Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry

We eat a lot of spicy food here at Roe Manor. Indian, Mexican and Thai are our flavours of choice, but it's usually a curry that wins out. I invented this particular recipe because I love sweet potato in curries and because I had half a bag of spinach in the fridge. Every ingredient in this recipe is from the wonderful Keelham Farm Shop.

Mrs Roe's Sweet Potato & Spinach Curry

Ingredients

2 tsp sunflower oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 heaped tbsp curry paste

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 large red chillies, one finely chopped, one thinly sliced

300ml vegetable stock (OXO cube is fine)

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

100g spinach

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then gently fry the onion over a low heat for at least ten minutes. It needs to be soft and golden brown.
2. Add the garlic, curry paste and the chopped chilli (keep the sliced chilli to one side). Fry for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, then add the stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer.
3. Add the sweet potatoes and simmer for five minutes, before adding the chopped tomatoes. Continue to simmer until the sweet potato is cooked through.
4. Just before serving, add the sliced chilli and the spinach. Allow the spinach to wilt, then serve with minty yogurt, mango chutney and naan bread.

• The flavours will vary, depending on the curry paste you choose to use. I am a big fan of Mr Huda's Universal Curry Paste. You can buy it online from Spices of India, if you're not lucky enough to find it locally.
• This is a bit of a hottie. If you prefer milder flavours, omit one (or both) of the chillies and/or the cayenne pepper.
• To make minty yogurt, add a decent teaspoonful of mint jelly to a couple of tablespoons of natural yogurt and mix thoroughly.