Preparation

• Get your spices ready. Place ground spices (apart from ½ teaspoon garam masala) into a small bowl.
• Heat up oil on a low-medium heat, in a heavy bottom pan. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and wait until they start popping, stirring from time to time.
• Add in cumin seeds, dry curry leaves and chilli flakes. Fry gently for a minute or so – until the cumin releases its fragrance.
• Add chopped onion, saute it gently, stirring from time to time until it gets soft and lightly caramelised in places. Season.
• Add garlic and ginger. Cook for about 2 minutes stirring frequently so that ginger does not stick to the pan.
• Reduce the heat to low and add all the ground spices (save ½ teaspoon garam masala for later). Coat everything in the pot in the spices. Stir frequently, cook for 30-60 seconds until all spices are fragrant.
• Add canned tomatoes squashing them down well with a wooden spoon or potato masher. Add a can worth of water and salt.
• Simmer, stirring from time to time, until the tomatoes fall apart and thicken into a slightly chunky sauce – add more water if the pan is looking to dry before.
• Meanwhile, cut peel sweet potatoes and cut into small (1 cm / 0.4 inch) cubes. Heat up a small pan on low heat and toast cashews until browned on both sides. Set aside to cool, then chop roughly.
• Add coconut milk to the pan, let the sauce come to a gentle simmer than add potato cubes. Cover, then simmer for about 15 minutes – or until potato cubes are cooked through.
• Take the lid off, add drained chickpeas to the pan, season with lime juice and sprinkle with garam masala.
• Serve on top of cooked rice or/and with a vegan naan, with chopped coriander leaves and toasted cashews on top.