Basmati saffron rice, butternut squash, tomato, cucumber and tamarind

Basmati rice is a most delicious thing, but you can also use Thai Jasmine rice or flavoursome red Camargue rice, though you’ll have less noticeable effect from the saffron in the latter. Tamarind paste ranges from very sour and sharp to more mellow. I always make my own by soaking tamarind pulp (a compressed brown and fibrous sticky mixture, available in Asian supermarkets) in warm water for 10 minutes, before breaking it up with my fingers and rubbing it through a coarse sieve. It’s not al