Butternut, sweet potato and chickpea curry

This is another plant-based recipe brought to you by a reader request. Ok ok, to be fair she did not ask for a plant-based recipe, but a recipe for frozen butternut. I took the liberty to share another one of my favourite plant-based recipes.

This curry is so easy to make and it is just so full of flavour. The best part about it is, the longer you keep it the more the flavours infuse, so it is good for a weekly meal plan.

Ingredients used in the recipe make for a perfectly filling and flavourful lunch. The main ingredients; sweet potato, butternut squash and chickpeas will give you a balance of protein and starch. Additionally, they all bring different textures to the dish.

I hope you enjoy making and eating it as much as I do!

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash or 2 cups of butternut cubes from frozen
• 1 small sweet potato
• 1 can or 1 ½ cups of chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon of coconut or olive oil
• 1 cup full of chopped coriander leaves (also chop and put stalks aside)
• 2 teaspoons of curry powder (use heat level that is good for you, I use Robertsons Rajah brand in “flavourful and mild”) or 1 teaspoon of Thai curry paste
• 1 large stalk of lemongrass or two small ones
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 thumb of ginger
• 1 medium sized red onion, chopped
• ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon turmeric (reads, sprinkle liberally, I do. I love turmeric!)
• 1 can of coconut milk
• ½ cup of warm water

Preparations

• Peel and grate ginger and garlic
• If you are starting with a whole butter nut squash, peel and cut into even sized cubes/triangles, whatever tickles your fancy.
• Peel and cut sweet potato into even sized cubed (same as butternut)
• Drain and rinse canned chickpeas
• Bruise lemon grass by hitting in with the butt of you knife, this helps to release the flavours once it’s in the pot.

Method

• Starting from medium heat, put 1 tablespoon of coconut/olive oil in a deep pan. Add onion, garlic, ginger, coriander stalks, salt and all spices (sans lemongrass, this will go in later). Mix them up well and let them cook for about a minute and a half.
• Throw in the cubed vegetables and chickpeas and toss them around until evenly coated in the spices. Lower the heat and let it cook for five minutes, turning often to avoid burning or sticking.
• Add the coconut milk (only pour the milk in, throw away or use the oil for another purpose), warm water, ¾ of the coriander leaves and lemon grass stalks. Allow to simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
• You are done! Remove lemon grass stalks before serving and use the remaining coriander as garnish

This recipe makes three generous servings, but you can easily double the ingredients in this recipe to make twice as much.

For your meal prep you can pack this into three containers and put them in the freezer. I normally leave the lemongrass in, so that the flavour keeps infusing until I am ready to eat it.

Serving suggestion: I usually eat this just the way it is, because it is so filling. But traditionally curries are served with rice, bread or noodles.