One Pot Sweet Potato Chilli

When I first went to university I could cook three meals: 

A basic curry 

Macaroni cheese 

A chilli 

As my first year progressed, I quickly realised that I could not live off of the same three meals on rotation.  My cooking skills evolved as I hunted for new recipes.  The basic curry fell to the wayside as I discovered more complex and tasty curry variations.  Cooking evolved from a mundane necessity into something I truly enjoyed, and macaroni cheese was not exciting or fulfilling for me anymore.

However, the chilli stayed.  Whenever I was at a loss of what to fill my weekly meal plan with, I chose chilli.  I would look forward to ‘leftover day’ when I knew that a chilli was waiting patiently in the freezer.       

Perhaps my seemingly never-ending craving for this recipe comes from a longing for comfort, because chilli reminds me of home.  It reminds me of my mum.  I hate to admit that I was a sort of ‘problem child’ when it came to food.  I was the picky eater of the family.  However, my little brother quickly followed suit, but insisted that he didn’t like the food that I did.  This obviously made dinner time an almost impossible situation for my mum.  There was only one meal that she knew we both liked, and it just so happened to be her favourite meal.  And so, as a family we ate a huge amount of chilli over the years that my brother and I were locked in an opposing food battle.  But chilli was no-mans’ land.  Chilli was neutral.  

Chilli was our ceasefire, just for one evening.  

Serves 4 / Vegan 

Ingredients 

- 1 tbsp of vegetable oil for frying

- 1 red onion

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1 fresh chilli (with or without seeds depending on your spice preference)/ a pinch or pinches of dried chilli flakes

- 1 red pepper

- 1 large sweet potato 

- 2-3 tsp of cumin & smoked paprika

- 2-3 tbsp of tomato purée 

- 500ml of vegetable stock (using one stock cube)

- 1 can of chopped tomatoes

- 1 can of kidney beans, drained

- 1 can of sweetcorn, drained

- Salt & pepper for seasoning 

- 1 packet of lightly salted tortilla chips (optional) 

Method

1. Chop up the onion, garlic, red pepper, sweet potato and chilli (if using a fresh one).  The smaller the chunks of potato are, the quicker they will cook. 

2. Add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to a large pan on a medium heat.  Fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 mins. 

3. After the onion has started to soften, add the red pepper, sweet potato, chilli/chilli flakes, cumin and smoked paprika.  Fry for a further 5 mins. 

4. In the meantime, boil 500ml of water and pour into a jug with one vegetable stock cube in it.  Stir well.  Drain and rinse the kidney beans in a sieve.   Then add the stock, chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and kidney beans to the pot.  Season with salt and pepper. 

5. Bring to the boil and then simmer on a low-medium heat for 30-40 mins until the sweet potato is soft and can be stabbed with a butter knife easily. 

6. Keep on stirring and checking on the potato regularly.  In the last 10 mins, chop up the fresh coriander and add to the chilli. 

7. Before serving, taste the chilli and add more salt/pepper/cumin/smoked paprika if needed.  (I always add a generous amount of cumin and smoked paprika and am a strong believer that you can never add too much.) 

8. Serve with rice and the cheapest* tortilla chips you can find

(*in true uni student style)