Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for chickpea and potato curry | The new vegan

Potato curry was the defining dish of my youth and, if I’m honest, I didn’t love it back then (sorry, Mum). But, as sometimes happens with things you disliked as a child (antiques, Neil Diamond and my sister, for example), they come full circle and in later life you find a certain intense sort of love for them. Today’s recipe isn’t my family’s potato curry, though; rather, it’s one I made with an urge in my belly to feel at home again, and I was so pleased with the results that it might become a defining dish of my adult years.

Chickpea and potato curry with quick paratha

You’ll need a blender or small food processor to make this. You can find pre-made paratha in Indian supermarkets, if you don’t want to make your own.

Prep 5 min
Cook 55 min
Serves 4

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree (40g)
75ml neutral oil – I tend to use rapeseed oil
5 garlic cloves, peeled
2½ tbsp sambal oeleck – Yeo’s is my go-to, and is probably the easiest to find in the world food aisle of larger supermarkets and in south-east Asian food stores
4 fresh or frozen makrut lime leaves, deveined
1½ tsp fine sea salt
500g maris piper potatoes, or another floury variety, peeled and cut into 3cm pieces
2 x 400g tins chickpeas, not drained
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk

For the paratha
1 x 500g block puff pastry dough
Plain flour, for dusting

First make the curry paste. Put the onion, tomato puree, oil, garlic, sambal oeleck and lime leaves in a blender or small food processor, and blitz to a smooth paste, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary (if your blender is struggling, add some water a tablespoon at a time to loosen the mixture). Scrape the paste into a large saucepan and cook on a medium heat, stirring often, for about 10-12 minutes, until the paste starts to come away from the sides of the pan and it releases some of the oil back into the pan.

Stir in the salt, the chickpeas and their water, the potatoes and the coconut milk, turn up the heat and bring to a boil, which should take about five minutes. Turn the heat to low and simmer for a further 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are fudge-soft.

If you’re making the paratha, clean and lightly flour a work surface. Unwrap the pastry and pinch off around 60g per paratha (save any excess pastry for another use). Roll each piece into a ball, then squash between your palms to form a patty. Coat both sides of the patty with flour, then roll out into a 18-20cm round, and repeat with the remaining pastry.

Put a nonstick frying pan on a medium-high heat and, when hot, lay in the pastry round and cook for a minute and a half, turning every 30 seconds, until dark brown spots appear and there is no visible uncooked (ie, translucent) dough on either side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining dough.

Ladle the curry into a large bowl or individual bowls and serve with a big pile of parathas alongside.