Our Favourite “End Of Week Curry”

We’re pretty lucky that we have a 75 litre fridge in our ZONE RV Z-10.0 EXPEDITION SERIES and a spare 45 litre in our car...however there are still those final days of a off grid mission that can leave us scraping the barrel for “foodspiration”. So here’s our go to when we are on fresh food rations.

Serves 2-4 people
(or enough for left overs as lunch the next day)

What you’ll need -

1 tbsp x coconut oil
1 tsp x ground cumin
1 tsp x ground coriander
1 tsp x ground turmeric
1 tsp x garam masala
1 tsp x paprika
1 x brown onion
1 tbsp x chopped or crushed ginger
1 tbsp x chopped or crushed garlic
1 x can of coconut milk
1 x can of diced tomatoes
2 x can of chickpeas
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 cups of basmati rice

Plus any left over vegetables you have. For this particular batch we diced a small sweet potato, a zucchini, half a left over egg plant and a few sad looking pieces of kale!

Method -

This will work over a camp fire or a regular cooktop however we like to think that a fire gives it more flavour. So pull out your camp oven and slowly melt down the coconut oil along with all your spices. Keep on a low heat for 2 mins or so until you can begin to smell the aromatics. Add in your onion, ginger and garlic and cook these on a small flame/ low to medium heat until browned and fragrant. *Top tip: we like to keep the ginger and garlic cut a bit chunky so you get a yummy hit with each mouthful.

Strain and add in your chickpeas. Stir these through along with any other veg you’ve managed to salvage. Once the chickpeas and veg have started to soften you can go ahead and add in the tinned tomatoes, coconut milk and salt and pepper to taste. Stir through until well blended.

Let the curry simmer away for 20-30 minutes whilst you prepare the rice. We’re pretty loose with the time frame as it will depend on how well your fire is going but just make sure it doesn’t turn to complete mush! We normally do 1 (and a bit) cups of rice that goes along way for two of us, however if your feeding the troops go ahead and do another full cup. We use the 1:2 ratio - 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water. For an extra bit of flavour, sprinkle some ground turmeric and cracked pepper in the water. This always makes us feel like we’re eating fancier then a canned meal, hehe! Just before the rice looks like it’s fully cooked through as in all of the water is gone, take off the flame and let steam for a few more minutes.

By this time the curry should also be well cooked. Go ahead and serve up! If you just so happen to have any yogurt or fresh coriander, these can be tasty additions to add on top and might make your meal look like it came from a fancy restaurant instead of the bottom of the Engel.

Enjoy!