Sweet Potato, Squash and Chickpea Curry

This vegan creation was a bit of an experiment, but turned out to be delicious! I even managed to convince an avid meat-eater that vegan food can be extremely flavoursome. There are quite a lot of steps so I've tried to make it as clear as possible. It is worth the effort though. This is very hearty and packed with goodness. Give it a go!

Serves 4-6

Equipment:

A large saucepan

A large frying pan

A baking tray

Ingredients:

For the Okra

1 white onion

1 tsp ground cumin

Okra

1 small green chilli

1/4 tsp Garam Masala

Salt and Pepper

For the Curry

Step 1:

1 small Butternut Squash

1 Sweet Potato

Ground Cumin

Salt and Pepper

Step 2:

6 large cloves of Garlic

4 small green chilli's (add more if you like it spicy- I actually used 6)

1 thumb of ginger

Handful of Coriander

Step 3:

1 shallot

Olive Oil

2 cubes of vegetable stock

700 ml water

Large handful Coriander

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C

First prepare the okra dish...

• Cut the okra in half (you want bite sized pieces).

• Finely slice the onion. Fry in the frying pan with some olive oil until golden and soft, stirring constantly.

• Add the cumin, okra and chilli. Give it another stir.

• Season with salt and pepper.

• Sprinkle over some Garam Masala.

• Add a little water- no more than 1-2 teaspoons

• Pop a lid on and cook until the okra is tender but not over-cooked. Take off the heat and put to one side.

Now the curry...

Step 1:

• Chop the sweet potato into cubes. Chop the Squash into quarters.

• Place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with ground cumin, salt and pepper. Mix up with your hands.

• Roast in the pre-heated oven for 30 mins

Step 2:

Meanwhile, make the curry paste...

• Blitz the garlic, chilli, ginger and coriander, to form a rough paste

Step 3:

Putting it all together...

• Make 700 ml of vegetable stock

• Finely chop the shallot

• Drizzle a bit of oil into the large saucepan. Add the shallot and curry paste. Fry until the shallots are soft and the paste fragrant

• Remove the squash from it's skin and add to the pan. Give it a gentle stir.

• Pour in the stock. Stir again.

• Simmer until slightly thickened (you want the squash to disintegrate slightly, to thicken the sauce)

• Add the chickpeas, sweet potato, half of the okra mix and some roughly chopped coriander. Keep on a low simmer and put the lid on. Leave it to cook until thickened and the flavours have developed (10-20 mins)

• Season generously with S+P (I find it needs quite a lot of salt)

Serve with the left over okra and some basmati rice, or a microwaveable packet rice.

I like to garnish it with Coriander, Greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of Chia seeds

All photos in this post are Emerald Kimono originals