Day 6

Thursday, March 26: Action: send off the story to Stuff, polish the silver, sweep floors, clean oven hob, clean bathrooms. On my walk, I meet neighbours Mary, Jan and Colleen. We talk at a distance. The bright Waikato autumn weather lifts the sombre mood.

I’m trying to get some structure to my days: breakfast in the sunny window seat each morning, a walk, computer time, phone time, various projects, cooking, Wine O’Clock. There is always potential to be sidetracked. Today I have breakfast at 10am and lunch at 3pm.

My sister-in-law, Denise, arrives home early from a holiday in the South Island before domestic flights around the country are halted. Good to have her safely back, frustrating we can’t get together for a debrief.

Highlight: I cook Lisa Quarrie’s delicious curry (see below), using kumara and potatoes. Last of the pork meatballs on the side. The freezer packet of leftover pork went a long way.

Balinese Butternut Curry

Serves 4

Spice paste

You can use 3-4 tbsp of packaged red or yellow curry paste but it is fun to make your own. Don’t worry if you don’t have everything on the list, you can omit, substitute, and create. Use what you’ve got on hand. Butternut soaks up flavours like a sponge.

3 garlic cloves

1 long red chilli, seeded and chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

1 cm piece fresh turmeric or 2 tsp ground turmeric

2 macadamias, almonds or brazil nuts

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 piece lemongrass stalk, roughly chopped

2 tsp chopped fresh ginger

Half an onion, diced

3 tsp maple syrup

Pinch salt

Other ingredients

3 tbsp coconut (or vegetable) oil

650g butternut (or pumpkin, kumara or potato), chopped into 2-3cm cubes

1 bay leaf

2 pieces lemongrass, knotted (or lemon zest, or lemongrass in a jar)

120ml coconut milk

2 tbsp soy sauce or fish sauce

1 tbsp fried shallots

3 kaffir lime leaves

400ml water

Start by making the spice paste. Blitz all ingredients in a foodprocessor until well combined into a golden yellow paste flecked with chilli and tomato skin.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pot or a wok, over medium heat, and fry the spice paste for 30 seconds. Add the bay leaf, lemongrass and lime leaves and toss for 30 seconds.

Add chopped butternut to the pot and fry for 1 minute, then add the water and simmer until the butternut has softened and cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Add coconut milk and fried shallots, and soy or fish sauce and gently simmer for 1 minute, until slightly thickened, then serve with steamed rice and any of the following accompaniments for an interactive family meal: chopped cucumber, roasted cashews, toasted coconut, eggplant or tomato sambal, cherry tomatoes, fresh coriander, sliced spring onion, crispy shallots, sliced chilli, grilled chicken, or tempeh, or meatballs.