This sweet potato and coconut milk stew is a glowing shade of orange with vibrant pops of green from kale and cilantro. We use lots of chili and ginger in this stew, along with a bunch of other spices. The flavour profile, spice combination, and recipe itself is inspired by Indian cuisine as well as Thai coconut milk-based curries. You get sweetness, spice, earthy vibes, creaminess, texture from the lentils, and a squeeze of lime rounds everything out.
Notes
- Coconut milk is naturally sweet and so are sweet potatoes (obviously). I like to go in with a lot of dried chili to balance things out, but of course add as much as you feel comfortable with.
- Chard or mustard greens would also be delicious in place of the kale.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 medium yellow onion - small dice
- ½-1 teaspoon dried chili flakes - (I use Diaspora Co's ground Guntur Sannam Chillies)
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2-inch piece fresh ginger - peeled and minced
- 3 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
- sea salt - to taste
- ground black pepper - to taste
- 1½ pounds sweet potatoes - peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces, (690 grams)
- ½ cup brown lentils - picked over
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 13.5 ounce can full fat coconut milk - (400 ml)
- 1 small bunch kale - stems removed and leaves chopped (about 4 cups chopped kale)
- chopped cilantro, extra chili flakes, lime wedges, nigella seeds - to garnish
Instructions
Sauté the aromatics:
- Heat a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the coconut oil to the pot and let it melt.
- Add the onions to the pot and stir. Saute the onions, stirring occasionally, until translucent and quite soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the chili flakes, coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Saute the spices until very fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the ginger and garlic to the pot and cook for another minute.
- Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
Cook the sweet potatoes and lentils:
- Add the sweet potatoes to the pot and stir to coat in the spices.
- Add the lentils to the pot and stir once more.
- Season everything liberally with salt and pepper.
- Add the vegetable stock and stir, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Place the lid on top of the pot and bring to a boil.
- Once the stew is boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and set the lid slightly askew on top of the pot so that there’s a couple inches available for steam to escape.
- Simmer until the sweet potatoes are almost falling apart and the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. The liquid should also be reduced by almost a third.
Finish and serve:
- Add the coconut milk and kale to the pot and stir.
- Place the lid on top and continue to simmer the stew until the kale is wilted and bright green, about 3-4 minutes.
- Season the sweet potato and coconut milk stew again with salt and pepper.
- Bring the stew back up to a strong simmer and check for seasoning. Adjust with more salt, pepper, chili etc. if necessary.
- Serve the sweet potato and coconut milk stew hot with chopped cilantro, extra chili flakes, lime wedges, and Nigella seeds (if using).