Chickpea Curry with Sweet Potatoes
This Thai-inspired, plant-based, red curry dish comes together easily with pantry staples plus a few fresh ingredients and is worthy of your favorite restaurant curry.
Ingredients
- 1½ tablespoons (22ml) olive, avocado, or coconut oil
- ½ a medium onion (red or yellow), sliced or diced (~1 cup)
- 1 small to medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced (~1 rounded cup)
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger*
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons (45g) Thai red curry paste (I often use Thai Kitchen)
- 2 small/medium sweet potatoes (~1 pound), cut into ½-inch cubes (no need to peel)
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, liquid reserved
- 1 (13- to 14-ounce) can coconut milk (full fat or light as preferred*)
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 ounces fresh spinach (~3 packed cups or 3 large handfuls, roughly chopped)
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) freshly squeezed lime juice (from half a lime, the other half cut into wedges for serving, if desired)
- Optional for serving: hot cooked rice (basmati is a nice option); cashews; and/or chopped fresh cilantro, basil, and/or mint
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onion, and sauté for 3 minutes or until you see a few golden flecks. Add the bell pepper and sauté until beginning to soften, 2-3 minutes more. Stir in the ginger, garlic, and red curry paste and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the sweet potatoes, chickpeas, coconut milk, ½ cup of reserved chickpea liquid (if you forgot to reserve, you can use broth or water), salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer, cover, and then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes. (Tip: To avoid overcooking the potatoes, start checking them for doneness after 7-8 minutes, as total time will depend on size of chop and precise level of heat.)
- Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted–a minute will do it. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice. Serve over rice, as is, or with toppings of choice. (I love cashews for their crunch!)
Notes
Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
*My husband is not a fan of coconut milk or ginger, but he loves this dish. While full-fat coconut milk will provide a thicker, creamier result, when cooking for him, I use light coconut milk, which is somewhat milder in flavor, and reduce the ginger to two teaspoons. It’s enough to hint at the flavor while not putting his tastebuds on alert!
No fresh ginger? It does provide a lovely flavor, but in a pinch, I have used a ½ teaspoon ground ginger.
Prefer more heat? Three tablespoons of Thai Kitchen curry paste will not produce a really spicy dish. (Other curry pastes may provide more.) Feel free to add a pinch (or two or three) of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper if you’d like more heat. Alternatively, you could add a minced jalapeño, serrano, or chili pepper of choice along with the bell pepper.
Mix it up: Not a sweet potato fan? Use Yukon gold or bite-size new potatoes. A variety of other vegetables may be also be used, like carrots, peas, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, baby corn, and bamboo shoots. Additionally, you could use salmon, chicken, or shrimp instead of chickpeas. Just think about cooking time and when certain ingredients should be added.
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