Copy-Cat Sweet Potato Curry Recipe

A few weeks ago, before everything and everyone got locked into self quarantine,  my husband  decided he had a craving for seafood, and whisked us  off to a seafood buffet restaurant he had seen advertised on the internet

As soon as we got there, he spotted a sign that said that the  Daily Special was  Prime Rib.  That apparently sounded even better to him than fish so he order a 12 oz plate of PM.  I,on the other hand was eyeing  their vegan curry special, which sounded a whole lot more appealing to me than any of their  fire roast flesh  entrees,  so I wound up ordering;   "Sweet potato and vegetable coconut-curry - topped with a roasted cauliflower 'steak 

It didn't take long for either of our entrees to arrive.  I could smell the warm rich  Indian spices in the curry before before I even set eyes on my meal.  It smelled like  what I would imagine Nirvana smells.  One mouthful and I was in heaven.  This was definitely a dish I had to try to make at home!  

The restaurant's menu had listed the major vegetables in the dish (sweet potatoes, eggplant, onions garlic, carrots, and broccoli leaves)  and I could tell from the taste and texture that those  vegetables had been simmered until fork tender in a  broth thickened with dal (brown lentils).  I cook a lot of  Indian dishes so I was pretty confident that I had the spices needed on hand. All that I needed to do was to figure out the cooking times for the different layers of vegetables within the dish.  

The order for everyone to practice to minimize travel came down shortly after we visited the restaurant.  While the stay home order  has caused me to cancel a lot of other activities that I had planned,  it has also given  me lots of extra time to cook to try  recreating this delightful meal.  Fortunately before going into self- isolation , I had time to make one last grocery run, and made sure to get any of the ingredients I thought I might need to make this curry.  The meal came out perfect on the first attempt, and as it turns out,  was no more complicated or time consuming to make than spaghetti with homemade meatballs in an marinara sauce made from scratch.

Below is the recipe for anyone who wants to try making it themselves:

CC's Copy-Cat Sweet Potato Curry Recipe ( Makes (Four) 1 cup Servings

Ingredients:

Fresh

• 1 small eggplant ( I used (1) ) 5 " long  x 3" thick Italian globe eggplant)
• 1 small Zucchini (mine was about 5" long)
• 1 carrot (mine was about 6" long)
• Outer green leaves of 12 Brussels sprouts  ( I purchased a 12 oz grab and steam bag, cut each sprout in half, removed the outer leaves  for use in this recipe, and put the tender hearts back in the bag in the bag to save for a future dish
• 1 medium brown onion
• 3 - 4 garlic cloves

Wet ingredients

• 2 cups of vegetable  broth  or coconut milk   (OR , if you are not a veterinarian you could use chicken or beef broth)  I used Vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons of  vegetable based oil  for sauteing the vegetables Or, if you are not a vegetarian you could use butter. (I used Chosen Blend Brand's  Avocado / coconut oil blend )
• Optional 2 tablespoons honey

Dry ingredients 

• 1/2 cup of dal ( Brown lentils)
• ( For the Seasonings)
• 2 tablespoon of  store bought Garam masala powder   or optionally make your own ( See below)
• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger 
• 1 teaspoon green or yellow dry curry
• salt and pepper

Directions

1) Peel the skins off from all the  fresh vegetables and chop the all the vegetable flesh  into 1/4 " cubes.

2) Put 1/2 cup of brown lentils in a crock pot along with 2 cups of you broth liquid of choice. Add 1 teaspoon of curry powder to the broth.  Put the ceramic crock pot into your microwave and heat on high for three to five minutes so that the liquid is preheated to  a simmer, the putting the ceramic pot back into the crock pot's  heating unit, cover it with a lid, and turn the crock pot element to high.  You can just stick the broth and lentils into the crock pot without the microwave  preheat,but this extra step will reduce the overall cooking time considerably.


3) Optionally if you are making your own garam masala  do so now as follows..
Garam Masala ingredients:  

• 1/2  tablespoon cumin seed
• 1 teaspoon cardamon pods 
• 2" cinnamon sick 
• 1/2 black teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves buds
• 1/4  teaspoon cayenne   or kashmiri pepper corns

Grind all the spices with a ninja  blender or a coffee mill  ( or if you are really adventurous you could use a mortar and pestle) then mix all ground spices together in a small bowl wi. Whether you use store bought garam masala or your own  home-made  blend, bump up the flavor and fragrance by lightly toasting the amount called for in a dry skillet, over a medium heat, stirring until fragrant and lively e.g. the amount to toast for this recipe would be 2 teaspoons.

5) After toasting the spice, scoop the toasted spice into a small clean jar with a tight fitting lid but do not clean the dust out the skillet. 

6 Add two tablespoons of oil to the  skillet and begin sauteing the 1/4 chopped onions and ( diced) garlic until they are soft.  Add  cooked onions and garlic to lentils and broth.

7 Add  sweet potatoes and carrots to skillet  sprinkle with ginger, salt,pepper, and pan roast over a medium high heat  while stirring for about 5 - 10 minutes ( until the cubes are a little tender and looking a slightly carmelized . Add cooked sweet potatoes and carrots to lentils and broth.

8 Repeat step 7 with the eggplant and zucchini but use 1/2  tsp curry powder instead of ginger.  Add cooked eggplant  and zucchini to lentils and broth.

9 Add 1 more tablespoon of the garam masala  to the lentils and broth. Leave  1 tablespoon for the spice in the skillet.  Set your crockpot's timer/temperature setting s to simmer cook for 4 hours.

10 at about 3 and a half hours into the cooking process it is time to taste test the  stew .  Are all the vegetables soft enough to pierce with a fork?  Good! That means the stew is nearly ready to eat.  But first a few final touches. Curry's  should always be adjusted to your individual taste preferences .   If it seems too thick add some water or coconut milk,  or  if would you like it sweeter, add a tablespoon of  honey ,  or add more salt or more spices etc

11 After you have the seasonings adjusted, stir in the  broccoli leaves pressing them down into the stew mix so that they are submerged and continue to cook for another half hour  until the leaves are dark green and soft.  Once the all the veggies are soft it is ready to be served.

Comments:

I cooked this dish using a skillet and a crockpot because those are the kitchen tools I am most familiar with using.  It could be equally well made with a skillet and a stew pan, on the stove top; you would just have to watch it more carefully so that the pot didn't burn.  Or, if you are familiar with cooking an Instapot (which I am not), you could probably adapt the recipe to cook the entire recipe in the Instapot.

If you are a vegetarian you can serve this over rice, or put a piece of  grilled garlic bread or toast with cashew butter on top of the stew.   If you are a carnivore, this would go well with a ground chicken, lamb, or beef burger. But fair warning it is really filling so don't let your eyes get bigger than your stomach.

The version of this dish I tried at the restaurant was VERY VERY Sweet, and I did not taste any coconut flavor in my meal. Bruce and I prefer savory curries, so I didn't add any honey to my recipe   It is not unusual for Indian food to vary considerably in the strength of individual ingredients even in the same classic dish , which is why I suggested you taste test your meal and  feel free to add  honey or coconut if  you like those flavors.

However you go about making it.  I guarantee this dish is worth the effort.

Extras will store well in the freezer in a zip-lock bag with all the air pressed out.