Recipe

Baked sweet potatoes with harissa chickpeas and tahini sauce recipe 

Baked sweet potatoes with harissa chickpeas, yogurt and tahini sauce recipe 
A deliciously flavourful take on a mid-week classic  Credit: Haarala hamilton

You can make this without the sauce if you like – it’s still delicious. 

Timings

Prep time: 10 minutes 

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves

Two 

Ingredients

For the coriander-tahini sauce (optional)

  • ½ tbsp lemon juice
  • ½  garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 tbsp very finely chopped coriander
  • 50ml tahini 

For the sweet potatoes

  • 2 medium to large sweet potatoes
  • 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½  onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
  • Good pinch of chilli flakes
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼  tsp ground coriander
  • 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 4cm piece cinnamon stick
  • 2 tsp harissa
  • Good pinch of saffron threads
  • 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • Chopped coriander, plus extra, to serve (optional)
  • Greek yogurt, to serve
  • Sesame seeds, to serve

Method

  1. If making the sauce, mix everything together with 50ml water, beating with a fork until smooth. Season. It should be the thickness of double cream, so you may have to add a little more water.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180C/ 170C fan*/gas mark 5.
  3. Put the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, pierce them a few times with the tip of a knife and bake until tender – about 30 minutes, but I find different varieties cook at different rates.
  4. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the onion over a medium heat until soft and golden. Add the garlic, chilli flakes, ginger, cumin and coriander, and cook for another 2 minutes.
  5. Stir in the tomatoes, 100ml water, the cinnamon, harissa and saffron with some seasoning. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes, stirring every so often. Make sure it doesn’t get too dry – add a little more water if it does.
  6. Add the chickpeas, check the seasoning and cook gently for another 10 minutes, then stir in some chopped coriander and taste again for seasoning.
  7. Split the sweet potatoes along their length. Spoon on some yogurt, followed by the chickpeas. Drizzle with the coriander-tahini sauce, if having. Scatter over some sesame seeds and fresh coriander, if you like, and serve.

*Diana’s conversions may differ slightly from the standard

 

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