Potato & Butter Bean Curry Recipe

Potato and butter bean curry was always one of my favourite meals growing up – I’ve lost count of the number of times I requested it as a birthday dinner. We’d never used tinned potatoes for it until last week, but it worked so well I’d be tempted to do it in the future, even if there wasn’t a pandemic happening!

The ingredients are all pretty storecupboardy, but everyone’s cupboard is different. So, a few ideas for substitutions if you don’t have/can’t get hold of anything:

Garlic granules and chilli powder will work just fine in place of fresh.
Any kind of flour will work (reduce to 1 tsp if using cornflour), or skip it if needed; it just won’t thicken quite so much.
Any fruity chutney will work: we often use homemade marrow chutney, but a tomato one would be good too.
Butter beans can be swapped for chickpeas or other white beans (cannellini, haricot).
The yogurt can just be left out if needed – it will just give a punchier flavour and less creamy finish. Add a splash of water to loosen it a bit.
If you have fresh new potatoes, cut into pieces and boil for 10-15 minutes before adding to the curry.

Ingredients (serves 4-6):
– 1 onion, diced
– 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
– 1 fresh chilli, thinly sliced
– 1 tbsp plain flour (gluten-free is fine)
– 2½ tbsp medium curry powder
– 1 tsp ground ginger
– 2 tsp mango chutney
– 2 tsp peanut butter
– 400g tin chopped tomatoes
– 2 x 400g tin butter beans
– 2 bay leaves
– 560g tin peeled new potatoes
– 250g soya yogurt

Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, lidded saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and chilli and cook for 5 mins more. The onion should be soft and translucent but not browned.
Stir in the flour, curry powder and ginger and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chutney, peanut butter and chopped tomatoes, then fill the empty tomato tin with water and add that too. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Drain the butter beans (you can reserve the liquid and use to make meringues or mayo if you like) and add to the pan along with the bay leaves; season. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick.
Drain the tinned potatoes and halve any larger ones, then add to the pan. Put on a lid and simmer for a further 15-20 minutes. Stir in the yogurt, remove the bay leaves then serve with rice or roti.