Coronation Chickpeas

I know it's not quite summer yet, but we'll soon be there. We had lunch in the garden yesterday for the first time this year - nothing special, just some nice bread, cheese, a few tomatoes and some homemade chutney. The garden table and chairs were dusted off, the grass was cut and the allotments across the road were a hive of activity; it was lovely eating outside again after such a cold winter. A few of our plants look a bit sick because of the snow at the end of last year but, with a bit of sun and some TLC, they’ll probably recover.

Before I went veggie one of my favourite warm weather meals was Coronation Chicken; I still make it sometimes for visiting omnivores but obviously I don't eat it. The thing is, I really like the Coronation sauce, so I've been trying to work out a veggie version and I think I've finally cracked it.

I actually made this last week but forgot to take a picture of it – doh! We enjoyed it so much I made it again for last night's dinner with salad and rosemary potatoes. There's some left over so I think today's lunch is sorted - chunks of baguette filled with Coronation chickpeas and salad. Lovely!

250gm chestnut mushrooms, quartered
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tin chickpeas, drained
50gm salted cashews
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 dsp curry paste
1 dsp mango chutney
1 tbsp toasted flaked almonds
1 tbsp coarsely chopped coriander

Mix the mayo, yoghurt and mango chutney together then set aside while you saute the mushrooms in the olive oil until cooked but not browned, add the curry paste and cook gently for a minute or two. In a large bowl mix the chickpeas, celery, cashews and cooked mushrooms together then stir in the mayo and yoghurt mixture. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and toasted almonds before serving

Serves 2 with enough leftover for lunch next day