My favourite curry

Until I moved to Britain I had never eaten a curry. During my first year here I made one or two attempts at cooking one, but the result, made with curry sauce from a jar, never inspired me much. It wasn't until a year ago that I overcame my fear of what seemed like a difficult and time-consuming meal to cook, and now I love cooking curries. I learned that they don't take that much time to prepare, they can be made with whatever vegetables are left over in de fridge and they're also good for pleasing everyone; from vegans to meat-eaters.

This curry was first made for me by my boyfriend several months ago, and its still my favourite. Although the ultimate cooking-from-scratch thing to do would be using dry chickpeas and letting them soak overnight, but I often don't decide what I'm going to eat until dinner time comes around, so canned chickpeas are a quick and easy alternative

Preparation time: 10 minutes, cooking time: 30-40 minutes. 

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

- 1 onion

- 2 cloves of garlic

- 1 medium-large sweet potato

- 1 can of chickpeas 

- fresh spinach (I used approximately 75 grams)

- 1 can of coconut milk

- approximately 3-4 tablespoons of curry powder

- 150ml hot water

- some oil for frying

Method:

Slice the onion, crush the garlic and dice the sweet potato. Heat a large pan on a medium-high setting and fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes, until starting to turn brown. 

At the same time mix the curry powder and hot water in a glass or cup. 

Add the diced sweet potato, curry powder mix and coconut milk to the pan and give it a good stir. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add them to the mixture. Lower the heat to a medium setting, and let everything cook until the sweet potatoes have softened (20-30 minutes), stirring every now and then. 

If the mixture is to watery then turn up the heat a bit in order for more water to evaporate or add some water if the mixture becomes too thick/dries out.

When the sweet potato has softened and the sauce has reached the right consistency, cut the spinach leaves and add them to the mixture. Stir for another one or two minutes and then you're curry should be ready to serve.

Serving suggestion: serve with rice, naan bread or both.

 This is the first time I've tried to take pictures when cooking, and I've realised I'm still a long way off from the glamorous photos you see in magazines. The fact that my kitchen is in a student house rather than in Jamie Oliver's doesn't help either. However, I hope the photos make the story a bit more colourful and give you some kind of idea of what the dish looks like :)

Scarves that change lives

Another post about Fair Trade, because not only is Fairtrade Fortnight coming up at the end of February, but in order to celebrate that, the Fairtrade Foundation has collaborated with 14 designers to produce some wonderfully unique scarves. The scarves were made using digital print techniques and are packaged in drawstring bags using the same fabric and design as the scarf.

Designers include Julie Verhoeven (who has previously collaborated with big names such as Versace and Mulberry), Hussein Chalayan (creative director for Puma), ASOS black and many others.

Scarves will go on sale on the 28th of February and are available from asos.com

Back to nature - the luxurious way

I enjoy camping and don't mind the back-to-basicness of it. However, if I had a bit (a lot) more money, I would love to spend some time in one of these:

Surrounded in a beautiful natural setting in the West of Scotland, it's an odd, but interesting combination of boutique hotel meets campsite. Furnished with recycled, organic and locally-made products and constructed out of wood from sustainable local forests, it seem perfect for anyone who cares about luxury and comfort as much as about the environment.

Whispering in the Giant's Ear

This summer, when I was in Bolivia, I was browsing through a shop to find some reading material related to issues of environmental and social injustice in the region. I ended up buying this book and it was the best £10 I've spent all summer. 

William Powers worked as a development worker in Bolivia, and lived the typical expat life in La Paz: fancy apartment, socialising with other expats, etc. Then he decides to change his life around, move to the tropical lowlands of Bolivia and work for a grassroots NGO aimed at protecting the jungle and its indigenous inhabitants. He manages to bring together local inhabitants and international corporations, who pay to conserve this part of the Amazon forest in order to absorb harmful greenhouse gases. It is an unlikely alliance between two very different partners in order to stop logging in the Bolivian jungle. 

Powers' book is very much a personal account and is as much about his personal relations with the people he meets as it is about local, national and global developments and how they impact the indigenous communities as well as Powers' himself. Furthermore, it is a very interesting read for anyone who is interested in the conservation of nature as well as indigenous cultures, and is currently relevant since land conservation through free market mechanisms are becoming more and more important. 

