This Chickpea and Sweet Potato Coconut Curry is one of my family’s favourite weeknight dinners. It’s hearty, warming, bursting with flavour, and packed with nutritional goodness to nourish both body and soul. Easy to prepare and budget-friendly at just £1 per portion, it’s a recipe you’ll want to come back to again and again!
This recipe is part of my 3 Healthy Meals for £3 a Day series, perfect for students and anyone seeking cheap, easy, and delicious plant-based meals.
Ingredient Cost Breakdown
- ½ medium onion (60g) (Tesco) – 6p
- 2 tsp minced garlic (Very Lazy Chopped Garlic) – 6p
- 5 mushrooms (100g) (Tesco) – 30p
- 1 medium sweet potato (200g) (Tesco) – 24p
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (Tesco) – 4p
- 1 tsp ground cumin (East End) – 2p
- 1 TBSP curry powder (Tesco) – 10p
- 2 TBSP tomato puree (Tesco Growers Harvest) – 10p
- 480 ml / 2 cups vegetable stock (Marigold bouillon powder) – 16p
- 400ml / 14 oz can chickpeas (Tesco) – 49p
- 50g / 2 oz creamed coconut (Pride) – 25p
Serve with:
- 120g / ⅔ cup brown rice (Tesco) – 17p
Total cost: £1.99
Cost per serving: £1.00
Prices listed are for November 2024, sourced from Tesco where I currently do my main grocery shop.
The Good Stuff
This curry is packed full of nutritional goodness:
✨ Onions are rich in antioxidant flavonoids, such as quercetin, as well as vitamins and fibre which support immune health, heart health and have anti-inflammatory properties.
✨ Garlic is rich in sulfur-containing compounds like allicin, which have potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune-boosting properties.
✨ Mushrooms are rich in B vitamins, selenium, copper, and antioxidants, which support immune function and brain health.
✨ Sweet potatoes are a great source of complex carbs, fibre, and vitamins A, C, and B6, supporting immune function, eye health, and digestive health.
✨ Curry spices (including cumin, coriander, paprika and turmeric) provide antioxidants that aid digestion, heart health, and reduce inflammation.
✨ Tomato puree contains lycopene, an antioxidant that promotes heart health and has anti-inflammatory properties.
✨ Chickpeas are a great plant-based protein, with fibre and essential nutrients like folate, iron, and magnesium, for heart health and blood sugar regulation.
✨ Brown rice is a whole grain, rich in fibre, magnesium and B vitamins, supporting heart health and energy metabolism.
Top Tips & FAQs
What is creamed coconut?
Creamed coconut is made of 100% coconut and comes in a solid block (not to be confused with coconut cream which comes in a tin or tetra pak). In UK supermarkets, it’s usually found in the world food aisles (in the Indian, Thai and African Caribbean sections).
Here’s why I prefer to use creamed coconut in my curries…
- It’s purely made from coconut, unlike many coconut milk products that contain additives like ‘Polysorbate 60’.
- I only need about 50g (¼ of a 200g block) to achieve a rich, creamy texture, reducing the fat and calorie content compared to a full can of coconut milk.
- It works out far cheaper. The creamed coconut costs just 25p, while a quality can of coconut milk without additives can cost over £1.00.
Can I recommend a brand of creamed coconut?
My current favourite is Pride, which has a lovely consistency and is available at Tesco for £1 for a 200g block. In other brands, I’ve found there can be some separation between the cream and coconut oil in the block (you’ll notice this if one end of the block is bright white and softer). It’s the creamy coloured, hard section of the block that we want to use in our curries.
Recipe Card
Chickpea & Sweet Potato Coconut Curry
Ingredients
- ½ TBSP oil
- ½ medium onion (60g) finely chopped
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 5 mushrooms (100g) finely chopped
- 1 medium sweet potato (200g) peeled and cut into 2cm / ¾ inch cubes
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 TBSP curry powder I use mild
- 2 TBSP tomato puree (paste)
- 480 ml / 2 cups vegetable stock (broth)
- 400 ml / 14 oz can chickpeas in water rinsed and drained*
- ¼ tsp salt
- 50 g / 2 oz creamed coconut** chopped into small pieces
Serve with:
- 120 g / ⅔ cup uncooked brown rice or 360g / 2⅓ cups cooked rice***
Suggested accompaniments:
- Flatbreads such as chapatti, roti or naan
- Finely chopped spinach or coriander leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it starts to soften and become translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and chopped mushrooms.
- When the mushrooms start to release their liquid, stir in the spices (smoked paprika, cumin, curry powder) and tomato puree. Cook for 1 minute to allow the flavours to deepen.
- Add the sweet potato cubes and stir to coat in the spices. If they start to stick to the pan, add a splash of water.
- Add the vegetable stock, chickpeas and salt, and bring to a gentle boil. Cover with a lid (leave it open a crack to allow the steam to escape) and cook for 20 minutes, or until the sweet potato is tender.
- Stir in the creamed coconut and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly (it will thicken as it cools). Taste test and adjust the seasoning to suit. Arrange in bowls with rice and optional garnish, and it’s ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition breakdown
N.B. The above values are estimates and for illustration purposes only. The actual nutritional values will vary depending on the specific ingredients used. The % Reference Intake (RI) will also vary depending on your age, gender, height, BMI, level of activity and other personal variables.
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If you make this curry, I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations. Tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I’d love to see them! You can also connect with me on my social media channels here: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.
With love,
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Vegan Night at Bath Scouts, 2018 💚
In March, Mark and I were invited by our local Scout group (boys and girls aged 10 to 16) to lead a vegan cooking session. The scouts were split into four teams and we set them the challenge of making this Sweet Potato and Chickpea Coconut Curry as well as chapattis from scratch! They had thirty minutes to create the meal and present it, before being judged. They had the added difficulty of being in their scout hut with very little equipment and just a hot plate to cook on! We were blown away not only by their cooking skills, but also their enthusiasm! All four teams ended up producing the most delicious curries, which meant we had a really tough time picking a winner. I managed to snap a couple of pics before the curries got devoured.
Didn’t they do well? We heard that some of the scouts even started cooking this curry at home for their families 😀
N.B. This post was originally published in 2018 and updated in November 2024.
