Quick potato and garbanzo curry

[fuzzyred]

This week I made "Quick potato and garbanzo curry" from "Meals in Minutes" by Wendy Hobson.


Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 carrots, very finely diced
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
400g/14oz/1 large can garbanzos, drained
300ml/0.5pt/1 1/4 cups chopped tomatoes
200ml/7fl oz/scant 1 cup vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
350g/12oz/1 3/4 cups long-grain and wild rice mux
Basil sprigs for garnish

To Serve
Naan bread
Mamgo chutney (optional)

Instructions
1. Heat the oil and sauté the onion, garlic, and carrots over a low heat dor 5 minutes until soft but not browned.
2. Add the potatoes and sauté untik just beginning to color.
3. Stir in the spices, adding more or less to suit ypur own taste" and cook for 4 minutes, then stir in the garbanzos, tomatoes, and half the stock and bring to the boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then simmer for about 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, put the rice mix in a separate pan and add twice the volume of cold water and a little salt. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over a very low heat for 15 minutes, or as directed on the packet. Some rice mixes may take a little longer.
5. By this time the curry should be rich and thick. If necessary, raise the heat to boil off any extra liquid, or add a little more of the stock or hot water.
6. Serve the curry with naan bread and mango chutney on the side if you like.


Thoughts and Variations
I used about 12 baby carrots instead od two regular carrots because that's what I had on hand. My can of garbanzo beans was 540mL so a bit more than called for I think but I added the whole thing. Since it didn't say to use canned tomatoes, I chopped up 2 tomatoes (a very full 1 cup) and used those. I used 3/4 cup of vegetable broth, and parboiled long grain rice. I left out the basil garnish and had garlic naan to accompany it.

It was a tasty recipe, though I think I used bigger potatoes than expected because my biggest frying pan was still overflowing. It was also difficult to tell when the potatoes were ready because I've never cooked them like that before, so I think they ended up a bit underdone. It also wasn't creamy in my opinion (and not as quick as implied) so I don't know if I missed something or did something wrong. Overall the flavours were good though so I could see making this again, though if I do I will definitely cut it in half.

Comments

[arthur_p_dent]

Your potato problem is in the recipe itself: “4 potatoes” tells you neither the size nor the type that the recipe was based around. Poorly worded indeed.
Otherwise it looks like a very tasty dish. Thanks for sharing. =]

[fuzzyred]

Ya, definitely not specific enough. I used 4 white potatoes, on the larger size of what I found in the store. I either needed smaller potatoes or less of them. But now I know for next time at least.

[arthur_p_dent]

Potato tip:
White and red potatoes are very dense and typically take longer to cook through.
Yukon gold have a medium density. They will cook faster and still maintain some firmness.
Russet are starchy and the texture breaks down with cooking. They are best used for baked or mashed.

Using white potatoes is fine, but as your other commenter mentioned, you’d need to cut them smaller to compensate.

[fuzzyred]

Thanks for the tip! I don't cook potatoes all that often, so I don't know the ins and outs of choosing appropriate ones. Based on what other people have said the potatoes in a curry like this are supposed to do, it sounds like russets would be the best choice, but in that case, it *definitely* shouldn't be four potatoes; I'd say one and a half to two, at most.

[goss]

Hello, just dropping in via network. This sounds similar to a dish I often make - channa and aloo (garbanzo bean and potato in curry sauce).

If you decide to make it again, here are two little tips:
(1) Chop the potatoes into really tiny cubes, so they'll cook faster (use 2 medium-sized potatoes, for one can of beans)
(2) Just before the dish is finished, you can mash a couple of the potatoes and beans inside the pot, so the liquid turns thick and creamy.

[fuzzyred]

Tip number one is super useful. I think part of my problem was that I didn't cut the potatoes small enough so they took longer to cook. I also had 4 potatoes to one can of beans, and that was *definitely* too many potatoes for my pan which probably also impeded the cooking.

On tip two, that is not a thing I knew to do, or that I would have thought of myself, so thank you for sharing! I will remember to keep that in mind for next time. :)

[goss]

You're welcome! Glad you found them of use. ^__^