GREEN PEANUTS SEASON RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
  2. Wash the squash, carefully cut it in half lengthways and remove the seeds, then cut into wedges. In a roasting tray, toss with 1 tablespoon of groundnut oil and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then roast for around 1 hour, or until tender and golden.
  3. For the paste, toast the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan for 2 minutes, then tip into a food processor.
  4. Peel, roughly chop and add the garlic, shallots and ginger, along with the kaffir lime leaves, 2 tablespoons of groundnut oil, the fish sauce, chillies (pull off the stalks), coconut and most of the coriander (stalks and all).
  5. Bash the lemongrass, remove and discard the outer layer, then snap into the processor, squeeze in the lime juice and blitz into a paste, scraping down the sides halfway.
  6. Put 1 tablespoon of groundnut oil into a large casserole pan on a medium heat with the curry paste and fry for 5 minutes to get the flavours going, stirring regularly.
  7. Tip in the coconut milk and half a tin’s worth of water, then simmer and thicken on a low heat for 5 minutes.
  8. Stir in the roasted squash, roughly chop and add the leftover greens and leave to tick away on the lowest heat, then taste and season to perfection.
  9. Meanwhile, cube the tofu and fry in a pan on a medium- high heat with 1 tablespoon of groundnut oil for 2 minutes, or until golden.
  10. Crush the peanuts in a pestle and mortar and toast in the tofu pan until lightly golden.
  11. Serve the curry topped with the golden tofu and peanuts, drizzled with a little sesame oil. Slice the chilli and sprinkle over with the reserved coriander leaves. Serve with lime wedges, for squeezing over. Great with sticky rice.

Steps:

• Place the raw peanuts in a sink of water and swirl them around to remove any dust and dirt.
• Place in a colander, rinse again and let drain.
• Fill a large stockpot about 3/4’s full of water.
• Add the washed raw peanuts.
• Place stockpot on stove and turn the heat to Medium-High, let come to a rolling boil.
• Cover the pot, reduce the heat to Medium and let boil for about 3 hours.
• Add the salt, stir. You can also add hot water if needed at this point.
• Taste the peanuts about every 30 minutes from here on until cooked to desired doneness.
• Remove from heat and let cool.
• Serve warm and enjoy.