If you’d rather be on a sandy beach enjoying the sunshine with a Pina Colada in your hand, this is your best chance of getting there through the means of … well, your dinner plate! A mild, but warming Vegan Caribbean Courgette Curry is full of holiday vibes, both in its vibrant colours and all the holiday food flavours, including juicy pineapples and creamy coconut!
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Recipe That Takes You On Holiday!
There’s no place in the world like the Caribbean! Wherever we went in the region, we were greeted by friendly, hospitable laid-back people and delicious food was presented to us in very generous portions! In 2020, not only we missed travelling but missed the warmth and the sunshine that is not that frequent here, in North Wales. So we did what we had to do, we cooked our way through the year trying to visit as many countries as possible through our tastebuds! This one took us back to the sandy beach in Punta Cana, to the Trunk Bay in USVI and to the wonderful blue seas in the Bahamas.
Pineapple in a Courgette Curry Recipe?
The use of fruit is very common in Caribbean cuisine, both in sweet and savoury dishes. I personally love pineapple in my food (yes, shock horror, I love it on my pizza too!). As a result, for me, this Vegan Caribbean Curry is one of the most delicious non-Indian curries there is. Not only is it 100% plant-based, but it is also packed full of nutritious vegetables, including peppers, courgette and red onion. No compromise on flavours either – creamy mildly-spiced coconut sauce is a perfect complement to crunchy veggies and sweet pineapple.
Ingredients
- rice: to serve the curry with. We like this Courgette Curry recipe with white fluffy rice, but brown rice will go well too!
- courgette: young green courgettes with soft skin that you don’t need to peel.
- bell pepper: choose red or orange pepper for the maximum colour vibrancy of the finished dish.
- tinned pineapple chunks: use pineapple in juice (not in syrup) if you can.
- red onion: cup into large chunks, so that it retains some crunch after cooking.
- curry powder: choose Caribbean curry powder if you can, but Mild/medium Indian-style curry powder will work too.
- vegetable stock: make sure it’s plant-based if cooking for vegans.
- creamed coconut: Don’t confuse it with coconut cream or coconut milk though – they have completely different textures. Creamed coconut normally comes compressed into a block shape or small (50g) sachets. We typically find this in the international food isles in the Thai or Chinese sections.
- lime
- cashew nuts: roasted or raw – you choose!
- spring onion: to garnish
Method: How to Make a Vegan Caribbean Curry?
Start by getting all of your ingredients ready. Cut courgette and pepper into bite-size pieces, cut your onion into eight wedges, and chop your pineapple into chunks if you’re using pineapple rings.
Zest the lime and cut it into wedges. Roughly chop your cashew nuts. Slice your spring onions on the diagonal. Now you have all your ingredients ready to go!
Boil your rice following the instructions on the packet. We normally use basmati, but Jasmine or even brown rice works well with this dish.
In the meantime, heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion wedges and fry for 3 minutes. Then add peppers and courgette and fry for another minute or two. Your vegetables should start to soften but retain crunch!
Crumble in the stock cube, and add the lime zest (keep some to decorate), curry powder and pineapple chunks to the pan. Add roughly chopped creamed coconut. This recipe requires creamed coconut. Don’t confuse it with coconut cream or coconut milk though – they have completely different textures. Creamed coconut normally comes compressed into a block shape or small (50g) sachets. We typically find this in the international food isles in the Thai or Chinese sections. Below are the ones that we tried and would recommend.
Squeeze two lime wedges in. Pour 200ml of water in and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes on low heat stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken slightly (if it gets too thick, just add a splash of water). Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Once cooked, divide the rice between two bowls, top with the Caribbean Courgette Curry and scatter cashew nuts and spring onion all over. Serve with an extra lime wedge!
Other Vegan Recipes To Try
Did you like our Vegan Caribbean Curry with Pineapple? If so, have a look at our other vegan recipes that we think you’ll enjoy just as much:
- Vegan Pineapple Stir Fry with Curried Coconut Sauce
- Autumnal Butternut Squash & Red Lentil Dahl
- Mushroom & Spinach Risotto
Recipe Card
Caribbean Courgette Curry with Pineapple
Ingredients
- 130 g rice
- 100 g courgette cut into chunks
- 1 bell pepper cored and cut into chunks
- 120 g tinned pineapple chunks drained
- 1 red onion cut into 8 wedges
- ½ tablespoon curry powder
- 1 vegetable stock cube + 200 ml of water
- 100 g creamed coconut from a block chopped up, see details in the text above
- 1 lime cut into 4 wedges
- 50 g cashew nuts chopped up roughly
- 1 spring onion sliced diagonally
Instructions
- Boil your rice following instructions on the packet.
- In the meantime, heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion wedges and fry for 3 minutes. Then add peppers and courgette and fry for another minute or two.
- Crumble in a stock cube, add curry powder, roughly chopped creamed coconut, lime zest (keep some to decorate) and pineapple chunks to the pan. Squeeze two lime wedges in. Pour 200ml of water in and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes on low heat stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken slightly (if it gets too thick, just add a splash of water). Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Once cooked, divide the rice between two bowls, top with the curry and sprinkle with cashew nuts and spring onion. Serve with an extra lime wedge!
Nutrition
Clare greber
Made this last night. Very tasty and quick to cook. Had some kale to use so served on the side. Lovely combination of ingredients and with suggested timings liked that they retained some crunch,the pineapple chunks were a great addition. Thanks for yet another delicious recipe!
Tayler Ross
My whole family loved it when I made this! So flavorful and delicious. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Ieva
You are most welcome, Tayler! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Cam
I love Caribbean curry but never had it with the pineapple addition before, I was pleasantly surprised how delicious it was! Definitely will be making this again!
Ieva
Yes! I am one of those people who love pineapple in savoury dishes and I’m glad you liked it too! 🙂
Jess
This takes me right back to when we visited the Caribbean last year. Love it!
Ieva
Us too! It’s a great dish to make when the holiday blues kick in!