(serves 6-8)
INGREDIENTS
1 medium white onion
1 celery stick
1 carrot
4 medium sweet potatoes
½ red chili (deseed for mild spice)
1 stalk lemon grass (bashed)
Small thumb-sized piece of ginger
1.5 litres vegetable stock
400ml coconut milk
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 lime (zest & juice)
Oil
Salt & pepper (to taste)
Coriander to garnish
Please note you will need a blender for this.
METHOD
Begin by ensuring all vegetables have been washed. Dice the onion, celery, and carrot. Peel and chop the sweet potato into small pieces. Carefully remove the seeds and finely slice the chili. If you like spice, you can keep the seeds in or add more chili. Use a teaspoon to scrape the skin off the ginger, then finely chop.
Once all the vegetables have been prepared, put a heavy-bottom deep pan on a low-medium heat with a drizzle of oil. Add the chopped onion, celery, carrot, and sweet potatoes along with the chili, ginger and piece of lemon grass. Cook for 4 minutes and stir regularly to ensure nothing burns.
Meanwhile, make your stock.
Once fragrant, add the stock, coconut milk and lime leaves to the pan. Stir, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat up to a medium-high and boil until the sweet potatoes are cooked through. This should take 10-15 minutes, depending on how small you have cut your potatoes.
Once cooked, zest and juice the lime. Add the zest and juice to the pot, and blend. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with coriander, and serve with crusty bread and salty butter.