Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry
Serves 6
I’ve been sneakily trying to work more vegetarian recipes in to my husband’s diet, and this has become one of his favourites. It is so satisfying that I don’t think he realises he’s missed out on the meat! This recipe is actually vegan, gluten free and best of all, delicious. It is mild in heat but rich in spices and is pleasingly creamy, though lighter on calories due to the relatively small amount of coconut milk used.
Whilst this recipe serves 6, I will make a batch for the two of us and freeze two extra meals to enjoy later. I simply defrost in the fridge for 24 hours and gently reheat to serve.
I like to serve this with brown rice but it is also great as part of a thali (try it as a smaller portion with a daal, rice and a small side salad).
You will also find a version suitable for baby weaning on my website, here.
- Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (or oil of your choice)
- 2 onions, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 2 inch ginger, peeled and diced
- 3 tsp cumin seeds (ground if you prefer)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds (ground if you prefer)
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 2 cloves
- 8 cardamom
- 2 pieces of cassia bark or cinnamon
- 2 small handfuls of curry leaves
- Small tin coconut milk (160ml)
- 300ml vegetable stock
- 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 tins of drained chickpeas
- Salt and pepper to taste
Step 1: Melt the coconut oil on a medium heat and add the diced onion, garlic and ginger. Soften for a couple of minutes and then add each of the spices, stirring to ensure they don’t burn.
Step 2: Add the small tin of coconut milk along with the vegetable stock (ensure you use a gluten free stock if you need to keep the curry suitable for those with a gluten intolerance/allergy).
Step 3: Add the cubed sweet potato and simmer until tender (this should take about 10 minutes).
Step 4: Five minutes before you are ready to serve the curry add the 2 tins of drained chickpeas to the pan, and heat through. Season as necessary (be aware that the stock you have used may well be salty enough).
This week I served it with some homegrown Swiss chard, roughly sliced and sweated in a little coconut oil with a crushed garlic clove, 1/4 tsp of dried chilli flakes, 1/2 tsp coriander seeds and 1/2 tsp of ground cumin seeds. Delicious.