Recipes

Think of all the watermelon rinds you have thrown away. That equals a lot of curries you could have eaten. The only part of the watermelon that cannot be eaten is the hard, thin green exterior, the rest of it is perfect for a curry, especially the rind. It’s a cross between cucumber, water gourd and courgette, but is unique when cooked and spiced to perfection.

Let’s begin by prepping the watermelon. Once you have taken the red flesh and diced and popped it into a freezer bag (see tip below), get on to the rind. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the thin dark-green skin and discard. Chunk the light green flesh into 1–2cm pieces.

Pour the vegetable oil into a medium non-stick pan, add the cinnamon stick and heat over a high heat.

Turn the heat down, add the desiccated coconut and toast gently. Now add the garlic, ginger and onion with the salt and cook down till light golden brown.

Add the turmeric, chilli powder, cumin and curry powder and mix through. Add the watermelon rind, the water and coconut cream and mix through. Bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes.

Turn the heat down and leave to simmer for 30 minutes till the rind is soft and the liquid mostly evaporated.

Before you take the curry off the heat, pour the coconut oil into a small pan, add the chilli and curry leaves and, as soon as they start to pop, add to the top of the curry and serve.