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Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Spinach Curry

Comforting sweet potato and chickpea curry with spinach in a creamy coconut and tomato curry sauce. Easy to make and packed with flavour and spice!

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry

A healthy, wholesome and filling vegan curry to fill your bellies with! Chunks of sweet potato, chickpeas and spinach wrapped in the most delicious homemade creamy curry sauce.

There is nothing better than a one pot curry recipe, no need to turn on your oven all you need is a saucepan!

You can add in any greens you like, spinach or kale are my go to and are a great way of getting greens in!

This sweet potato and chickpea curry is great for all the family. You can add extra chilli as you desire and keep it milder (but still packed with flavour) for those who like less heat.

Tomato Curry Paste

There is nothing better than making homemade curry sauces. You can adjust the heat and they are so much fresher and tastier!

This recipe is of course inspired by Indian cuisine but this curry paste is not based on an authentic Indian recipe and is instead my adaption of a creamy tomato curry.

One of the most popular recipes on my site is my roasted butternut squash and chickpea curry so this is inspired from that!

Sweet potato is a great vegetable to add when you want a something filling but nutritious.

Sweet Potato Chickpea and Spinach Curry

What you’ll need for sweet potato and chickpea curry:

  • Coconut oil
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Ginger
  • Curry powder
  • Garam masala
  • Ground Cumin
  • Cumin seeds
  • Ground turmeric
  • Chill powder
  • Chopped tomatoes
  • Coconut milk
  • Vegetable stock
  • Sweet potato
  • Chickpeas
  • Salt and pepper

It may seem like a long list but most of these ingredients are already in your pantry! And if they aren’t then they should be!

chopped sweet potato

We are using curry powder for a quick way to get a range of flavour into the dish. Again it’s not an authentic ingredient but it is a great spice mix.

Make sure you use full fat coconut milk not the lighter version, it isn’t as thick or rich in flavour.

You want to use two medium sized sweet potatoes. They are going to get cooked in the curry making this a one pot dish. However if you do want to roast it (extra flavour!) you can do this and then add to the curry at the end, just leave out 300ml of water/stock.

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry

How to make sweet potato and chickpea curry:

Start by heating coconut oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add finely chopped onion, fry for a few minutes then add garlic and ginger.

Then add the spices and fry for 20 seconds until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and let simmer for around 5 minutes. Transfer to a jug and blend with a hand blender until smooth (this is optional, if you like a chunkier curry then feel free to skip this step!).

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry

Pour the mixture back into the pan along with the coconut milk, vegetable stock and cubed sweet potato.

Mix and bring to a gentle simmer and leave to cook for 25-30 minutes until the sweet potato is soft through.

Add the chickpeas and cook for a further few minutes. Add the washed spinach and stir through until wilted.

Taste and season with salt and pepper and top with fresh coriander and fresh chilli if desired. Serve with some fluffy basmati rice, naan and my favourite onion bhajis!

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry

For more curry recipes you may enjoy these:

Cauliflower and chickpea curry

Roasted aubergine and chickpea curry

Potato and chickpea curry

Roasted butternut squash and chickpea curry


As always if you make this vegan sweet potato and chickpea curry be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

Don’t forget to follow along on FacebookPinterest and Instagram – I’d love to see you all there!


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Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry #sweetpotato #chickpea #spinach #curry #vegan

Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Spinach Curry

Yield: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

This one pot sweet potato, chickpea and spinach curry is packed with flavour and perfectly comforting. With a creamy coconut tomato curry sauce it's vegan and gluten free!

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 red onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • Thumb sized piece of ginger
  • 1 tbsp curry powder, medium
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 1/4 tsp hot chilli powder
  • 1 tin (400ml/14oz) chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tin (400ml/14oz) coconut milk
  • 475ml / 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 2 medium-large sweet potatoes (about 500g/17.5oz)
  • 1 tin (400g/14oz) chickpeas
  • 4 handfuls baby spinach
  • Salt and pepper

To top

  • Fresh coriander

Instructions

  1. Heat coconut oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add finely chopped onion and fry for a few minutes until softened.
  2. Add finely chopped garlic and ginger and cook for a further minute.
  3. Add all the spices - curry powder, garam masala, cumin, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and turmeric. Fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
  4. Add the chopped tomatoes and let simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer to a pyrex jug and blend with a hand blender until smooth. You can skip this step if you like it chunkier but this will make for a beautifully smooth curry sauce.
  5. Transfer back to the pan along with the coconut milk and vegetable stock. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1 inch pieces and add to the curry too.
  6. Bring to a gentle simmer and leave to cook for 25-30 minutes until sweet potato is soft through. If you need to add a bit more water for the sweet potato you can do so.
  7. Add the chickpeas and cook for a couple more minutes and add the washed spinach in the last minute. Stir through until wilted.
  8. Serve and top with fresh coriander and extra chilli if desired.

Notes

Make sure to use full fat coconut milk, not a lighter version. You won't get the same thickness and richness.

You can leave the spinach out or sub for another leafy green.

If you like it spicy, you can add more chilli powder.

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Did you make this recipe?

Let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram @cupfulofkale

Matthew

Monday 5th of August 2024

This was lovely.

I'm a "magpie" cook, I guess all people who cook a lot do it!

We lift ideas from other recipes.

But this one, my experience told me to follow it very closely and learn some new tricks.

The right blend and amount of spices in a curry can be quite difficult. Some spices are more forgiving than others. I really like the blend you have in this recipe.

I often reach for cardamon and a hint of clove, but both can overpower if you aren't careful. I kept them away!

The only thing I added was half a chopped chilli - a mild one - just because I had half that would go to waste if left - and because I prefer fresh chilli to chilli powder.

My sweet potato took considerably longer to soften in the coconut/stock/tomato/spice mixture - 40 minutes - but I did expect this to be a possibility. I also do like it when potato thickens a sauce - that natural slow breakdown of the edges of potato that imparts yummy thickening.

I'm not sure how true it is, but I've read that tomato can slow down the cooking/softening time of potato?

Either way, an absolute winner of a dish.

I have absolutely TONS left over, as I just cooked for me and my wife, so that'll be lunch tomorrow for both of us.

Thanks, top recipe, learned lots!

Tamsin

Monday 2nd of September 2024

Hi Matthew, thank you so much for your comment. I am so glad you enjoyed it and had some leftovers to enjoy the next day too! Tamsin xo

Nicole

Tuesday 24th of October 2023

Love this! Still come back to this recipe years later - I always make sure to add tons of spinach, thank you ⭐️

Tamsin

Tuesday 24th of October 2023

Hi Nicole, awww that makes me so happy! So glad you enjoy it so much :) Tamsin xo

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