Welcome to this month's Inside-out guest blog, which has materialised thanks to my wonderful friend Kath. She has served us up a gorgeously surprising end-of-summer recipe: Watermelon and Chickpea Curry!
I first met Kath when working at the Hospice on Mill Road, in Cambridge. I'd kind of lost my cooking mojo at the time, but she used to bring in an extra tupperware with lunch for me on the days we worked together. We would sit in our little two person office and scoff our way through something that was unfailingly delicious, whilst gossiping and laughing at whatever trivia had occurred to us in our daily life that week.
So yeah, it was pretty much love at first chat / mouthful. All my best recipes have originated from Kath, particularly the naughty ones like creamy coconut dark chocolate covered Paradise Bars and the melty Tahini-Chocolate Stuffed Cookies that I am yet to magic up.
Suffice it to say her mouthwatering titbits reignited my love of experimentation and cooking and we've enjoyed a beautiful friendship ever since, and lots of tasty food (mainly cooked by her!). She is a delight in every way and you can follow her and all her mouth-melting-stomach-grumbling-at-first-site-culinary-creations on Instagram. Search for Kath's Plateful or use this link: instagram.com/kaths_plateful
Watermelon and chickpea curry
1 tsp nigella seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
Half a watermelon, (slightly smaller than a football)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Aleppo Chilli
2 garlic
1/2 tsp turmeric
Salt and pepper
1 can of chickpeas
Couple of Handfuls of spinach
10g fresh mint, chopped
10g fresh coriander, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Toast the nigella, fennel and fenugreek in a wide pan until fragrant. Add the olive oil and onion. Sauté until soft, around 7 minutes, don't let it catch and burn.
Whilst that's going on chopped the watermelon into chunks. Put half in a blender with the garlic, paprika, chilli and turmeric to whizz up into a liquid. Set aside the rest.
Add the blended melon to the pan of spices and onion. Simmer until reduced a little. Season and taste. Add the chickpeas and watermelon chunks and warm through.
Finally, add the spinach, mint, coriander and lime juice. Taste, re-adjust seasoning and serve with rice.
Kath's Bio
Kath first learned the magic of food in her childhood kitchen making Victoria Sponge Cake. Her first and most exciting shopping trip on moving out was a grocery shop. And her idea of chilling out is either pottering in the kitchen or reading cookbooks in bed. Kath has tried all sorts of food challenges from gluten free to no refined sugar and is currently vegan in a bid to see if it makes her run faster (jury's still out!). Basically, there is nothing she won't attempt to cook and every recipe holds interest and mystique. Cooking from scratch is magic!
I'm always looking for interesting new things and fabulous people, to focus in on. So, if you'd like to feature on the Found by Dawn blog, social media and inner circle monthly email, drop me an email today.