Sweet potato curry in a hurry

Curry is a staple in my kitchen because it can be made quickly, easily and always hits the spot. When I’m tired or not feeling creative this is one of my go-to meals. And I keep it from getting boring by switching up the veggies and protein in the curry.

To make curry you need three shelf stable products. A sugar-free curry spice paste, canned pumpkin (or butternut squash or sweet potato) and full fat coconut milk. I almost always have these at hand for culinary “emergencies” (when I’m running low on food).

Last night I made a sweet potato fish curry but decided to use a baked sweet potato instead of the canned pumpkin because I had one on hand.

I mashed the sweet potato into the curry once it was cooked to replace the starchiness of the rice that usually compliments this dish.

You can always used cauliflower rice to serve with curry, but when you fill the curry with starchy veggies, it becomes a stand alone dish you can serve as is. No rice or rice substitutes needed.

I was inspired to make fish curry because I found dover sole at a great price at Whole Foods. Sole is an extremely mild fish with little flavor, so it’s the perfect compliment to curry.

There’s no limit to what you can put in curry. I added peas for a pop of color and more starchiness and some kale leaves from my garden because it’s producing like crazy!

I also couldn’t resist adding bacon because I love the stuff. Though not a traditional curry ingredient, the bacon complimented the mildness of the fish, but if you’re not a bacon fan (what??) you can skip it.

Ingredients

One can of full fat coconut milk

1/2 pound of dover sole (or any white mild fish)

1/4 of a chopped onion

3 tablespoons  of Thai spice paste (I used Thai kitchen red curry paste) You can use less if you want your curry to be less spicy and more if you want to kick it up.

1/2 cup of peas

2 slices of bacon

a handful of kale leaves, shredded by hand and with the stems pulled off

1 baked and mashed sweet potato (I like the golden fleshed ones)

Olive oil or duck fat to saute the fish and onions

optional: 4 ounces of bone broth for tummy healing benefit

How To

Saute the chopped onions in olive oil or duck fat. Cook onions on medium heat so they don’t burn. When they start to turn translucent it’s time to add the fish.

I added the two fillets in whole and sauteed, flipping with my spatula until cooked through. You know the fish is done when it starts to flake and fall apart.

In a separate sauce pan I added the coconut milk and the curry paste and mixed until they were incorporated. Add fresh or frozen peas and keep simmering.

Add the cooked fish and onions to the curry sauce and use the empty pan to saute the kale leaves with the bacon.

When the bacon was cooked and the kale leaves wilted I transferred them to the curry sauce pan.

I added a 4 ounce bone broth ice cube (I keep extra in the freezer) to give it a slight meaty flavor and add tummy healing nutrients. This is totally optional.

I simmered the curry uncovered on medium heat until it thickened a bit (10 minutes) and then added the flesh of a medium sized baked sweet potato and mixed it in.

The sweet potato melted in the hot curry sauce, creating a thick and creamy stew-like consistency.

We ate the steaming curry in bowls. Rice was never missed in this spicy sweet comfort dish.