Meat-Free Mince Meatball Masala With Brown Rice

Boil a full kettle

Strip the mint leaves from their stems and chop them finely, discard the stems

Tip: Hold the top of the herb sprigs firmly and slide your fingers down their lengths to easily remove the leaves

Cut the red chilli[es] in half lengthways, deseed (scrape the seeds out with a teaspoon) and chop finely

Add the meat-free mince, chopped mint, ground cumin and half of the chopped chilli (can't handle the heat? Go easy!) to a bowl

Using clean hands, give everything a very good mix up until fully combined

Divide the meat-free mince mixture into 10 [20] and roll into meatballs

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick with a matching lid) with 1 tbsp [2 tbsp] vegetable oil over a medium-high heat

Once hot, add the meat-free mince meatballs and cook for 3-5 min or until browned

Once browned, transfer them to a plate and reserve the pan for later

Rinse the brown rice, add it to a pot with a matching lid along with plenty of cold water and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15-20 min or until it's tender with a slight bite

Once cooked, drain, return it to the pot and keep covered until serving

Whilst the rice is cooking, peel and finely chop the brown onion[s], garlic and ginger

Chop the tomato[es] roughly

Return the reserved pan to a medium heat with a drizzle of vegetable oil

Once hot, add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 4-6 min or until softened

Dissolve the vegetable stock mix in 200ml [400ml] boiled water

Once the onion has softened, add the chopped ginger, garlic, tomato paste, curry powder and chopped tomatoes and cook for 1 min

Add the vegetable stock and browned meat-free mince meatballs to the pan and cook, covered, for 10-12 min or until the sauce has thickened to a curry-like consistency – this is your meat-free mince meatball masala

Whilst the sauce is thickening, wash the spinach, then add it to a colander and pour boiled water all over it so that it starts to wilt

Rinse the wilted spinach under the cold tap until it's cool

Once cool, squeeze the water out of the spinach as much as you can

Once the sauce has thickened, stir the wilted spinach through the masala