One-Pot Chickpea, Sweet Potato & Spinach Curry
We eat quite a bit of homemade curry in our house. Not the complex, multi-layered curries that take hours to make and are truly delicious, but time-consuming. I make those occasionally (oh the smells they create in the house!), but mostly leave that to the experts and enjoy it as a treat takeaway or meal out.
No, the curries we eat regularly at home are super simple, very quick, and mostly made from ingredients we keep on hand nearly all the time.
I love those recipes, don’t you?
This is my absolute favourite of those curry recipes. Actually, it’s tied with my peanut butter curry, but it’s slightly cheaper and quicker, so tends to feature more often on our meal plans.
All you need is a few cans, a couple of frozen prepped ingredients (although you are welcome to use fresh if you want), and some simple spices.
It takes 20 mins out of your day, and most of that is just occasional stirring and waiting for the sweet potato to cook through.
And kids love it. It is sweet, subtle, mild and creamy. I used to puree a couple of portions this is my food processor and freeze in tiny portions to give to my son when he was weaning – he adored it, and still does. I am blessed that my kids love many healthy foods and are not generally fussy eaters, but neither of them particularly enjoy spice (our son did, but changed his mind when he started to notice his big sister complaining that something was too spicy). This occasionally poses problems for some of my chillies or Mexican dishes if I get a little heavy-handed with the taco seasoning (no amount of sour cream or yogurt is ever enough to salvage it for them!). But both the kids happily eat second or even third helpings of my curries, particularly this one.
This is one of the cheapest meals I know, as well as the quickest, and I love to add it to a meal plan when the grocery shop is starting to get a little expensive. It makes wonderful leftovers heated up the next day for lunch, and is just as delicious mopped up with wholemeal naan as it is over cooked brown rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice, or even on its own.
And it is easily adapted. You can add some cooked meat in if you like (chicken and beef are particularly nice with it), or swap out the veggies for whatever you have on hand. Cauliflower, squash, green beans, celeriac, aubergine or broccoli all work especially well in place of (or as well as) the sweet potato. Peas, mushrooms and peppers make great additions. Spinach can be swapped for any other leafy green like kale or cavolo nero. Chickpeas are a great protein in this, but a tin of cooked green lentils or butter beans are nice alternatives (or use meat or tempeh).
Have fun playing around with this curry and get the kids involved in pouring in tins and stirring the curry – the cooking is simple enough for them and means they are more likely to eat it after having been involved in preparing it!
A super simple, easy, 20 min curry recipe that is kid-friendly, sugar free, vegan, gluten free and delicious. Made from cheap store-cupboard and freezer ingredients.
- 1 tbsp coconut or olive oil
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tbsp garam masala
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 2 sweet potatoes, diced
- 8 serves (or 2 large handfuls) frozen chopped spinach
- 2 tins (400g/14 oz) cooked chickpeas, drained
- 1 tin (400g/14oz) chopped tomatoes or plum tomatoes
- 1 tin (400ml/14 fl oz) coconut milk
- roughly chopped fresh coriander (cilantro), to serve (optional)
- toasted flaked almonds, to serve (optional)
- cooked quinoa (or naan bread, cauli-rice, or brown rice), to serve
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Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Fry the onion for 3-4 mins, until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, spices and sweet potatoes and fry for another 2 mins, then add all of the other ingredients and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for about 15-20 mins, until sauce is thickened slightly and sweet potatoes are soft and cooked. Check and stir regularly to make sure the sauce isn't sticking. If it does start to stick or look too thick, add a little water and keep checking.
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Serve with fresh coriander, flaked almonds and your choice of cooked grain, bread or vegetables.
Hi, you didn’t specify how much water in the instructions where it says bring to boil. Or are we only supposed to bring to boil with coconut milk. If there is water to be added prior to bring to boil. How much water do we add to the pot.
Hi Kay, you just bring the coconut milk and tinned tomatoes (along with the other ingredients) to the boil. If it starts to stick and/or looks too thick, you could add a little water, but in theory it shouldn’t need any! 🙂