Salads
Coronation carrots
This recipe is a veggie twist on a retro classic. Use it as a quirky way to serve your side of roots, or pair it with some salad leaves and crisp summer veg to create a sharing dish fit for a king (we’ve included some suggestions).
Cook's notes
Through 500 years of intensive selection, we’ve been left with fast-growing, uniform, bland-tasting roots with ‘robust handling characteristics’ – crucial for mechanical harvesting, washing, and packing. Riverford’s founder, Guy Singh-Watson, once visited a variety trial where he was the only farmer actually tasting the carrots; everyone else was banging them against their wellies to see if they would break. At Riverford, we try very hard to do better. We choose the tastiest varieties, and let them grow slowly in good old-fashioned soil, to develop maximum flavour.
Veg Hack - Coronation Carrots
James shows us how to make this veggie twist on a retro classic - an easy, colourful sharing dish fit for a king.
Ingredients
For the carrots
- 500g carrots, peeled and chopped into 3cm angled pieces
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 60g sultanas or raisins
- 1 Earl Grey or chai tea bag (optional)
- 40g flaked & toasted almonds
- small bunch of coriander, coarsely chopped
- 10-12 fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced
For the dressing
- 3 tbsp mango chutney
- 120ml yoghurt or plant-based alternative
- 1 tbsp mild curry powder
- ½ garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 lemon
If building into a salad:
- 6-8 radishes, cut into a mix of slices and wedges
- 100g green beans/garden peas/sugar snap peas, cooked, cooled & sliced
- 2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
- small red onion, finely sliced
- 80g mixed salad leaves
Method
-
Step 1
Preheat your oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Pop the carrots into a roasting tray with the garam masala and 2 tablespoons of oil. Season and mix well. Transfer to the oven to roast for 25-30 minutes, or until tender and starting to colour at the edges, giving them a turn halfway through.
-
Step 2
Meanwhile, place the sultanas in a cup and cover with boiling water. Leave them for 10 minutes to plump up. Add an Earl Grey tea bag if you’re feeling regal, or a chai one if you’re feeling bohemian – either are optional.
-
Step 3
Make the dressing by mixing the mango chutney, yoghurt, curry powder and garlic together in a bowl with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon. Alternatively, you can blitz it together in a blender to remove any lumps in the chutney. Taste and tweak with more salt and lemon to your liking.
-
Step 4
When the carrots are ready, drain the liquid away from the sultanas and mix them in to the roasting tray. Transfer to a serving dish, artfully spoon over the dressing, and scatter the almonds and herbs across the top to finish.
-
Step 5
If you want to extend this dish into a sharing salad, allow the carrots to cool slightly before tumbling them together with all or some of the ingredients suggested. Finish with the sultanas, dressing, herbs, and almonds.