Cold nights call for warm curry

I prepped this curry on the tailgate of my friend’s 1990 Chevy next to a river that continued to drown the engines of eager (but not-so-clever) 4WDers. The sun and dust had settled from a long day of wheeling dirt bikes, quad bikes and the skeletal Mad Max vehicles their owners had modified around the dried up banks of Gordon River, British Columbia. It wasn’t long after I’d finished cooking, wondering if I’d made way, way too much food, that hungry passersby started to show up like stray dogs at the door of the camper. Excuses (“the stick broke and my last hot dog fell in the fire”) and flattery (“I haven’t eaten this well in weeks!”) go a long way, as does this recipe. So if you’re looking to feed an army on a cold night in the middle of nowhere, give this curry a go, and know that the growling on the other side of the tent wall isn’t someone’s belly…

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Ingredients

• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 sweet potato, cut roughly into 1 inch cubes
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 1 can chick peas, drained
• 6–8 large mushrooms, chopped
• 2–3 handfuls of green beans, chopped
• 1/2 can coconut milk
• 1/3 jar or 4 tbsp curry paste (I like Patak’s Hot Curry Paste)
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1 bunch of coriander
• 2 tbsp vegetable or coconut oil

Method

1. In a hot saucepan or camp oven, fry diced onion in oil until brown
2. Stir in red capsicum, then sweet potato and cook for 3 minutes
3. Add mushrooms, chickpeas and green beans and cook for a further 3 or 4 minutes
4. Stir in curry paste and water. When water is simmering, add coconut milk
5. Simmer uncovered until sauce thickens and sweet potato softens, roughly 15 mins – though the longer the curry has to sit and cook, the better it tastes!

Serves: 6

BONUS SIDE DISH: RAITA

Thinly slice cucumber, sprinkle with salt and let it sit for 5 mins. Remove excess moisture with a paper towel and stir into a cup of plain Greek yoghurt. A sprinkling of cayenne pepper and a few coriander leaves make this one easy and delicious side, especially if some campers can’t handle the heat in the curry!