Spice up your Valentine’s night with this Sri Lankan-inspired vegetable curry! Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite sizes chunks
Half a butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
2 red peppers, de-seeded and sliced
1 large red onion, finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced or use lazy garlic
2 green chillies, de-seeded and sliced
100g baby spinach, washed
Juice of ½ lime
3 tbsp coconut oil (I used 2 olive oil and 1 coconut for a milder coconut flavour)
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp chilli powder
1 tsp medium curry powder
1 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
1 tsp brown mustard seeds or wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp coconut sugar or maple syrup
400g tin coconut milk.

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 240°C (fan 220°C/gas mark 9).

2. Put the sweet potato and butternut squash in a baking tray. Season with salt and pepper then add 2 tbsp olive or coconut oil, the curry powder, chilli powder, turmeric and cinnamon. Toss it all together to coat.

3. Roast for 25 minutes, then add the peppers for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

4. Using a heavy based saucepan, melt the coco-nut oil. Once hot, add the cumin and mustard followed by the garlic, chillies and red onion.

5. Cook for about five minutes, then add the coconut milk and coconut sugar/maple syrup. Cook for a further 15 minutes, adding the lime juice for the last five minutes.

6. Add the sweet potato, squash and pepper mix and cook for a further five minutes, making sure it doesn’t stick to the pan.

7. Add the spinach, stirring through to wilt before serving. If the mixture is a bit thick you can add a splash of water.

8. Serve with naan or your favourite rice.

If you prefer your curry a bit milder, reduce the amount of fresh chilli or just use a few chilli flakes instead.