AUTUMNAL GLOBAL GARDEN RECIPES: SQUASH & KALE CURRY, SQUASH & TOMATO SOUP, LEMON BALM & MINT YOGHURT

Global Gardens
2 days ago
3 min read

by Ghazal Tipu

Autumn days at Global Gardens have seen me cooking and preparing dishes and salads from the seasonal produce. I’m both a wannabe gardener and chef! Well, ahem I don’t actually measure ingredients. As whimsy as it sounds, good cooking for me is about being creative, intuitively deciding on the measurement of ingredients and taste testing along the way. At some point you become experienced enough to know the quantities needed. So you can adapt these recipes based on your taste, creativity and what produce is available.

I’ve been cooking in the garden mostly based on the seasonal harvest and sometimes bringing in ingredients of my own. I’ve been looking at the squashes, apples, pears and beetroot and longingly daydreaming about all the dishes and desserts which could be made. The dishes have come out well I hope, which is testimony to the flavour of freshly grown produce versus some of the bland, prematurely picked produce in our supermarkets.

Serving these dishes and eating under blue skies in the company of fellow Global gardeners has been soulful this autumn. Almost primordial. I’ve also been staring longingly at the Cob Oven and firepit and wondering wistfully what delicious flatbreads and chapatis could be made in there this winter.

Squash and Kale curry

Ingredients

1 onion

5 cloves of garlic

1-2 finger chillis (both green or red will do)

A large squash

Coconut milk

Cumin seeds

2-3 Tomatoes

Salt

Basil

Coriander

Method

Pour a glug of oil in the saucepan.
Finely chop onion and sauté in oil
Finely chop garlic and chilli and sauté in oil with the onion
Cook these until the onion is caramelised or at least brown at the edges
Chop tomatoes, stir in and bash once softened to create a masala sauce
Add cumin, salt, desired spices, half of the chopped coriander and chopped basil
Pour in a tin of coconut milk
Cook the sauce for at least 10-15 minutes to allow all the flavours to infuse
Chop the squash into cubes and add to the sauce. Cover squash with water. Cook until the squash has softened and reduce some of the water to desired dryness of curry
Chop kale and stir. Cook until Kale has softened which should only take 5 minutes
Serve with chopped coriander to garnish and eat with your favourite flatbread!

Squash and tomato soup

Ingredients

1 squash

3 cloves of garlic

Handful of tomatoes

1 chilli

Basil

Salt

Vegetable stock

Method

Heat tablespoon of oil
Chop garlic and chilli including seeds finely together and sauté until fragrant. The seeds will give the soup a kick!
Chop tomatoes and put into saucepan. As the tomatoes cook, bash them with a wooden spoon to create a fairly smooth soup
Add water to the soup and bring to the boil
Add the chopped squash and desired seasoning: salt, pepper, vegetable stock
Once the squash has softened, bash with a wooden spoon to make a smooth consistency. This won’t lead to the same result as using a blender but it is still great!
Enjoy soup with your favourite donated bread from Alex Gooch

Mint and lemon balm yoghurt

I’m an explorative amateur chef, and no less with my cooking. On discovering the different herbs in the garden, I decided to try pairing a few. This recipe uses a pestle and mortar to grind the herbs, which suits the simple garden setting. In all my cooking though, I swear by using a pestle-and-mortar for chutneys and pesto. A food processor simply will not too. Pounding the herbs by hands releases the flavour of the herbs.

Ingredients

Mint

Lemon Balm

Salt

Yoghurt

Method