Gavins Chickpea and Potato Curry

As I wrote previously, eating less meat helps reduce your carbon footprint. So, in no more than four minutes after my “ZFW – Food” post hit the web, that I received a request for my Chickpea and Potato Curry (thanks Anita).

Now this recipe is my own creation, so excuse the vagueness in the instructions. Ben calls this dish Bombay Potatoes and it is his favourite vegetarian meal. I find that because it has an exotic name, Ben thinks it is cool and eats every last morsel.

Gavin’s Chickpea and Potato Curry 

Serves about 6.

• 800gm re-hydrated and cooked Chickpeas, or two 400gm tins of chickpeas.
• 500gm Potatoes, peeled and diced into 2cm cubes
• 300gm Sweet Potato, peeled and diced into 2cm cubes
• 1 Brown Onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 400ml Light Coconut Milk
• 750ml Vegetable Stock, (I use 3 veggie stock cubes)
• 1 tablespoon Curry powder
• 3-4 tablespoons Curry paste (your choice of flavour and according to taste)
• 2 tablespoons Ghee or vegetable oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste. 

1. Heat the Ghee/oil in a large wok and add onion and garlic. Cook until translucent.

2. Add curry paste and curry powder and combine well and cook for a further minute.

3. Add both types of potatoes, mix and cook for a further 3 minutes until all the potatoes are coated with the curry mixture.

4.  Add the coconut milk and vegetable stock, stir well and bring to the boil. Taste to see if anymore seasoning is required and add a little salt and pepper to taste. 

5.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 25 minutes, stirring twice. You will know when it is done, when the sauce has thickened and the potatoes are soft and break apart.

Now I know that it is very hard to get coconut milk made in Australia, but I have seen it around. I have substituted light evaporated milk for the coconut milk once, and it tasted OK. You can also substitute butternut pumpkin for the sweet potato if it is not in season. Either way, it is a low carbon footprint meal if you can buy mainly local ingredients.

As I said yesterday, this meal is a family favourite. I serve it with basmati rice, pompadums and some of my home made brinjali (eggplant) pickles. It goes down a treat and is not very spicy, just a very, very tasty curry.

Bon Appetite!