Creamy Chickpea & Sweet Potato Curry
Serves 5-6 normal eaters; up to 10 birdlike ones; or 1 MegaEater
Takes approx 1.5-2 hours but with around 45 mins downtimeIngredients
1 large yellow onion
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 tablespoons ground coriander
10 cloves
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (I would have used at least double this, but Mr N is a lightweight when it comes to spicy food)
5 cloves garlic (adjust to taste - I would have put in about 10 but I thought that the sight of my chopping that many cloves might have freaked my guests out)
A little water
2 cans diced tomatoes
1.5-2 cans chickpeas (amount depends on how much you like chickpeas, and how big your local chickpea supplier's containers happen to be)
2 sweet potatoes
Sugar
Salt
1 can coconut cream
Method
1. Dice the onion (doesn't have to be small - a rough dice will do).
2. Cut the garlic into small pieces, or use a garlic mincer. Keep it separate from the onion.
3. Measure out the spices (cumin, termeric, coriander, clove heads, chilli flakes) into a small container of some sort. Crush the clove heads between your fingers and throw the pointy stick bit away. (Don't be tempted to put the cloves into the pot - they taste gross if you get them in your mouth during the eating process, and will entirely put you off your meal. If you don't trust me, go ahead. Just try it once. You'll see what I mean. If you're still tempted, make sure you are the Brian Cox of the cooking world and are really good at looking for tiny particles in a superheated environment, as this skill will come in handy when you have to pluck them out individually.)
4. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, pan, or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2 mins, until translucent. Add some more oil if it's looking dry.
5. Add the garlic and the spices and cook for a further two minutes.
6. Put in a little water to give you time to open the tins of tomatoes without the spices burning to the bottom. (If you are awesome, which I am not, you will have these prepared ahead of time, but I always forget. I am preparing you for the eventuality that you are not perfect which, even if not borne out in this cooking session, is likely to bite you in the arse at some point during your life.)
7. Open the tins of tomatoes and chickpeas. Add to the pot and mix.
8. Add a bit of sugar and salt - around a tablespoon of the former and a teaspoon of the latter.
9. Attend pot until mixture is bubbling, then turn heat to low and leave for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure it is not sticking, and adding a little water if it is.
10. During the time that the curry is cooking, dice your sweet potatoes (sounds like a gangster metaphor, but isn't). Cook in the method of your choosing. I have always favoured the "slap it in the microwave in a big bowl with some water and cook it for random amounts of time until its soft" method, but tonight I slow roasted the diced pieces in the oven until they were cooked and a little shrivelled, and I found it helped the sweet potato keep its shape a little more once added to the curry, so if you can be bothered, I would do it. You could do this any time in the hour that the curry is cooking - the pieces don't have to be piping hot when they go into the curry.
11. After about an hour (to be honest, apart from having to add water as the liquid burns off, you can pretty much cook a curry as long as you like), add the sweet potato and the coconut cream. Stir for a while until the pot heats up again (you may like to turn up the heat slightly). If you're going to serve with rice, now is the time to make the rice.
12. Taste test: does it need more salt or sugar? Add this now and cook for another 5-10 minutes if it does. Otherwise...
13. Serve and eat!
Delicious with: mango chutney, plain unsweetened yoghurt, naan bread, Mr N's special yellow rice (recipe to come)
*here is a pretend picture of this meal because I forgot to take one, but rest assured it looked delicious*
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