Sweet Potato, Ginger And Coconut Stew

ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice or 2 allspice berries
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • spring onions (bunch) - white and green parts roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • a few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
  • a large bunch of fresh coriander, stalks finely chopped
  • the juice and zest of 2 unwaxed limes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ Scotch bonnet chilli
  • 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
  • ½ butternut squash or pumpkin (about 600g), peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 x 400g tin black-eyed beans or kidney beans
  • 1 head of greens, thick stalks removed, roughly shredded

FOR THE TOPPING

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 75g toasted pumpkin seeds (or the toasted seeds from inside your squash)
  • rotis or rice (see page 193)
  • yoghurt of your choice

method

Toast the allspice berries for a minute or so in a large heavy-based, lidded pan that you can use for your stew (skip this step if using ground), then put into a food processor with a tablespoon of the olive oil, the spring onions, garlic, ginger, thyme leaves, coriander stalks and the juice and zest of 1 lime. Season with salt and pepper and blitz to form a paste. Put the pan back over a medium heat and, once hot, add the remaining oil and fry the paste, stirring all the time, for 3-4 minutes until fragrant.

Add the bay leaves, whole chilli, coconut milk and 500ml warm water to the pan. Stir to combine, bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes, then add the squash or pumpkin and sweet potatoes. Drain and rinse the beans, then roughly mash them in a bowl, add to the pan and cook for 30-40 minutes at a gentle simmer.

Make your topping. Mix the olive oil and pumpkin seeds with the zest of the second lime and season with salt.

Once the squash or pumpkin and potatoes are cooked, and are just holding their shape but soft throughout, and the sauce is rich and flavourful, scoop out the bay, whole chilli and any thyme sprigs, then add the greens to the top of the stew - don’t stir them in - and cover with a lid. Cook for a couple of minutes until dark, bright green. Remove the stew from the heat and squeeze over the juice of the remaining lime. Taste and add more lime, salt or pepper if needed.

Use tongs to divide the greens between warm bowls before spooning over generous helpings of the stew. Scatter over the toasted pumpkin- seed topping and the reserved coriander leaves. Serve with yoghurt and rice or rotis on the table for people to help themselves.