Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry

In Chicago summer has ended and it is well into Fall.  If you didn't know Dad, a Chicago Fall is like the worst Winter in San Diego.  Like, San Diegans would have to drive for hours to somewhere that sells jackets.  It is windy and 47 degrees out now, which isn't as bad as it's been this week and certainly not as bad as it's going to get!

With that in mind, I made a curry dish because my nose and toes are cold and I need to turn off the heat before my roommates get home.  My sometimes vegan friend K let me into her treasure chest of a google doc when she saw I was doing this blog for you.  This Potato Chickpea Curry recipe is from there.  See, even strangers are out there supporting you!

This here is all you need:

I'm not trying to convince you to buy all your stuff at Trader Joe's, but really it is what puts shelter over your youngest child's head.  Just sayin'.

Add yea amounts of spices:

After dumping it all in my big pot (um, ignore the word choice there) I almost set it to simmer and turned on a scary movie:

Looks good right?  But wait!  The potatoes!!!  I peeled and diced them in record time, then also dumped it in the pot.

Whoa that's a lot of potatoes.  Maybe use less than this.  Also maybe dice it smaller than this too.  That way it will maybe take you 45 minutes to simmer it instead of 1.5 hours, which was my experience.

This is super good!  If you want it more saucy (which I kind of did), you might add more coconut milk and spices.

Here's to (me) staying warm!!!.

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Sweet Potato & Chickpea Curry

1 Onion, diced
1Tb minced garlic
1Tb curry powder
Cumin to taste*
Ginger to taste**
1 can Coconut Milk (I used full fat, but you could use a light one)
1 can chickpeas (aka garbanzo), drained and rinsed
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled & diced (you can use russet instead)
1 cup frozen veggie blend

In a large pot, saute onion and garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat until soft.  (I used my last drizzle of EVOO and then some Canola because my roommate likes to suddenly use a ton of it without asking and without replacing it.  But it was her canola oil!  Ha!)  Add curry, cumin and ginger, sauteing for 3 more minutes.  Then add the coconut milk, beans, potatoes and frozen veggies, stirring to combine.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the potatoes are soft.  Adjust seasoning with more cumin & ginger if needed.  I added two pinches of salt and a few dashes of cayenne, then served it over brown rice!

*I used roughly half a tablespoon of cumin
*The recipe just said "ginger", so I grated a couple of teaspoons of fresh ginger.  You could shake a little powdered ginger in there, but you really would have to do it "to taste".