Vegan Malaysian Butternut Squash and Lentil Curry

Even though I am a cookbook hoarder, I am more than happy supporting our local libraries, especially as libraries all over the country are being threatened with closure and some have already sadly closed their doors. 

Well the most recent cookbook to fall into my mitts is by Hemsley Hemsley.  It's not a vegan or vegetarian cookbook, but it does have some stylish recipes that appeal to the eye.  But the one that I chose to make was down to earth and homely.  It was the Squash, Red Lentil and Coconut Curry.  The other reason I wanted to make this was that I wanted to use my own home-made Malaysian spice mix.  The recipe had been given to me by my Malaysian neighbours when I lived in Scotland.  It's very similar to this one by  A taste of memories - Echo's Kitchen.

Anyway, back to the cookbook, I have to admit I did not follow the original recipe as instructed. For a start the recipe in the cookbook uses 'bone broth' which is essentially old fashioned 'meat stock' dressed up in emperors new clothes.  A recipe for this features in the cookbook, of course this can easily be substituted for vegetable stock, but once I started reading the recipe I  decided to approach it the way I would do an Indian style vegan curry, sauteing the onion and garlic in vegetable oil, then adding in the spices. I have linked to the original recipe below, as well as my own adaptation.

It made for a nice, warming and filling dish.  Even though the flavour of the star anise and fennel seeds (from the Malaysian spice mix) came through, D said it was one of 'the most curried dishes' that he had had in ages.  This golden stew-like curry recipe makes a large portion, so we have been enjoying it over 3 days, first with rice, then crusty bread and today, rice again.   

Malaysian Black Pepper Tofu

A few months ago, my neighbours who happen to be Malaysian Muslims knocked on our door to give us a couple of bowls of celebratory dishes they had made for Eid. Both dishes contained halal meat. I was going to accept them just out of sheer politeness, but I knew in my heart she would ask how we found them and I would not be able to lie, and you know how one little white lie can grow. So I was upfront and honest and told her it was very kind of her, but I could not accept either dishes as we were both primarily vegetarian. She was understanding and nodded politely. During our polite conversation about food in general, I did tell her that the only Indonesian and Malay cuisine I had ever tried was Nasi Goreng.

Anyway, speaking to her again this weekend got me thinking about Malay cuisine. I thought it was time for me to try something different. A long while ago, I remembered seeing a recipe for 'Malaysian Black Pepper Crab' and thinking to myself, I could substitute the mud crabs for 'vegetarian prawns' (made from seaweed extract, gluten wheat, salt and spices). But today I decided on firm tofu. The original recipe has a few ingredients I don’t have to hand such as salted soy beans. Ordinarily I’d be happy to pick up ingredient but I am trying my utmost to use what I have at home, so I omitted this from the recipe as well dried prawns. My Malaysian neighbour would so not approve of this omission, as dried prawns are an essential seasoning ingredient in most Malay dishes. I also reduced the chillies, and that's unusual for me, but even with my high chilli tolerance levels I don’t think I could handle 10 – 12 red birds eyes chilli. No way. Finally, I substituted the fresh curry leaves with a handful of fresh coriander leaves. I know what your thinking - with all these changes to the recipe its hardly Malaysian - well let's just say its Malaysian cuisine inspired.

This 'Black Pepper Tofu' dish was really delicious: rich and intense in flavour. I don't know what it was about it, but the combination of red chilli and black pepper was almost addictive. The tofu tastes gorgeous too, with the crisp outer skin and soft inside. Oh I wish I had taken a photograph of the shallots and red chillies whilst they were being sauteed, as the ingredients in the pan were very different in colour up until the soy sauce, oyster sauce and black pepper went in, instantly turning the entire contents in the pan ink black