PARSNIP AND CAULIFLOWER KORMA

Or, yuck and yuckity korma. I am a terrible vegetarian. I am not keen on vegetables, really, very much at all. I have managed to work on my tastebuds in the last few years, and have expanded my will-eat list. I can even (if in polite company) eat a mushroom when pushed. Cheese, too: my OK-then list is also getting longer. Brie, for example, isn't as vile as it looks, and if you pick the right sort of goat's cheese, it doesn't taste as gut-wrenching as you first think. Here are a few of my least favourite things:

Mushrooms
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Swede
Olives
Cucumber (raw)
Tomato (raw)
Parsnip
Brussel Sprouts
Cheddar
Blue Cheese
Eggs

Good list, huh, for a veggie and keen food-eater? Well, the good news is that I can eat most of them, in various guises. I would simply rather prefer not to. The following recipe was designed as a disguise for horrid cauliflower and parsnips. It works pretty welll. You can easily change the vegetables for nice ones. I am making this tonight with broccoli and carrot in place of the parsnip (none left, hurray!).

VEGETABLE KORMA
1 onion, sliced
1 green chilli, de-seeded and chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1" piece of ginger, crushed
1 tsp olive oil
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 cauliflower, broken into florets
1tbsp Patak's Korma paste
2oz ground almonds
1 tin coconut milk
Flaked almonds and chopped coriander

Saute onion, chilli, ginger and garlic in the olive oil for a couple of minutes, then stir in the vegetables and curry paste. After a few more minutes' stir-frying, add the ground almonds, stirring until they are well incorporated (like flour). Finally, tip in the coconut milk, and let the whole lot simmer - lid on - for about 20-30 minutes, depending on how firm you like your cauliflower.

Garnish with coriander and flaked almonds, and serve with Nan breads.