Sweet potato and chickpea coconut curry
50 min · 23 g protein · 549 cals / serving
A golden, gently spiced curry of soft sweet potato, cauliflower and chickpeas in a coconut and tomato sauce, thickened with red lentils that melt into it as it simmers. Spinach wilts in at the end and a squeeze of lime brightens the whole pot. Warming without being fiery, and better still the next day.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- a thumb-sized piece ginger, grated
- 1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, 2 cm (3/4-inch) cubes
- 2 cans (15 oz each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 head cauliflower, small florets
- 1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
- 1 can (13.5 oz) light coconut milk
- 1 can (14 oz) canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 2/3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 handfuls baby spinach
- 1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
To serve
- a handful fresh cilantro, chopped
Steps
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion for 6–7 minutes, until soft and golden. Add the garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute more.
- Stir in the curry powder, garam masala, turmeric and pepper flakes for 30 seconds, until fragrant, then the tomato paste for another minute.
- Add the sweet potato, cauliflower, chickpeas, red lentils, coconut milk, crushed tomatoes, broth and salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 25 minutes, stirring often so the lentils do not catch, until the sweet potato and cauliflower are tender and the lentils have dissolved into a thick sauce.
- Stir in the spinach until it wilts, then the lime juice. Taste for salt and serve with cilantro on top.
Good to know
What should I serve with it?
Basmati rice or warm naan are the classics; about 1/2 cup of cooked rice per person is plenty with a curry this thick. Cauliflower rice works too.
Full-fat coconut milk?
It makes the sauce richer and silkier, and adds about 150 calories per serving: a score of about 47 instead of 61. Light coconut milk plus the red lentils still gives a creamy sauce.
Pumpkin or squash instead of sweet potato?
Yes, butternut squash or pumpkin cubes cook in the same time and make a slightly lighter, sweeter curry, at about the same score.
Per
- Calories
- 90
- Protein
- (17%)
- 4 g
- Fat
- (28%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (55%)
- 14 g
- of which sugar
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 4 g
- Sodium
- 208 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2196 kcal goes into the pot and 2950 g of ingredients comes out as about 2450 g of food: 90 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.