Name: Parsnip, plantain, aubergine and prawn curry
Ingredients: 2½ tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon mustard seeds; 1 white onion, sliced; pinch of saffron or ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric; 2 star anise; 4 green cardamom pods, squashed a little; ½ teaspoon fennel seeds; 1 thumb of ginger; 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 12 whole raw prawns in their shells; small handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped; large handful of mint leaves, shredded, but not too thinly; 1 ripe plantain, peeled and sliced into 1cm discs; 1 aubergine, stem removed and cut into large chunks; 2 strips of lemon zest (just the yellow layer, not bitter white pith); 1 large parsnip, peeled and diced; 1 green chilli, thinly sliced

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Vegetables

By Peter Gordon

Published 2007

About

By making the stock from the prawn shells, you add a delicious extra layer of flavour. If you’re vegetarian, simply omit the prawns and use vegetable stock, and perhaps some shiitake mushrooms. If you can’t find whole raw prawns, and you have to add ready-cooked prawns, then make the curry with a good fish or vegetable stock. Serve it with steamed rice or egg noodles. Make sure you use a ripe plantain – it will look like a large rotten banana but will taste great. If the skin isn’t beginnin