Vegetable balti recipe

Soft, tender butternut squash, pretty cauliflower florets and the snap of bright green French beans - this balti is a vegetarian delight.

This vegetable balti is one of our favourite homemade curries. It's so easy to make. Baltis are cooked quickly, over a high heat, in a similar way to a stir-fry. That means this dish only takes 25 minutes to cook once you have chopped the vegetables. It's the perfect way to cook vegetables because they keep their texture and flavour. The variety of fresh ingredients also makes it so healthy, as well as tasting great - it's low carb and low fat. In fact, it's only 131 calories per serving.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 3 tbsp balti curry paste
• 2 parsnips, peeled and cubed
• 500g (1lb) butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 500ml (16fl oz) vegetable stock
• 8 small cauliflower florets
• 60g (2oz) French beans

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok or balti pan, add the onion and cook for a few mins. Add the balti curry paste and cook for another minute.
2. Add the parsnip, squash, tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins.
3. Add the cauliflower and cook for 5 mins, then add the French beans and cook for 5 more mins, until all the vegetables are tender. Serve with rice, if you like.

Top tip for making vegetable balti

Make sure you use a balti curry paste (the dense, flavourful base ingredient) not a balti curry sauce (which contains a lot more liquid and has a diluted flavour). The paste is a mix of fragrant herbs and spices ground a crushed down into a paste, which forms the base of a curry sauce.

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