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Cari de légumes
Vegetable curry
Réunion's everyday vegetable curry with turmeric, thyme and ginger (cari légumes)
On Réunion, the French island in the Indian Ocean, cari is simply lunch: a pot of something gently spiced with onion, garlic, ginger, thyme and the island's turmeric, which locals call safran péi. It arrives at the table with white rice, a bowl of lentils from Cilaos or red beans, and a sharp tomato rougail, and this vegetable version uses chayote (chouchou) from the green Salazie valley, potatoes, carrots and green beans. The heat comes from the chilli in the rougail, not the cari itself, so it suits children too. Chef's tip: let the onions take real colour before the spices go in; that golden base gives a cari its depth.
- Total time
- 55 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the paste
- 4 cloves garlic
- ⅔ oz fresh gingerpeeled and sliced
- 1 tsp salt
For the cari
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onionsthinly sliced
- 1 ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 green chilli (optional)left whole, pricked
- 3 ripe tomatoeschopped
- 2 waxy potatoespeeled, in 3 cm chunks
- 2 carrotssliced 1 cm thick
- 1 chayote (chouchou)peeled, seed removed, in 2 cm chunks; or 1 courgette
- 5 ½ oz green beanscut into 4 cm lengths
- 1 ¼ cups water
To serve
- 1 ⅓ lb cooked white rice (optional)
- 2 spring onion (optional)sliced
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Pound 4 cloves garlic, ⅔ oz fresh ginger and 1 tsp salt in a mortar (or blitz with a splash of water) to a coarse paste.
Step 2: Heat 3 tbsp sunflower oil in a heavy casserole over a medium-high heat. Fry 2 onions for 8–10 minutes, stirring often, until soft and golden brown at the edges.
10 minStep 3: Stir in the paste, 1 ½ tsp ground turmeric and 4 sprigs fresh thyme and cook for 1 minute, until the garlic smells sweet and the turmeric darkens slightly.
1 minStep 4: Add 3 ripe tomatoes and 1 green chilli and cook for 5 minutes, crushing the tomatoes with the spoon, until they collapse into a thick sauce.
5 minStep 5: Add 2 waxy potatoes and 2 carrots, stir to coat them in the sauce for 2 minutes, then pour in 1 ¼ cups water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
12 minStep 6: Add 1 chayote (chouchou) and 5 ½ oz green beans, cover again and cook for 12–15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender to a knife and the sauce coats the vegetables. Common mistake: adding too much water; a cari should be thick and clinging, not a soup, so simmer uncovered for a few minutes if it looks thin.
15 minStep 7: Taste for salt, remove the thyme stalks and chilli, and rest for 5 minutes. Serve with 1 ⅓ lb cooked white rice and scatter with 2 spring onion.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 32 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 7 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cari de légumes take?
- About 55 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of fresh ginger?
- ¼ tsp ground ginger per tbsp fresh (add it with the spices).
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