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Serves 4

Ingredients

A splash of plain oil, such as vegetable oil

2 red onions, diced

Big bunch of fresh coriander

2 tsp curry powder

1½ tsp coriander seeds

1 kg pumpkin, peeled & cut into 3cm cubes

1 x 400ml tin coconut milk

2 peppers (preferably 1 red & 1 green), cut into bite-sized pieces

40g sultanas

50g ground almonds

50g frozen peas, defrosted

1 red chilli, halved, de-seeded & thinly sliced

1 lime

Handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

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Method

Fry the onions over a medium-high heat in a wide pan for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly until softened.

Meanwhile, chop the coriander stalks, reserving the leaves for later. Chuck the coriander stalks, curry powder & coriander seeds into the pan, stir well & fry for a couple of minutes, then tip in the pumpkin. Coat it in the flavoured oil & spices & once it’s all warm on the outside, pour in the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to medium & cook for 25-30 minutes with the lid on.

Add the peppers, sultanas & ground almonds & cook for another 10-12 minutes until the pepper is softening but still has a bit of a bite to it. Turn the heat off & stir through the peas, chilli, a squeeze of lime juice & half the coriander leaves.

Season, taste & re-season as necessary, then serve in mugs or bowls with coriander leaves & toasted pumpkin seeds scattered on the top.

Serves 6

For the pastry

250g plain flour

Pinch of salt

125g butter, cold, diced

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp water

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For the filling

400g pumpkin, peeled weight

200ml water

90g castor sugar

2 tbsp brandy

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Pinch ground cinnamon

Pinch ground ginger

5 egg yolks

150ml double cream

Icing sugar to dust

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Pastry

Put flour, salt and butter in food processor and pulse to fine crumbs. Add egg and sufficient cold water to bind. Pulse together.

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Turn out on to lightly floured surface, knead lightly, then roll out and use to line a deep 20cm tart tin with a removable base. Prick the base with a fork, line with greaseproof paper and baking beads. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 200°C. Put pastry lined tart tin in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and baking beads, and bake for a further 8-10 minutes, until the pastry no longer looks raw. Take the tin from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 180°C.

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Filling

Put the pumpkin flesh in a saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer until the pumpkin is very soft and the water has evaporated. If necessary, add a little more water as the pumpkin cooks, but you need the final mixture to be quite dry. Puree the pumpkin in the food processor. Mix with sugar, zest, brandy and spices. Beat together egg yolk and cream and add to mix. Pour into the pastry case.

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Return the tin to the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the filling is just set, but still with a slight wobble. Serve the tart warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar.

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All the sexiest tarts should have a slight wobble.

700g pumpkin or butternut, peeled, deseeded and cubed

570g sweetcorn (off the cob)

25g butter, plus 1 extra tsp for the sweetcorn

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

275ml whole milk

725ml hot vegetable stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt 25g butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and gently cook until it is soft. Add the pumpkin/butternut and half the sweetcorn, stir and season. Keep the heat low and the lid on allowing the vegetables to sweat gently for 10 minutes. Pour in the milk and stock and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Preheat the grill to its highest setting. Melt the rest of the butter and add the rest of the sweetcorn to it. Spread it out on a baking tray, season and pop under the grill about 3 inches from the top. It should take approximately 8 minutes to become toasted and golden. Move the sweetcorn around on the tray halfway through cooking.

When the soup is ready, blend it in a food processor. It doesn’t have to be absolutely smooth, it is nice to have a bit of texture to it.

Serve the soup in hot bowls with the toasted sweetcorn on top.

Ingredients

Vegetable oil or ghee

2 red onions, finely sliced

1kg peeled deseeded pumpkin cut into 2cm cubes

4 or 5 red tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 whole chicken, weighing about 1kg on the bone, chopped into morsels (or about 500-600g boneless chicken cut into chunks - chicken on the bone will taste better, but can be fiddly)

Salt

1 tsp brown sugar

Small handful chopped coriander leaves

1 tsp garam masala

For the Masala:

1 or 2 green chillies, coarsely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled & finely chopped

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp chilli powder

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Method

Mix all the masala ingredients together in a bowl without any liquid.

Heat the oil or ghee & sauté the onions until they are brown.

Stir in the tomatoes & cook gently until you have a rich onion & tomato gravy. Add in the pumpkin & masala & stir well.

Stir in the chicken & cook gently until any liquid that comes from the meat is absorbed into the gravy. Continue cooking until the mixture is quite dry.

Season to taste with salt, add the sugar & cover the chicken with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently until the chicken is cooked & the oil floats to the top of the gravy.

Before serving, sprinkle the curry with the chopped coriander leaves & a good pinch of garam masala.