These roasted carrots are absolutely knockout. Of course, pretty much any root vegetable is ace when blistered, sweetened and caramelised in a roasting tin. But the addition here of equally sweet roast onions, fresh coriander, sour lemon juice and the spiced salt makes these carrots a little bit special. To be honest, I’d happily have them as a main course with a spoon or two of curd or ricotta. But serve with something else if you must… most dishes involving chicken, beef, pork or cod work nicely, whether heavily spiced or plain.
See if you can get your hands on some heirloom carrots for this: those funny but in fact entirely natural purples, yellows and whites. You could use regular orange ones, but the heirloom varieties are both a visual treat and particularly flavourful when roasted. It’s still lovely when at room temperature or even fridge cold, so there’s no harm in making more than you need.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg carrots, ideally a mix of heirloom colours
- 3 red onions
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
- ½ lemon juice
- Leaves from 12–14 stems coriander
- Preheat the oven to 220˚C/Fan 200˚C/Gas 7. Cut the carrots in half lengthways. Put them in a suitably sized baking tray or roasting tin: not so big that there’s loads of space between them, nor so tight that they sit on top of each other and steam rather than roast. Peel and quarter the onions and add them to the carrots.
- Put the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds and salt in a pestle and mortar and grind well, but not quite to a powder. Sprinkle half the spiced salt over the carrots and onions. Add the oil and then mix well. Roast on the top shelf for 30–40 minutes, shuffling the tray after 20 minutes. They’re ready when tender, but also blistered and a little charred or browned at the edges.
- Remove the carrots from the oven and sprinkle over the sesame seeds and half the remaining spiced salt. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top, mix well and decant to a serving bowl or platter. Check for seasoning and add more of the spiced salt if you think it needs it. Add the coriander leaves and gently mix the carrots one last time.
