Warming sweet potato and chickpea curry

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 large red onion, finely diced
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
• 4cm root ginger, finely sliced
• 1 heaped tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder or use 4cm fresh root if you can find it
• 400g tin chickpeas, drained
• 600ml coconut milk
• 500ml vegetable or chicken stock
• 650g sweet potato, diced into
• 4cm cubes
• 300g spinach leaves
• Juice of 2 limes
• Zest of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes

Method

The mix of colours in this dish is enough to make you smile, even before you learn of the goodness packed into it, from magnesium to B vitamins. Using unwaxed, well-washed limes will help reduce your consumption of pesticides. There’s a magic moment when you add what seems like a mountain of spinach only to see it vanish into dark-green strips in the golden mixture.

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the mustard seeds, red onion, garlic, fresh chilli and ginger. Cook on a medium heat for around 8 minutes. If the onions begin to burn, add a little water.

2. Add the curry powder and turmeric and cook for a further 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the chickpeas, coconut milk and stock, and simmer for roughly 10 minutes before adding the sweet potato. Simmer for a further 15-20 minutes with the lid half on, half off.

4. Check the texture. Depending on the desired consistency you can add more coconut milk but be careful not to stir it too much, as the sweet potato will break up easily and go mushy.

5. Once the sweet potato is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and gently stir in the spinach with the lime juice, lime zest and chilli flakes.

6. Serve the curry with brown rice and a little mango chutney.

Copyright Rachel Kelly 2016

The Happy Kitchen: Good Mood Food by Rachel Kelly and Alice Mackintosh is published by Short Books, £14.99

Visit our Indian recipe section for more delicious curry recipes