The Day After Christmas Curry — a plant-based British recipe by BOSH!
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The Day After Christmas Curry

Honestly, this curry might be our favourite thing about Christmas. The day after the big meal, when you've still got roasted veg and stuffing balls hanging around, this is exactly what you want to be making. We've been doing this for years now and it never gets old. The butternut squash and parsnips go beautifully into a rich, warming curry sauce packed with cinnamon, star anise and cardamom, and those stuffing balls dunked in there are just a game changer. If you've got leftover Christmas veg and half an hour, make this tonight.

Cook: 30 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 180°C
  • Large roasting tray
  • Steamer basket

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 12 stuffing balls
  • 1 small butternut squash
  • 3 parsnips
  • salt to taste
  • 1 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 2 cinnamon stick
  • 1 star anise
  • 5 cloves
  • seeds of 4 cardamom pods
  • 1 red onion - chopped
  • 1 onion - chopped
  • salt to taste
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 inches of ginger
  • 1 green chilli
  • 1 x 400g can of chopped tomatoes
  • 120ml coconut cream
  • 120g Brussels sprouts - steamed
  • spiced damson chutney
  • dried cranberries
  • coriander garnish

Method

1

First, bake the stuffing balls and roast the veg

  • Cook the stuffing balls
  • Roast the butternut squash and parsnips on a tray with some vegetable oil and the fennel and cumin seeds for 25 mins at 180℃
2

Then, start on the curry sauce

  • Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and add the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cumin seeds and cardamom seeds and cook for a few minutes until the flavours are released
  • Then add the onions and salt and stir until translucent
  • Add the garlic, ginger, green chilli and ground coriander and cook down for a few more minutes
  • Then add the brown sugar and tomato puree and stir
  • Next, add the water and stir until it’s mostly cooked off, then stir in the tinned tomatoes and coconut cream
3

Add the veggies

  • Once the sauce is a good consistency, add the steamed Brussel sprouts
  • Remove the cinnamon sticks and star anise, then add the roast vegetables from earlier
  • Serve on rice with the stuffing balls and garnish with spiced damson chutney (if you can get it!), dried cranberries and coriander

Tips & Variations

  • Use whatever veg you've got: Parsnips and squash work brilliantly here but this is a great fridge-raid recipe. Leftover carrots, sprouts, roast potatoes, they all work. Trust us on this one.
  • Don't skip the stuffing balls: We know it sounds odd but the stuffing soaks up the sauce and goes slightly crispy on the outside while staying soft inside. It's genuinely one of the best things in this recipe.
  • Make it saucier: If you want a looser curry, just add a splash more water or a tin of chopped tomatoes when you're building the sauce. It stretches beautifully if you're feeding more people than expected.

Why This Works

The trick is toasting those whole spices in the oil right at the start. Cinnamon, star anise, cloves, the works. It takes a few minutes but it's what gives the sauce that deep, fragrant base that makes this taste like you've been cooking for hours. And roasting the squash and parsnips with fennel and cumin seeds before they go in adds this lovely caramelised sweetness that balances everything perfectly.