If you are looking for a quick, cheap, and super flavourful curry recipe, here is the answer to your prayers. This Sweet Potato and Kidney Bean Curry comes together in about half an hour and is completely vegan, making it an awesome option for Meatless Monday – or any day of the week, really.
Today’s recipe (and the first recipe ever to appear on Once Upon a Recipe) was the result of a few frustrating weeks in Germany, where I was studying on my year abroad. It was dead cold and I was really missing a nice, comforting curry. Unfortunately, though, a curry was not the easiest meal to be found in the town I was studying, which meant that I couldn’t just go to a restaurant and order it as take-out. On top of that, my student kitchen was very limited, with more of a mini-bar rather than a fridge. For that reason, I didn’t keep a lot of products like chicken or dairy which needed to be stored in the fridge. So there I was, craving a fully-British Chicken Tikka Masala (which I am fully aware could be defined a British monstrosity that has nothing to do with authentic Indian curries) and unable to find or produce one. In my kitchen I didn’t have much: some chopped tomatoes, coconut milk, a can of beans, and two sweet potatoes. I decided that those would do and that I would try my best to recreate the sweet, aromatic flavour of a Tikka Masala with what I had got. About half an hour later I had made a curry that, albeit not really tasting like a Tikka Masala, was delicious, creamy, comforting and sweet. I had found my go-to curry recipe just like that, by utter chance. Since then, it has become a firm favourite and, in Winter, I make it once a week.
This recipe does not follow the normal curry base you might be used to make. No onions or garlic, to give you an example. Plus, I add the spices twice during the making of this curry – that’s why there are two separate measurements for each spice. In fact, I don’t think this dish has many rights to be called a “curry”, as there is nothing traditional about it. Perhaps curried stew would be more accurate, but amongst my friends and family, we have always called it my curry, and I think I will carry on calling it that for the foreseeable future (sorry!). You can have this amazing dish plain, with some basmati rice and/or some naan (I mean, who said you can’t have them both?), or you can elevate it for a curry night and add poppadoms, mango chutney, and all your favourite trimmings. If you still haven’t planned what to make tonight, I really recommend you give this curry a try!
Ingredients:
Serves 4
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 can of kindey beans
1 can of full-fat coconut milk
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1+ ½ tsp turmeric
½ + ½ tsp cumin
1 + ½ tsp garam masala
1 + 1 tsp mild curry powder
½ + ½ tsp ginger
1 heaped tsp of cornflour (optional)
Olive oil
Salt
Optional add-ons:
Basmati rice
Naan
Poppadoms
Mango chutney
Instructions:
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes in bite-sized cubes. Add them to a heavy-bottom pan, along with a tablespoon of olive oil and ¼ of a glass of water. Add ½ teaspoon of ginger, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of mild curry powder, ½ teaspoon of garam masala, ½ of cumin, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Mix well making sure that the spices are coating all the sweet potatoes chunks. Turn on the heat to medium and cover.
After a minute or so, lift up the lid, stir everything with a wooden spoon and add a further ¼ of a glass of water. Once again cover and cook for another two minutes. By doing this we are lightly steaming the sweet potatoes, speeding up their cooking process. At this point add the chopped tomatoes and the coconut milk. Fill half of one of the two cans with water and add that to the pot as well. Add the remaining spices, stir and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cover, simmering for about 15 minutes.
When the time is up, drain and wash under the tap the kidney beans and add them to the pot. If you want your curry to be on the thicker side, mix one heaped teaspoon of cornflour with about two tablespoons of water and mix thoroughly until you get a paste. Add that to the pot as well and stir well. Cover and simmer for another ten minutes or so.
In the meantime you can boil some basmati rice according to package instructions and/ or heating up some naan, and you’ve got yourself a feast. I normally use store-bought naan but if you can make your own, that would be the bomb.
In the unlikely event you have leftovers, these can be kept in the fridge for about 4 days. The curry also freezes well for about a couple of months. When you want to enjoy it simply defrost it and cook it for about five minutes in a pot before adding any other trimming you might fancy.
Enjoy!
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