On seeking inspiration, chutney and Moroccan stew

There are so many different starting points when creating a dish, or deciding what to eat that night. Sometimes you just have a craving for a particular ingredient or flavour. There's the "see what looks good in the market and start from there" approach, the less glamorous cousin of which is "see what is loitering at the back of the fridge and create something from that". A few ingredients have such a short season that they demand you eat them while they are available.

But on this occasion, well, I had some chutney to use up. Now creating a main dish that goes with an accompaniment might seem a little perverse. But this carrot and almond chutney had been looking neglected for a while. I could probably have put it in cheese sandwiches, but it seemed like it needed to be served alongside a North African dish to show it off at its best.

So I created this stew, largely with what was already in the fridge and store cupboard. I'm not claiming this is hugely authentic, but it was delicious nonetheless. You could vary the vegetables - next time I might try it with butternut squash instead of carrots.

Ingredients
Serves 2-3

1 onion, red or white
1 tsp vegetable oil
Small piece of root ginger, about 1cm long
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
200g mushrooms
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin chick peas
Piece of cinnamon stick, about an inch long
1 tsp cumin seeds
Bulghur wheat or couscous, to serve

Method

Chop the onion into large chunks. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and add the onion.
Chop the ginger as finely as possible and add to the pan. Cut the carrots into chunks and add those.
Halve the mushrooms, or quarter them if they are large, and add them to the rest. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes while you crush the first the cinnamon and then the cumin seeds in a pestle and mortar. (You can use ground spices if that's all you have, though I think whole give a better flavour). Add the spices, cook for one minute more and then add the tinned tomatoes and chick peas.
Simmer for around 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.
Serve with bulghur wheat or couscous.