Sweet potatoes and green beans simmered in a coconut-ginger gravy with curry leaves, sweet, warming and deeply satisfying without being heavy.
Lunch · 15 min prep · 25 min cook · serves 3 Newly added
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potato , medium, cubed
- 8 beans (green) , cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tbsp coconut oil , or ghee
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 8 curry leaves
- 1 tbsp ginger (fresh) , grated
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 3 tbsp coconut (fresh grated)
- ¾ cup water
- to taste rock salt
- 1 tsp lemon , juice
Preparation
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Warm the oil and pop the mustard seeds; add cumin, curry leaves, ginger, turmeric and coriander powder.
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Add the sweet potato and beans; stir to coat for 2 minutes.
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Pour in the water and half the coconut; cover and simmer 12–15 minutes until the sweet potato is tender but holds its shape.
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Uncover and let the gravy reduce slightly; season with salt.
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Finish with the remaining coconut and lemon juice; serve with rice.
In the tradition
Sweet potato arrived late to the classical ayurvedic table (the texts speak of ordinary potato and yam), but modern ayurvedic cooks embraced it enthusiastically: it delivers the sweet taste the old texts prize, the taste that builds and calms; in a vegetable that roasts, boils and simmers willingly. Paired with green beans’ astringency, the plate balances all six tastes more evenly than most.
Sources & further reading
- Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing , Vasant Lad & Usha Lad
- Bhāvaprakāśa Nighaṇṭu (Śākavarga, sweet tubers classed as sweet, heavy and vāta-pacifying when well spiced)
Classical citations mark where a tradition is drawn on; modern books are shared as further reading, not as prescriptions.