Curry Sweet Potato Dip with Candied Ginger

This recipe is similar to hummus, except sweet potatoes are the star ingredient instead of chickpeas. Whether you consider this a sweet potato dip, spread, hummus, or mash … it’s a Jamaican-inspired way to prepare this super versatile root vegetable. I’m not Jamaican, but I’m a huge fan of the country’s food. And as a Neo-Soul food enthusiast, I’m constantly seeking different ways to prepare sweet potatoes. 

I constantly praise Jamaican curry for its warmer flavor in comparison to Indian curry blends. Jamaican curry powder contains Allspice (aka Jamaican pimento) and lots of turmeric. Also, it does not contain harsh spices such as cinnamon, clove, and cardamom. 

For this recipe, I basically took my standard hummus recipe and swapped out chickpeas for sweet potatoes, then added a few other things after getting inspired by watching episodes of Chopped. Even though I didn’t have any chickpeas, I did have a few nearly-empty jars of tahini. Lots of candied ginger had been gifted to me, and I figured it was the perfect ingredient to bring some contrasting flavor to the sweet potatoes. Also, a carton of Scotch Bonnet peppers had been lingering in my fridge after making Rainbow Plant Life’s Vegan Gambian Peanut Stew (Dodoma) recipe. All of this goodness was at my fingertips, just waiting for this sweet potato dip to be created.

Pickle the Scotch Bonnet Peppers

When you make this dip, prepare the pickled Scotch Bonnet peppers at least a day or two in advance. When pickled and finely chopped, they contribute a subtle spicy crunch and varying texture to every bite. Because Scotch Bonnets are really spicy, you only need to use one or two, so purchase them by weight if possible. If you have no choice but to buy a carton, I suggest storing the extras in a jar of vinegar in the fridge. Their intensity will mellow out from pickling, and you can also use the infused vinegar in other recipes, such as sautéed collard greens.

Serve this sweet potato dip alongside my Blackeyed Pea Dip with Roasted Garlic. Feel free to dip some veggies, chips, pita, or fried green plantains (aka. tostones). Also spread it on sandwiches or incorporate this in with a salad or grain bowl. 

Curry Sweet Potato Dip with Candied Ginger

Ingredients

• 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes (about 2 1/2 cups diced) 
• 1/3 cup pickled ginger, chopped
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 heaping tablespoons Jamaican curry powder
• ¼ cup tahini 
• 2 tablespoons diced pickled scotch bonnet peppers, plus 2 tablespoons scotch bonnet vinegar (see above)
• juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

1. Peel and dice your sweet potatoes into sizes that resemble chickpeas. 
2. Fill a medium pot halfway with water and a dash of salt, and bring to a boil.  Add the diced sweet potatoes and chopped pickled ginger. Boil until sweet potatoes are soft. Pour the boiled sweet potatoes into a colander over a medium bowl, reserving the liquid. Set aside the liquid and sweet potatoes.
3. In a skillet, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Add the onions and thyme sprigs and cook until onions are translucent, approximately 3 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking until fragrant, another minute or two. 
4. Lower the temperature to medium (so you don’t burn the curry powder). Stir in the curry powder to evenly distribute the spices throughout the oil and onions, allowing the spices to bloom for about 2 minutes. If the curry/onion mixture seems too dry, add some splashes of water so the curry doesn’t burn. Pour this curry, oil, onion, and garlic mixture into a small bowl to stop it from cooking any longer. Discard the thyme.
5. In a food processor, combine the pickled scotch bonnet peppers, sweet potato/ginger mixture, curry/onion mixture, chopped scotch bonnet peppers, scotch bonnet vinegar, and tahini. Pulse until everything is well blended. It will be quite thick and pasty, so gradually add the reserved boiling liquid until a hummus-like texture is achieved … approximately 1/2 cup.

Of course, you can vary all of these amounts to your liking, but you have all the tools you need for some sweet potato dip success! 

Yield: About 6 cups

The Curry Clean-up 

Cooking with curry can get messy. No matter how careful you try to be, yellow-stained fingers, appliances, utensils, and counters are quite common. You can minimize the problem in a few ways:

• Tape down parchment paper on your counter, or use some newspaper.
• Wear rubber gloves.
• Use a disposable dollar-store rubber spatula that you don’t mind throwing away.
• Have some bleach water with soaked rags on deck so you can clean up curry spills ASAP.

The longer the curry remains on your surfaces, the more stubborn they will be to clean up. Scrape the dip from the food processor ASAP into a glass bowl … just be quick with it. When all is said and done, I always end up bleaching my countertops.