Curried Sweet Potato and Butter Beans

One of my biggest cravings as I transition to vegan are curries. It’s weird because I didn’t crave them much whilst I ate meat. I thought I’d make one from ingredients I already had at home. The recipe was based off one I found online which called for tamarind. My dad had brought back some velvet tamarind, which we know as ‘black tumbler’ in Sierra Leone. Surely that can be used instead of regular tamarind, aka ‘tombie’.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp cumin seeds

• 2 tsp fennel seeds

• 2 tsp coriander seeds

• 1 tsp black peppercorns

• 2 tsp cayenne pepper

• 2 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp vegan bouillon seasoning (to taste)

• 3 sweet potatoes

• 1 1/2 red onion, chopped

• 1 1/2 cups butter beans

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 1/2 cups ‘black tumbler’ aka Velvet tamarind juice

Instructions

Start by peeling the ‘black tumbler’ and placing them in a jar. Add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water to the jar and let sit for 10 mins whilst you prepare peel and chop the potatoes and onions. Stir the ‘black tumbler’ juice and then pass through a sieve and set aside for use later in the recipe.

Heat a pan with the coconut oil and add the coriander seeds, black peppercorns, fennel and cumin seeds. When they start popping, add the cayenne pepper, tumeric and seasoning for a few minutes till onion is translucent. Now add the sweet potato and butter beans. Cover with the ‘black tumbler’ juice. This gives it a slight sweet taste 😋. Add more pepper or seasoning if you like it hotter. Lower the heat and allow the curry to simmer until potatoes are cooked. If you want a more liquefied consistency, add some more water.

I served mine with wholewheat chappatis and plantains.