It’s April and at last spring is in the air. My best allotment crop is lovage. Beware lovage! A little goes a long way but it can make a meal. Eleanor Perenyi in Green Thoughts even advises against accepting the gift of a lovage plant. It has a celery flavour and can be added to soups, Bolognese sauce and stews.

I defend lovage and this dish is a favourite. You can vary the beans; even using the overgrown beans that have been podded and frozen at the end of last season. It looks attractive to cut the bean pods at an angle into different lengths according to the time it will take them to cook.

1 onion, finely chopped
olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Seeds from 10 cardamon pods, ground
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric
300g plum tomatoes, skinned and chopped
150g broad beans, podded (frozen beans would be fine to use)
300g mixed green beans – French, runner etc trimmed and cut
150g sugar snap peas, trimmed
2 tbsp young lovage leaves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Warm a few tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan with a lid and add the chopped onion. Fry, stirring frequently, on a medium heat until soft. Add the cumin and ground cardamon seeds and cook for a minute before adding the garlic, other spices and tomato paste. Season and let cook for a few minutes more.

Add the skinned tomatoes, peas and beans. Bring to the boil and then cover and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the peas are cooked but still have some crunch. Add the chopped lovage and stir. Check for seasoning.

Serve warm.