The weather has taken a turn for the worst here in London, grey skies rain, thunder and lightening. I don’t know about you but I find this really affects how I feel and what I want to eat. I don’t want cold food, what I want is vibrant, hot food that warms the belly and mind.
This recipe ticks all those boxes, and had another benefit of using stuff up! I’d done my usual of not checking or looking at size so ended up with a shit ton of fresh ginger (pic below!) and a load of sweet potatoes that had been hanging around for a few weeks. With everything happening in the world the last few months I’ve been really conscious of not wasting food – its been like my own personal challenge to try to find ways to use everything up, some dishes have worked, some not so much! I’d be interested to know any of your weird and wonderful food food combos!
This I hope is one of my better chuck it in and see what happens recipes, enjoy!
Method:
Serves: 4 – 6
Cooking Time: 1 – 1:30
Ingredients:
- 1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
- 2 Cloves of garlic
- 2-4 chillies depending how hot you like it, and either deseeded or not! Finely chopped
- Large chunk of fresh ginger (about 2 tablespoons) peeled and finely diced or grated
- 200 grams chana dal – you can also use other lentils if you like – make sure you rinse thoroughly under cold water before use
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cardamon pods
- 1 x can half fat coconut milk
- 1 x tablespoon rapeseed/vegetable oil
- 500 ml vegetable stock
- 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1kg of sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into 1cm chunks
- Handful chopped fresh coriander (omit if you don’t like!)
- Serve with rice
1 . Fill your kettle and boil, make up your stock and pour it into a saucepan and add your chana dal – bring to the boil and simmer for about 30-40 minutes, as it cooks you’ll need to skim off the froth that forms – don’t worry too much just get the main froth off
2. While your dal is cooking, heat the oil in a non-stick, lidded wok or frying pan and add your onion, ginger and chilli and fry on a medium heat for around 10 minutes until translucent and softened. Add the garlic – I use a crusher or you can finely chop and fry for another minute, then add the spices and stir fry until you can smell them. Add your tinned tomatoes and with a spoon stir into the spice and onion mix, make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to get up any of the delicious stuck residue.
3. Add your coconut milk (shake the can before opening!) for both the coconut milk and tinned tomatoes you can take a large spoonful of the veg stock to rinse out anything stuck in the cans and tip into the main curry mix. Add your sweet potatoes and some of the stock in the chana dal pan (leave enough to cover the dal so it continues cooking). Bring to the boil and simmer – put the lid on so that not too much liquid evaporates.
5. Taste a bit of your chana dal to see if its near cooked – it should be a bit al dente, if its ready drain reserving the vegetable stock. At the chana dal to your sweet potato mix and some of the vegetable stock if you feel it needs more liquid. Cook until everything is softened adding more stock if you need. Taste and season with salt and pepper, maybe a squeeze of lime if you need a bit of sharpness. Stir in the fresh coriander. Serve with rice and/or naan bread, flatbreads (if you’ve got sourdough starter you can make some quick ones to have with this)
palmernoms 