Potato, Chickpea and Butterbean Curry

By Tom and Shona Pickering

Our approach to cooking...

Our approach to cooking is based around taste, convenience and health. So typically, we try to make our meals quite fast and easy, without sacrificing on the healthy qualities that whole plant foods provide.

We tend to cook a lot of ‘one pot meals’, where in we throw everything in a big pot and cook it up with a dose of delicious herbs and spices for flavour. This way we often put about 6 portions of food together in around 15 minutes, which is great when you find yourself pressed for time.

Plant based cooking has really taught us how to be creative in the kitchen, but the best advice we could give is to go with the flow. We’re not professional chefs (in case it wasn’t obvious!) – far from it. Bu that’s the thing, you really don’t need to be in order to cook up delicious wholesome plant based goodness.

There might be times when you want to cook something but you only have half the ingredients available. No problem, just substitute with other ingredients. There might be times where you think you’ve got the measurements wrong, or overdone the spices. No problem, in time you’ll get the hang of it. In fact, we don’t ever measure portions or spices anymore, we’ve just learned how much flavour we need depending on the dish, and often it tastes different to the time before as a result of this, but it’s still always tasty!

I suppose what we’re trying to say is have fun with it. Use these recipes as a starting point then make them your own. These are all quite simple recipes really, but deep down that’s something that all of us seem to have forgotten. The whole foods the planet has provided for us generally provide everything we need.

With that said, it’s time to tuck in!

Who doesn’t love a good curry? This is another fantastic meal for filling you up, and like most of the other one pot meals we cook, it’s very nutrient dense. One serving of this meal will provide you with over 30g of protein and 7 of your 5 a day veggies, so not bad going!

Ingredients

  • Chickpeas
  • Butterbeans
  • Cannellini Beans
  • Potato
  • Mushrooms
  • Green Beans
  • Plum Tomatoes
  • Chopped Tomatoes (tins)
  • Turmeric
  • Cumin
  • Garam Masala
  • Black Pepper
  • Ginger
  • Onion Powder
  • Garlic Powder
  • Smoked Paprika

Instructions

  1. Chop up four medium sized potatoes into small cubes, then put them on a baking tray into a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes on 180 degrees (we use silicone mats to avoid food sticking to baking trays).

  2. After the potatoes have been in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes, add a splash of boiling water to a large pan and place it on the hob (you really don’t need much water to stop the food sticking to the pan – this is how we avoid using oil). Add one cup of chopped green beans, three cups of chopped mushrooms and one cup of plum tomatoes cut in half, and cook on a reasonably high heat, ensuring you’re stirring when necessary. If you run out of water just add another couple of drops.

  3. Rinse one can of chickpeas, butterbeans and cannellini beans and add them to the pan. Cook for a further six or seven minutes, then add one teaspoon of onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika and cumin, along with half a teaspoon of turmeric, garam masala and ginger. Top it off with a sprinkling of black pepper to taste (you can adjust all spices if there’s a preferred flavour you want to bring out).

  4. Stir it up ensuring the spices coat all of the food in the pan. Now add two tins of chopped tomatoes and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for another five minutes.

  5. After the potatoes have had 30 minutes in the oven, add them all to the pan and stir well. Allow to simmer for another five minutes if desired, but if you’re keen to get stuck in you can serve up from there.

  6. This should provide around six portions. You can eat it as it as, add a nice grain to it like quinoa or bulgur wheat, or even stick it in a wholemeal wrap, which is our preferred choice.

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