TRAVELS IN HONEY: BEETROOT CURRY with CINNAMON HONEY

Cinnamon in particular is a spice Emily encountered widely when cooking and researching in Sri Lanka, and you’ll find a quill in most curries. When infused, its particular sweetness is given added complexity thanks to the floral notes of our Cinnamon Infused Acacia Honey, which balance the earthiness of the beetroot and highlight its inherent sweetness and delicacy.

Emily says:

"This Beetroot curry is delicious served warm with cumin rice, fried mackerel or with a creamy ripe avocado, leaves and crumbled goat’s cheese. You could use carrots instead of beetroot to make a bright orange carrot curry – add a couple of cardamom pods if you do. The curry can be made in advance to eat a day or so after and can also be frozen. First prepare all your vegetables, onions, garlic etc so you can chuck it all in together and your job is super-easy."

Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable, rapeseed or coconut oil
10 fresh curry leaves (if possible, otherwise leave out)
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large banana shallot, finely sliced into rounds
2 small red chillies, finely sliced
20g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
½ cinnamon stick, broken
20g garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp chilli powder or Turkish chili flakes

500g small raw red beetroots or carrots, washed, peeled and cut into batons (save the leaves and stems for a salad)
150g fresh or tinned tomatoes, roughly chopped

200ml coconut milk
1 tbsp Cinnamon Infused Honey
Juice of 1⁄2 lime
Sea salt

Method:

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and, just before it starts to smoke, add the curry leaves and then the mustard and cumin seeds. The mustard should crackle and pop immediately. Stir and turn down the heat. Swiftly add the shallot, fresh chilli, ginger and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, seasoned with 1 teaspoon sea salt.

Stir in the cinnamon and chilli powder and cook for a few seconds, then add the beetroot, tomatoes, coconut milk, Cinnamon Honey and 1 teaspoon of sea salt.

Bring to the boil, cover and lower the heat. Cook for 20 minutes until the beetroot is tender and juicy. Stir in the lime juice and check the seasoning.

Serve with a healthy dollop of yoghurt, lime wedges and fresh mint or dill.

You can also turn this into a spiced beetroot dip by simply whizzing up the cooked curry in a blender and serving with poppadoms.

*As an alternative you can replace the beetroot with carrot, simply add 4 green cardamom seeds with the mustard and cumin seed for a tasty carrot curry.*