Happy Vegan Sweet Potato Curry

Happy Vegan Sweet Potato Curry

To celebrate ‘Vegenary’ I decided to do a vegan dish, its great for the whole family, or just for yourself. There is plenty of flavour with the spices added, and it makes you feel really sated even without meat. Its perfect for the winter months, or added to a salad in the spring and summer.

‘Vegenary’ for those that have not heard of it, is a charity set up that aims to reduce the suffering of animals by encouraging people to go vegan for a month in January.

If you would like to try vegan food, or learn more about it, you can sign up for their free recipes by visiting their website: https://veganuary.com

I love sweet potatoes, they are packed full of vitamin A, C, vitamin B6, potassium, fibre, niacin, vitamins B1 and B2 and phosphorus. They have a bit more fibre than a normal white potato, and a bit less carbohydrate and a lower glycemic index than white potatoes. So they are a good option to help balance your blood sugar compared to white potatoes to help prevent food cravings.

I was inspired by Jamie Oliver’s recipe when making this, you can find his recipe here:

“http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/sweet-potato-white-bean-chilli”

I have changed it a bit, I used borlotti beans instead of cannellini beans, and I added a few extra things like ginger and cardamom, turmeric, and I added garam masala instead of fresh chilli, for a milder curry, so my kids could eat it, as my daughter isn’t big on anything too spicy. I also added Nutritional Yeast but this is optional. Nutritional yeast if you haven’t tried it, is like nutty, cheesy flakes, that you add to dishes and it adds B12 to food, particular important for vegans. I think it enhances this dish and does not impact on the flavour at all, I also garnished with a few pumpkin seeds for some added nutrition, and coriander.

Jamie also put the sweet potato in the oven where as I boiled it first and then added it to the curry. At the time I thought that it would take too long roasting it in the oven, but in hindsight, the flavour would be better and time wise there probably isn’t much in it, so I would try roasting them next time.

Of course I have not adapted the recipe because I am a better cook than Jamie, because I am far from it, he is by far one of my favourite chefs. I think sometimes you just need to adjust recipes so they suit you and your tastes which is what I have done, and I always like to add a little more nutrition extras to a dish where I can. I am glad to say it passed the kids test, and the kids loved it, so a cheap and filling, healthy meal to give the whole family.

I hope you enjoy it, and I would love to hear your versions of the recipe.

Happy Vegan Sweet Potato Curry

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

1 medium/large onion
1 teaspoon grd cinnamon
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ tsp turmeric
8 crushed cardamom seeds (shells discarded)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 small sweet potatoes
1 tin of chopped plum tomatoes
1 x 400g tin borlotti beans or cannellini beans
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
2/3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast (optional)
a handful of fresh coriander
1 dessertspoon Coconut or olive oil for frying

1. Peel and chop the sweet potato into small cubes and boil in a pan of hot water
2. Peel and chop the onion and chop the peppers, set to one side
3. Peel and grate the ginger and set to one side
4. In a hot pan add the oil, and add all the spices, to warm them up just for a minute over a lower heat, being careful not to burn them. Add the ginger and peppers and onions.
5.  Cook for a few minutes allowing all the spices to go into the peppers and onions. Add the beans, tomatoes and the sweet potatoes once cooked through.
6. Cook for about 20 minutes over a low heat, add the nutritional yeast and stir through until dissolved if adding.
7. Squeeze the lime juice over the dish and add the coriander on top to serve. Sprinkle with some pumpkin seeds and serve with rice or quinoa, or anything that you fancy.

I added a brown rice/quinoa mix with this, and it was really tasty. This dish also freezes well, and works well as a hearty lunch to take to work with you. If you like spice, add a chopped fresh chilli to the recipe, and cook with the onions and peppers.