Instructions: 1. Peel the garlic and ginger, and remove the stalk from the chillis, but
do not de-seed.

2. Put garlic, ginger and chillis into a blender and blend thoroughly.

Do
not touch this mixture with bare hands as the chillis
*do
*burn!

3. Scrape this mixture into a large saucepan, and if the pan can withstand it, dry fry the mixture for a couple of minutes. If you are using a pan which cannot cope with dry frying without burning the ingredients, then just add the smallest drop of water and fry the mixture
briefly on a high heat.

4. Add the fenugreek, cumin, coriander, cinamon, turmeric, cloves and fry
for another few seconds.

5. Chop the onion finely, or, if you prefer, put it through the blender and blend into a sort of rough puree. Add this to the pan. Stir well and continue to cook for a further minute. If youve blended the onion, turn
the heat down at this stage, as the mixture can actually start boiling over.

6. Add the chopped tomatoes, put a lid on the pan, turn the heat low and cook for a further ten minutes.

7. Meanwhile, cut the aubergine in half lengthwise. Rub the cut halves with salt and leave for five minutes.

8. Chop and de-seed the peppers, slice the courgettes, wipe and chop the
mushrooms, chop the dried fruit into small pieces, and if you are using beans you have soaked yourself, cook these in a separate pan of water according to directions on the pack, or see the note at the end of this recipe.

9. Add the mushrooms, peppers and courgettes to the pan, stirring them into the mixture. Cover the pan and continue cooking on a low heat for a
couple of minutes.

10. Wash the aubergine and chop into 1 inch cubes. Add these to the pan
along with the dried fruit and cook for a further five minutes.

11. At this stage, I usually taste the curry and adjust the spices if necessary. It will taste a bit bland but remember that the bananas, beans and cottage cheese are still to be added. Do add some salt at this time if you think it is necessary.

12. In order to let flavours mingle without overcooking, I usually now turn off the heat and leave the pan to stand covered for an hour or so while the beans finish cooking. You neednt do this, but through experimenting Ive found its more successful.

13. Once the beans are cooked, gently heat the curry through and stir in
the beans.

14. Peel and slice the bananas and stir these into the curry. Cook for about 10 minutes.

15. Gradually add the cottage cheese, stirring all the time. Taste the curry again and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Note:
To cook beans, ensure theyve been soaked overnight in plenty of cold water. Drain the beans and rinse them. Place them in a large pan with lots of water, but do not salt the water. Bring to a boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer gently for about 1 hour.

Time will vary according to what type of beans you use.

Note: The quantities in this recipe are approximates, as I tend to adjust
it as I go along. I also use different vegetables according to what I have available, so sometimes Ive used baby corn, brocoli, sugar snap peas
etc.

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