24.09.08: Red prawn and mango curry

He once again wheeled out the family fav, red prawn and mango curry made with butternut squash, sweet potato and mango, courtesy of Nigella Express. A rocket, pear, tomato and radish salad tried to get in on the action.

SHE SAYS: Curry had that nice tangerine hue that signals plenty of coconut milk, and the soft yet substantial sauce did not disappoint. Really good balance of sweet to savoury, with a pleasing mango zing pulling it all together. Mildly sweet slices of pleasurably grainy pear made up for overly strong rocket in the salad - maybe rocket contains an especially high concentration of iron this time of year?

HE SAYS: Since the store was out of ready-cubed squash, potato and mango I picked 'em up fresh and chopped them by hand. This didn't take any time at all and I would do it again (the packaged stuff yields less and costs more anyway). Because of the larger amounts of key ingredients I let the curry cook longer then usual and a lot of the sweet potato dissolved nicely, creating a more substantial portion and a creamier texture all round. This was quite a hot and spicy batch and I may have put a touch too much curry paste in but was careful not to over do it with the fish sauce. Overall, I was pleased with the results, a very rich and comforting meal with low prep is always nice. The reappearance of the pear in the salad was appreciated and the I enjoyed the mix of soft and crunchy bites (of pear and tomato vs radishes) too.