I'd suggest anyone who thinks indigenous communities = good, international corporations = bad, should read Powers' book, since his inspirational story shows that the picture can be far more complicated than that. 

"A front lines chronicle from Bolivia's war on globalization"

People Tree

I spent a significant part of 2010 researching Fair Trade and its impact on (female) producers for my undergraduate dissertation. What I found was that, although there is still a lot of room for improvement, an important and significant start has been made. Many Fair Trade organisations in developing countries do actually care a lot about their producers and try to improve their lives through higher wages, education opportunities and addressing important social issues. However, one problem is that to a large extent the Fair Trade handicraft and textile market is losing ground and does not seem to be as popular among young and mainstream consumers as for example organic clothing is. Whereas the latter is now widely available from stores such as H&M, Fair Trade clothing is still largely limited to being sold in Fair Trade shops.

Which is why I love People Tree. They show that Fair Trade clothing can be fashionable. Getting Emma Watson involved was great for publicity and will hopefully attract a new range of customers. Although the items are not cheap, you know your money will help to improve someone's life. Finally, for those with big hearts but little money, check out their sale; many items are being sold for half the original price or less. 

Weekend break

I can't help it, I love to travel. I might save some carbon by not driving a car, putting on an extra jumper when its cold rather than putting the thermostat on 23 degrees, etc., only to ruin it all by spending as much time as I can exploring the world. However, despite the attractiveness of £5 Ryanair flights, I'm trying to find alternative means to travel. One of my best short trips from last year was a weekend away to the Shetland Islands. 

The plan was to cycle from my house to the ferry port in Aberdeen (only a 10-minute ride), take the overnight ferry and then cycle around the main island. However, cycling with a large backpack turned out to be less than comfortable, so upon arrival in Lerwick, the bikes were locked up and we hitchhiked around the island instead. 

It was my first multi-day hitchhiking trip and it was great. Sure, every minute spent waiting next to the road seemed like forever, but many great characters were met, from friendly families on holiday to a local farmer who hadn't cleaned out his car since 1996. Hitching and camping created not only a very affordable, eco-friendly trip, but also the ultimate sense of freedom. 

Recipe: Beetroot, butternut squash and lots more salad

I made this recipe the other day, and unfortunately forgot to take a photo of the end result, but believe me when I say, it looks great due to different colours of the vegetables. A lot of these vegetables are now in season, so it's a great time to try this recipe. The ingredients are all natural, and it's completely vegetarian, so if anyone has signed up for Meat Free Mondays then this is a great recipe to try out.

Ingredients (for 4 people):

- a small butternut squash

- approximately 8 beetroots

- one bag of fresh spinach (100-150 grams)

- one tin of chickpeas (or use equivalent in dry chickpeas and soak them beforehand)

- 100-150 grams of goat's cheese

- some dried rosemary

- a little dash of lemon juice 

- a bit of vegetable or olive oil for roasting

Method:

- preheat the oven to 200 degrees

- peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds en cut the rest into small chunks

- wash and peel the beetroot and cut into wedges

- put the butternut squash and beetroot into a roasting tin, pour a bit of oil over the butternut squash and sprinkle some rosemary over both vegetables. Roast for approximately 30-40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

- wash spinach if necessary and then divide over three plates. Top with the roasted vegetables, chickpeas and goat's cheese. Finish by adding a dash of lemon juice to all plates.

Serving suggestion:

Serve with warm wholemeal pitabread and hummus on the side. I haven't managed to make good hummus yet (also since I don't have a blender), but there are plenty of recipes online if anyone wants to make their own.

Cycle style

Yakkay's helmet and hat in one

I love cycling. Growing up in The Netherlands there was no one who hadn't learned how to cycle by the time they turned 5. No school buses, no parents in cars blocking the road, no lollipop ladies, just thousands of kids cycling to school through sun and snow. Now, living in the UK things have changed. I still cycle, but am part of only a small minority of students who do so. Cycling here seems to be directly associated with lycra and reflective yellow vests, even though cycling is something anyone can do in any type of clothing (I even cycled to my secondary school's graduation ceremony in my formal dress...).

Thus my favourite new find of the day is Cycle Chic, showing that cycling in style is not impossible.