Pumpkin & Spinach Curry

This amazingly simple yet delicious curry is made from pumpkin, spinach, ghee and spices but the star ingredient, in many ways, are the fennel seeds. They provide a delicious aniseedy tone to the dish that is very distinctive!

From an Ayurvedic perspective, fennel seeds are sweet, pungent and bitter and have a slightly heating effect on the body but a sweet post-digestive effect. Eat a teaspoon of roasted fennel after every meal to aid digestion or in the case of cramping and lower abdominal pain, try some fennel tea.

Fennel is also good for relieving nervous tension in the muscles and it tonifies the brain and nervous system. It can also assist with urinary problems, lung congestion, menstrual difficulties and the production and flow of breast milk.

Fennel, cumin and coriander are often combined and ground together to create an Agni-promoting yet cooling mix – a great combination for many meals and especially for people with excessive heat in their systems.

Pumpkin and Spinach Curry

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp ghee
6 curry leaves
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 brown/spanish onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1-2cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 pumpkin chopped (about 4 cups)
1/2 bunch of spinach/silverbeet/chard, roughly chopped
salt & pepper to taste
squeeze of lemon

METHOD:

Heat the ghee. Fry off the fennel seeds and curry leaves until slightly browned, then add the onion and cook on a low heat until the onion is golden.

Next add the garlic and ginger and fry for a few minutes before adding the ground cumin, coriander and turmeric and stirring.  Add the pumpkin and stir again until well covered in the spice mix then pop the lid on.

Check and stir occasionally. If there is some sticking, you can add a little more ghee and after some time, add the salt as this will draw moisture out of the pumpkin. When the pumpkin is nearly ready, add the spinach. Gently stir through keep cooking for another 5 minutes or so, until the spinach is cooked and the pumpkin is soft.

Finally add pepper, salt to taste and a squeeze of lemon. Serve with rice or flat breads.

Serves 4, gluten free
Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8bPJzt4Z0o

**Organic fennel seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric and ghee are all
 available from Santos Wholesale in the Byron A&I Estate**

Nadia Marshall is an Ayurvedic Consultant & Cook, Health Writer and Director of the Mudita Institute & Health Clinic in Mullumbimby (www.muditaclinic.com) where she runs cooking classes with her husband, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Kester Marshall. The Mudita Institute cookbooks, “WARMTH: The Ayurvedic Cookbook” and “The Ayurvedic Kitchen” are available online and from Santos Wholefoods in the Byron A&I Estate.