Ingredients

• Ingredients For the spices: ½ tsp coriander seeds ½ tsp ginger 1 tsp smoked paprika ½ tsp allspice berries 1 cardamom ½ tsp ground mace ½ tsp turmeric ½ tsp cayenne pepper ½ tsp chilli flakes ½ tsp sea salt flakes ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp agave syrup 2 large red onions 2 cloves of garlic 1 large butternut squash 1 fennel bulb 1 large aubergine 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes 1 tbsp tomato puree

Preparation

• Method Place the cardamom, coriander seeds and allspice berries in a dry frying pan and heat over a medium flame until you can smell their fragrant scent – about 1 minute but keep an eye on them.  Transfer to a pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder. Next, combine all of the spices together in a small bowl.  Pour over 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and all of the agave syrup.  Stir together until combined. Preheat the oven to 120c.  Peel the onion and cut into half moon slices, slice the garlic into thin rounds.  Next, peel and deseed the squash.  Chop the squash, fennel and aubergine into large chunks approximately 4 cm in size. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large heavy based casserole.  Gently fry the onion and garlic until softened. Add the squash and fry with the onion until the squash begins to give at the edges. Add the fennel and aubergine to the pan and stir together.  Pour over the spice mixture and stir in until evenly mixed, frying for a further minute. Pour over the tomatoes and puree, bring to a rolling simmer and then cover and transfer to the oven to cook slowly for 2 – 3 hours.