. Bring to the boil and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook until it has reduced to a thick sauce, stir in the garam masala and remove from the heat.

Finely slice the onions across to form crescent shapes. Fry in the oil over a low heat until starting to go soft and translucent. Fry for a minute or so more until golden and remove half of them to be used with the beans. Continue to stir and fry until the remainder is starting to caramelize and go reddish brown. Remove from the heat and set aside. (Continued on page 2)

Meanwhile top and tail the beans and cut into 2-3 cm lengths. Boil in water for about 4 minutes, drain and set aside. Mix the mustard, syrup, vinegar and oil in a small bowl and toss the beans in it whilst still warm. Chop the golden fried onions and mix in.

Cut the courgettes in quarters lengthways and remove any large seedy bits in the middle. Chop across into 1 cm bits and fry over a high heat in the butter. When the courgette is beginning to take on colour, add the sesame seeds and continue to stir and fry until the seeds have taken on a darker hue. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Cut the tomatoes in half through the core. Remove the core by making a v shaped cut either side of it. Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan just big enough to take the tomato halves in one layer and add the cumin and nigella seeds. When they start to splutter place the tomatoes cut side down in the pan. When they are seared, add 50ml water and a pinch of salt, lower the heat and cover with a lid. When the water has cooked out, flip the tomatoes over to cook the outsides for a few minutes.

When you are ready to serve, strain and gently reheat the coconut sauce. Divide into individual bowls. Fry the chilli and garlic slices in hot oil and spoon onto the coconut sauce. Place a mound of rice and a bowl of the coconut sauce on each plate. Spoon a pile of each vegetable onto the plate and garnish with the remaining caramelized onions and the chopped basil.