I made this curry a few times during our recent trip to Colombia. After too many street food empanadas and my slight dislike of arepas this was a healthier yummy option, plus we had some amazing kitchens to cook in with a couple of the AirBnB properties that we were lucky enough to rent. If you are vegetarian, just leave out any meat, like I did a couple of times. I was fascinated to learn how chilli’s are not really part of the Colombian diet, neither fresh nor powdered, and I couldn’t find ginger either. So this recipe represents the actual version I created out there, but obviously with UK organic ingredients;.

Serves 4

You’ll need:

2 medium potatoes, 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped (no need to peel).

1 large pepper or two small different coloured ones.

1 chicken breast sliced quite small (or omit for veggie), I switched it for broccoli on one occasion.

1 onion, peeled and sliced fairly thinly.

3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped.

2 tsp curry powder.

1/2 tin of coconut milk, (or 1/3 block of coconut cream / butter plus 1/2 cup of water).

Salt to taste

A teaspoon of sugar.

3 teaspoons of oil (I used avocado both here and in Colombia)

Fresh coriander to serve.

How to:

First fry off the onion gently with the garlic, oil, and curry powder for about 5 mins.

Then add the potatoes and carrots (and chicken if using), continue to fry off with a lid on for about another 8 mins. (This step makes a real difference to final flavour, I think)

Add the peppers and continue for another few mins. If the mix gets too dry or starts sticking to the pan or burning, add a splash of water and keep checking.

Add the coconut milk, salt and sugar. If using coconut cream/butter and water, make sure it’s all melted down by stirring.

Pop a lid on and cook until the carrots are just tender.

Add coriander, and serve with rice, if you like.

Enjoy!