Before Covid and numerous lockdowns changed life as we knew it, we were due to take a weekend break in Liverpool where we had hoped to book into one of the Mowgli Street Food restaurants. Well, obviously, that never happened but I did get their excellent cookery book for my birthday (thank you Nick and Sam) and this is a recipe inspired by that. I used a slightly different veg and spice mix and I couldn’t get hold of the white poppy seed paste that they use but this version still works beautifully. It’s very easy to make and although it would work really well as a vegetarian main course (scattered with some chickpeas), I serve it it with my Chennai chicken curry or slowly roasted spiced lamb. Make plenty, it’s lovely reheated and topped with a fried egg for a quick lunch the next day. 

• 3 tablespoons of rapeseed oil and 20g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp nigella seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 green chillis, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 parsnips
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 butternut squash
• 1 potato
• 1/2 small cauliflower broken into florets
• 1/2 cup of petit pois
• 1 small bunch of fresh coriander

To make…

• First, peel and prep all your vegetables. The squash, parsnips, carrots and potatoes need to be roughly the same size so they cook evenly – roughly 2 0r 3 cm cubes. 
• Preheat the oven to 200°C
• Heat the oil and butter in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the nigella seeds and fry for a minute or two to release their flavour. 
• Next, add the onions and chilli and stir through for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables, the spices and salt. Make sure all the pieces are coated in the oil and butter and cook for another couple of minutes to seal in the moisture. 
• Transfer the mixture to a large shallow sided roasting tray and cook in the oven on the middle shelf for approximately 45 minutes. The vegetables should caramelise and crisp up a little. 
• Once the vegetables are ready, remove from the oven scatter with the peas and coriander and a little extra sea salt and black pepper. 

Share, follow, like, enjoy!

• To get the latest #TheFridayRecipe from the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen blog, just add your email address to the subscribe box at the top right-hand column of the website. 
• Follow me on Twitter @pigeoncottage,  on Instagram at Pigeon Cottage Kitchen, and the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen page on Facebook.
• Click on the link to get your very own copy of my family recipe book, Whats4teaMum?