sweet potato curry

In the spirit of eating close to home and supporting my local community, I have met some pretty awesome folks along the way. Ever since my experiment to eat ingredients only grown and produced within a 200 mile radius of my home a few years ago (you can read all about that in my latest cookbook Local Dirt) I found a lovely woman who owns and operates Golden Elixer Ghee Co. just outside of Portland. Her ghee is delicious and is made from local, grass- fed organic butter. She also makes wonderful spice mixes and I ordered a little tin of her curry a while back. I've been meaning to whip up something with that tin of curry for a while now and after looking through my fridge and gathering some local veggies from our farm and neighboring farms I whipped this lovely little meal up. This soup really hit the spot because the weather has been so dreary and nothing seems to brighten my spirits more than a bright orange, spicy, sweet and comforting bowl of soup. This may not by the most authentic bowl of curry (I mean I threw in a handful of kale for god-sake!) but I really tried to use what I could find local to me and the kale at the farm is looking really good right now. This soup gets better with age and we loved it two nights in a row. Feel free to serve it as is (which is how we did on night one) or serve it spooned over rice (which we did on night two). I hope you all enjoy this curry as much as we do. Happy soup making season everyone.  

Sweet Potato Curry

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons ghee (or another cooking fat)
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger
  • 3 tablespoons good quality curry powder (such as Madras)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 large sweet potato, cubed into bite size pieces (no need to peel)
  • 1 1/2 cups water or veggie broth + more to thin as needed
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 2 cups  finely chopped kale
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Preparation

  1. Heat a large pot over medium high heat and add the ghee. Once melted add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soften. About 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, curry, cayenne and a fat pinch of salt. Cook for one minute longer. Add the sweet potato and toss to coat in the spice mixture.
  2. Add the water and whole milk and bring to a simmer. Once simmering add the honey and peas. Season the mixture with more salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
  3. Use an immersion blender (or transfer half the mixture to a stand blender) and puree half of the soup. Add the kale to the pot and give everything a good stir. Keep at a low simmer until the kale has wilted and become tender, about 5 minutes longer. If the soup seems too thick, add a little more water, broth or milk to thin as desired. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed (I added more cayenne, salt and pepper).
  4. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and enjoy.

Notes

*Use this recipe as a guide and adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary. Use any type of green in place of the kale and coconut in place of whole milk for a dairy free option

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