Roasted kumara with curried mint yoghurt and quick onion pickle
This recipe sticks to my rule of sharing plates, with the yoghurt ‘base’, roasted kumara ‘body’, and onion pickle ‘lift’ to finish. I choose to keep the kumara wedges rather large as it makes each serving appear heartier, but you can easily cut the kumara smaller if desired - just adjust cooking times accordingly.
Top Tip - double the quick onion pickle and keep the other half in the fridge for an instant flavour boost to any meal.
hands-on time
15 minutes
60 minutes
total time
serves
6 as a side
Ingredients
Quick onion pickle
½ lemon
½ medium red onion, sliced thinly
1 tbsp chopped mint
¼ tsp sea salt
Roasted kumara
3 medium orange kumaras (approx. 350g each), scrubbed
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp cracked black pepper
75g pecans
finely grated zest of ½ lemon, to serve
Curried mint yoghurt
200g Greek-style coconut yoghurt
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp curry powder
1 tsp dijon mustard
juice of ½ lemon
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp chopped mint, plus extra to serve
sea salt, to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C fan-forced (or 210°C conventional).
For the quick onion pickle, finely grate the zest of the lemon half into a medium bowl. Place a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, place the half lemon, cut side facing down, into the pan and cook until the cut side is starting to blacken. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the bowl with the zest. Add the sliced red onion, chopped mint and sea salt. Set aside to pickle as you make the kumara.
For the kumara, slice the kumara lengthways into quarters. Place in a large roasting dish, cut sides facing upwards. Drizzle with the oil to generously coat, and sprinkle with the cinnamon, cayenne pepper, sea salt and pepper. Cover the roasting dish with aluminium foil and roast for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, flip the kumara upside down so the skins are facing upwards, and roast for a further 20 minutes. Scatter the pecans around the kumara and roast for a final 10 minutes, until the kumara are cooked through, with a knife easily piercing through the flesh, and the nuts are golden. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes. On a board, roughly chop the roasted pecans.
For the yoghurt, in a medium bowl whisk together the ingredients and season to taste.
To serve, spoon half the yoghurt onto the base of a serving platter and spread out with the back of a spoon. Layer the roasted kumara on top, cut side facing upwards. Spoon over the remaining yoghurt, top with the pickled onions, then sprinkle with the chopped pecans, lemon zest, and extra chopped mint. Serve warm.