Helen Graham's Whole Roast Celeriac with Seeni Sambol Gravy

Another stunning centrepiece from the queen of vegetables, Helen Graham!

20 minutes prep

100 minutes cook

Serves 3-4

Guest Contributor

Ingredients

Roasted celeriac:

11 celeriac, washed and roots trimmed

2 tbspolive oil

1/2 tspsalt

Gravy:

2 tbspolive oil

20 curry leaves

1/2 tspcardamon pods

1.5 tspsalt

300gred onion, finely sliced

2 tbspbrown sugar

150mlvegan red wine

1 tbspplain flour

500mlvegetable stock

1/2 tbsptamarind paste

1 tbsppomegranate molasses

20gvegan butter

Salsa macha:

80gtoasted pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped

40gtoasted sesame seeds, roughly ground

1 tspmaldon salt

3 tbspharissa

1 tbspagave

130mlolive oil

This dish was inspired by Helen's trip to Sri Lanka where she discovered seeni sambol - a caramelised onion condiment with curry leaves and plenty of cinnamon that was served on the side of basically everything and 10 times out of 10 made it infinetly better. Here Helen turns it into a rich gravy with pomegranate molasses and tamarind making it the perfect foil for this whole roasted celeriac.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c fan

Rub the olive oil and salt over the celeriac and wrap it in foil. Roast for 1 hour before removing the foil and roasting for a further 15-20 minutes, until you can easily insert a fork through the middle of the celeriac.

Meanwhile, begin the gravy by heating the oil in a wide pan for which you have a lid set over a medium heat. Add the curry leaf and cardamon and sizzle for a minute or so until the leaves are crisp. Add the onions and salt and stir before covering for a lid for 5 minutes to allow the onions to soften.

Remove the lid and allow the onions to caramelise, stirring every so often, until they are soft and jammy - this will take around 30 minutes. Add the sugar then the red wine - turning the heat to medium to allow most of the alcohol to cook off. Once the wine has mostly evaporated, stir in the flour then add the veg stock, tamarind paste and pomegranate molasses. Stir and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so until its reached a thickened gravy like consistency. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter.

Stir together all ingredients for the salsa macha.

Slice the celeriac into 1 inch pieces. Spoon the gravy into your serving dish, top with the celeriac and then garnish with the chilli crisp, tahini and coriander.