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Sweet Potato Korma | Gluten-Free by FrannyCakes

Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Korma

Oh lordy. It is winter outside. Complete with that white stuff that covers the ground.

Aside from that meaning that it is officially mitten weather, it also means that it is high season for hearty dinners. Spicy stews. And dishes to keep you warm. Not the shake off the cool edged wind of fall. But to warm you up from the cold that gets all the way to your bones.

To be honest, I am almost glad that pumpkin-filled everything is done for a while. Because it is high time for some cassoulet. And maybe some soup. And a curry or two.

I have been trying to make sure that I spend some time on Sundays making lunches for the week, and when it gets cold things like a dish that reheats and travels well. (I like to win at lunch). This dish is does just that. And if you pack a little fresh cilantro, you can look like you packed a fancy pants takeout meal that is both more delicious and healthier.
Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Korma | FrannyCakes

I fell in love with Indian food in college. It was part influenced by my best friend, Sid, and part because it is so easy to eat gluten-free. And these days, I do not get to eat it nearly enough. This sweet potato korma is easy to make thanks to purchased korma curry paste and is ready to go in 45 minutes which makes it perfect for weeknight dinners. It is vegetarian and can easily be vegan if you swap out the yogurt for a dairy-free variety or cashew cream.

Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Korma
Recipe Type: Entree
Cuisine: Indian
Author: Mary Fran Wiley
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 45 mins
Serves: 4
An easy, weeknight dinner, this vegetarian korma is perfect to make ahead and pack as work lunches. If you wish to make it vegan, you can swap a non-dairy yogurt or use cashew cream in place of the plain yogurt or sour cream.
Ingredients
  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • Olive Oil
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger*
  • 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves picked and stalks reserved
  • 1 fresh red jalapeño or fresno chili, seeds and veins removed
  • 1 heaped tablespoon korma curry paste**
  • 1 14oz can chickpeas
  • 2 1/2 cups boiling water
  • juice from 1/2 lemon
  • 1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
  • 1 cup of your favorite long grain rice, I prefer basmati
Instructions
  1. Cut the sweet potatoes into 1 1/2 inch chunks and place in a large frying pan over medium heat with a good glug of olive oil (2 tablespoons). Fry them for about 5 minutes, or until they start to turn golden.
  2. While the sweet potatoes cook, peel and finely slice the onion, garlic and ginger. Finely chop the cilantro stalks and mince the chili.
  3. Add all the veggies and the korma paste and cook for another 5-10 minutes and stirring occaisionally. You want to make sure that the onions have softened.
  4. Add the chickpeas, canning liquid and all, to the frying pan along with the boiling water.
  5. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, or until thickened.
  6. While the korma is cooking, prepare 1 cup of rice according to the package directions and drink a glass of wine (because you deserve it for cooking on a week night).
  7. When the korma has thickened, stir in the yogurt or sour cream and the lemon juice. Garnish with the cilantro leaves.
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Gluten-Free Chicken Tikka Masala

If you were to look at my text messages, emails or the nicknames assigned to people in GChat, you might think that half the people I know don’t have actual names. Or that I have friends who fancy themselves celebrities on a mission to have the cleverest of names. Maybe you would think I was a secret agent (actually, it would be pretty cool if you thought that). Read more

gluten free trail mix mango lassi

Snack it to me: Mango Lassi Trail Mix

This post is part of Snack It To Me – recipes for my favorite snack mixes. The posts are: Fairy Berry Gluten-Free Trail MixSour Patched Gluten-Free Trail MixCherry Cordial Gluten-Free Snack MixMango Lassi Trail Mix, Apricocious Trail Mix, Raisinably Delicious Snack Mix, Happy Endings Trail Mix, My go-to prepared snacks.

After an interruption for surgery involving my spine, Snack It To Me is back. And it is back in a big way.

I transferred to U of I as a junior, and was on my third college. (Apparently fashion design classes do not transfer to other schools as they do not apply to real world skills, so I went to community college to cram in some lost credit hours). I was a junior living in a dorm filled almost entirely with freshmen and the rest were either RAs or seniors who would be graduating in December.

Transfer student orientation was miserable, and none of my high school friends had gone to UIUC. And except for a cousin, I was on my own. And those first few days on campus were rough. Ugly cry yourself to sleep rough.

But then I met Sid.

sid and mary fran

Somehow, despite radically different cultures and polar opposite favorite hobbies, we became fast friends. He eventually worked his way to BFF status, and is still one of my first calls when I have big news (even if we live half a world apart now).

Sid is the reason this recipe exists.

Food was always central to our friendship. It started with grabbing dinner in the dining hall together when we could. Lunches on campus when we could squeeze them in. And two years of my home-cooked Sunday dinners when we both moved out of the dorms. Some weeks it was the only time our schedules worked out for us to see each other.

We have learned a lot from each other over the course of our friendship. I dragged him to his first American football game (we lost) and made him sit and watch the Bears in the Super Bowl. I fed him his first Irish soda bread and my mom’s famous tomato and rice soup.

He is the one who introduced me to Indian food (he also introduced me to Korean and Middle Eastern cuisine), something I probably never would have tried on my own. He is the one who talked me into trying new things every time we would go to one of the many curry places on campus. The one who got me to try a mango lassi the first time.

A lassi is a yogurt and mango dring that is creamy and just sweet enough. For me, it was love at first sip. (Joy the Baker has a recipe for a mint and cumin lassi that looks out of this world).

With that, I give to you Mango Lassi Trail Mix. The idea for this mix is, sadly, not all my own. I had a similar combination from Graze (more about them in another post), and was thoroughly disappointed when they discontinued it. So, I just had to make my own.

gluten free trail mix mango lassi

Gluten-Free Mango Lassi Trail Mix

Recipe Type: Snack
Author: Mary Fran Wiley
Mangoes and yogurt are a match made in heaven.
Ingredients
  • 75 grams roasted sunflower seeds (a good handful and a half)
  • 50 grams yogurt covered nuts (about 30 yogurt covered almonds were used in the photographed version)
  • 50 grams dried mango (chunks are best, but the flatter kind kan be roughly chopped into strips, as it is here)
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Adjust amounts to suit your taste – I really love yogurt covered anything, you might really love mango. Take this and make it your own.
  2. Store in a sealed container for up to one month.
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