Earning a Ph.D., it turns out, was excellent preparation for a global pandemic. I spent five years alternately isolated in my home or at the archives, working with little supervision, while a niggling sense of unease about the future played at the back of my mind. The crucible shaped me into a new person, but truly—grimly—there’s no denying that self-isolation and grad school are one and the same.
Through the grind, I learned to carve out time for exercise, friendship, poetry, and novels. And I learned how to cook and eat really well, with limited money and even less time.
This is the type of recipe that sustained me during those years– and that is getting me through the chaos now. The ingredients for this spiced chickpea, sweet potato, and coconut stew with cumin and turmeric are cheap and have a long shelf life. The leftovers keep up to a week in the fridge or forever in the freezer. It is highly adaptable: swap the sweet potato for broccoli or cauliflower! Throw in some coriander! Serve with flatbreads instead of rice! Skip the fresh herbs!
Originally born as Alison Roman’s “The Stew,” this spiced chickpea, sweet potato, and coconut stew recipe took some serious jiggering to get right. The original iteration was somehow both too fatty and too bland; like many of Roman’s recipes, I felt it looked great on Instagram but was underwhelming in real life.
To make things right, I swapped one of the cans of full-fat coconut milk for low-fat. I added sweet potato for more body. I figured out how to get the chickpeas *actually* crispy (plus gave you the option to make extras for quarantine snacks). I added cumin– because what is a savory vegetable stew without cumin? And I threw in some fish sauce for umami, which is that mysterious fifth flavor that gives your food depth and oomph.
Four tries later, I think I’ve nailed this one. So if you’re in the market for quarantine recipe ideas, or if, God bless you, you’re slogging through a PhD, this stew is just the ticket for a cheap, soothing meal.
Other relatively shelf-stable quarantine recipe ideas:
Smoky Overnight Black Beans
Orecchiette with Kale, Bacon, and Sun-dried Tomatoes
French Lentil Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese
Slow Cooker Tuscan Ribollita
Acorn Squash and Coconut Soup with Fried Indian Spices
Umami Bomb Mushroom Soup + How to Make Your Veg Taste Better
Tuscan Kale, Farro, and White Bean Soup
Curried Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Chai Rice Porridge
Fettuccine with Rosemary and Lemon
Kale Salad with Farro, Parmesan, Pine Nuts, and Dried Fruit
Spiced Chickpea, Sweet Potato, and Coconut Stew with Cumin and Turmeric
Heavily adapted from Alison Roman for the New York Times
Serves 6
Ingredients
Oil (you choose what kind) for frying
2 yellow onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 4-inch (10-cm) piece of ginger, peeled and minced
Salt
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon cumin
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 or 3+ 15.5-ounce (439g) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (3 or more cans if you want a crispy chickpea topping; 2 if you don’t mind living without it)
One medium (430g) yam or sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
13.5-ounce (400ml) can full-fat coconut milk
13.5-ounce (400ml) can low-fat coconut milk
2 cups (473ml) veg stock
10 ounces (284g) kale or spinach
1 tablespoon (or more) fish sauce (really important for umami; if you are vegetarian, you might consider using a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce, instead)
Juice of one lemon or lime
Chopped mint or cilantro, to serve (optional)
Greek yogurt, to serve (optional)
Rice or lavash bread, to serve
Instructions
For the (optional) crispy chickpea topping
Preheat the oven to 350F (176C). Drain and rinse one of the cans of chickpeas (or more, if you bought extras to make snacks). Pat dry with a dishtowel. Put the chickpeas on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with a bit of salt, and bake 45+ minutes until crispy af. Store in an open, uncovered container on your counter for up to 4ish days.
For the stew
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or heavy pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and spices, and saute until everything smells really good, about 2 minutes.
Next, drain and rinse the remaining two cans of chickpeas, then dump them into the Dutch oven. Add a hefty pinch of salt. Sauté for another 3 minutes. Now take the back of your wooden spoon and crush about half of the chickpeas against the side of your pot. This will release their starchy insides, which will help thicken the stew.
Shake the cans of coconut milk well, then add the coconut milk and stock. Add another pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30ish minutes.
When the mixture looks about 5 minutes away from optimum thickness, add the chopped sweet potatoes and continue to simmer until they are fork tender. Now add the kale or spinach, submerge in the stew, and simmer until softened– this will happen in about 1 minute for spinach or 2-3 minutes for kale.
Add the fish sauce and a good squeeze of lemon or lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve over rice or with lavash bread.
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