I’ve had dishes similar to this in various restaurants over the past few years, but by far the best came from a small vegetarian place in Soho a few weeks ago. My friends mother was dining on it and after trying a forkful I was so jealous I became determined to replicate it, a task I believe I was mostly successful in.
The flavours of this dish are very sweet and mild, and work best with just a slight hint of spice coming through underneath. Likewise, the texture of sweet potato and rice work well with a bit of crunch added to it – I used cashews and would recommend them, but anything similar with a bit of crunch would work very well. The key here is balancing the sweet creaminess with the acidity needed to bring it to life – that’s where the lime comes in.
Ingredients
- Sweet Potato
- Coconut Milk
- Curry Powder
- Ground Coriander
- Chilis
- Cashew nuts (or something similar with a crunch)
- Red Onion
- Crushed Garlic
- Lime/Lemon
- Ghee/Butter (or coconut oil to make this dish vegan)
Method
- Peel your sweet potato and cut into 3cm cubes or so – big enough that one per bite is plenty. Boil until a knife can go through with barely any resistance.
- Drain, coat in butter/oil and a sprinkling of salt. Roast at around 200C until crisp on the outside.
- Finely chop your onion and gently fry in a pan with the butter/coconut oil and a little salt. Continue until the onion is soft but not browned, then add a clove or two of garlic, a couple of sliced chili peppers and a few teaspoons each of curry powder and ground coriander. If you’re not sure of ratios, err on the side of caution and you can adjust later. Fry for a further minute or so.
- Add your coconut milk and stir well. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for as long as it takes for your sweet potato to be ready. Although quite frankly – as with any curry – the longer the better. You could prepare the gravy side of this dish ahead of time and leave in a slow cooker all day if you were really committed!
- Add the chopped cashews and sweet potato and stir through.
Serving
Serve with some aromatic rice or some kind of flat-bread and a slice of lime for that extra acidity. I also reserved some cashews and sweet potato to place on top just so they weren’t lost in the gravy!
