Western Indian-Inspired White Bean Sweet Potato Stew

This white bean stew has an Indian food twist that makes it SO flavorful! A creamy stew with sweet potatoes and mustard seed, curry leaf chili oil is hearty and satisfying dinner. (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free option)

I like to use Indian sauces with beans, as a change from tofu or a vegan chicken substitute. It makes the whole dish cook up faster and makes it more accessible.

Because all of the flavor is usually in the sauces, you don’t have to pair them with meat, like in more traditional Indian dishes. In this stew, I pair Western Indian spices and spiced oil with beans, sweet potatoes, and spinach. The sauce is inspired with flavors from Maharashtrian cuisine. 

I ended up with this amazingly delicious, easy to make, hearty white bean stew, which is also budget friendly. This should cost you less than $3 per serving, depending on what you already have in the pantry. 

We cook the sauce like you would cook a chickpea curry, but then we add sweet potatoes and white beans to it. Then, we make a quick spiced oil, which has mustard seeds, curry leaves, and red chilies, and that takes it to the next level times three! 

We also add some roasted peanuts, but if you don’t want to add nuts you can skip that or add some hemp seeds or other toasted seeds of choice just for that crunch and a little bit of nutty flavor.

If you don’t want to make your white bean stew with Indian flavors, you can also make it Italian herb flavor or Cajun flavor, and I have that mentioned in the notes on the recipe card below.

Why You’ll Love this White Bean Stew

• Easy one pan, 30 mins dinner
• Versatile
• cozy and packed with veggies and FLAVOR!
• spiced oil only takes a few minutes and ups the flavor ante even more
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free option

Ingredients

• oil – To sauté and to make the spiced oil.
• aromatics – For the white bean stew, we need red onion and ginger garlic paste or minced ginger and garlic.
• dried spices – The stew uses garam masala, black pepper, crushed fennel seeds, and Kashmiri chili powder. For the spiced oil, you need mustard seeds, dried red chilis or crushed pepper flakes, curry leaves, and Kashmiri chili powder. If you have fresh curry leaves, you can use those instead of dried.
• tomato – Adds moisture and umami to the white bean stew.
• sweet potato – Adds sweet to balance the heat and adds bulk to the stew.
• white beans – Use cannellini beans, northern beans, navy beans, butter beans, or chickpeas. Canned or homemade is fine to use.
• non-dairy yogurt – You can also use cashew cream, coconut cream, almond butter, or cashew butter to make this stew creamy. Choose a nut-free and/or soy-free option, if needed.
• spinach – You can use fresh or frozen spinach in this recipe.
• garnishes – Top this stew with the spiced oil you made plus roasted peanuts or roasted seeds of choice, chopped cilantro, and lemon juice.

How to Make Indian-Inspired White Bean Stew

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and cook until the onion is starting to turn translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes. If the pan is drying out too much, add a splash of water in between to help the onion cook.

Mix in a splash of water and the ginger garlic paste. If using minced ginger and garlic instead, add them to the onion and cook for 1 minute before adding the spices. If using ginger garlic paste, cook it for about 15 seconds.

Mix in the garam masala, black pepper, crushed fennel seeds, Kashmiri chili powder, and a splash of water. Cook for a few seconds

Then, add the chopped tomato and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook the tomatoes until they are jammy, about 5 to 6 minutes, pressing the larger pieces to help them break down, adding splashes of water, if the pan dries out.

Add the water or stock, white beans, chopped sweet potato, and a dash more of salt.

Mix, cover with a lid, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are cooked to preference. 

Open the lid, and check a few pieces of the sweet potato for doneness. If they’re cooked to preference, mix in the non-dairy yogurt and the spinach. Adjust the consistency, adding some water, if the stew is getting too thick.

Bring to a boil, and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes until the spinach is wilted. Switch off the heat, add a splash of lemon juice, then taste and adjust the flavor by adding more salt or heat, if needed.

Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over medium heat, and add the oil. Check the oil temperature by adding a few mustard seeds. If they sizzle, the oil is ready. If they pop out immediately, the oil is too hot, so remove from heat for a few seconds and reduce to medium low before continuing.

Add the mustard seeds and let them sizzle and just start to pop. Then, add the dried red chilies, breaking off the stems and optionally breaking them in half for more heat. Once the chilies puff up, reduce the heat to low and add the curry leaves carefully, because they will sputter.

After a few seconds, switch off the heat and mix in the Kashmiri chili powder. Immediately pour this spiced oil all over the stew. You will get a nice sizzle. Swirl the spiced oil lightly into the stew.

Sprinkle the chopped roasted peanuts (or toasted seeds of choice) all over. If they are not roasted, roast them in a separate skillet until toasty before chopping. Add chopped cilantro or fresh herbs of choice. You can also drizzle some non-dairy yogurt or non-dairy cream on top.

What to Serve with Indian White Bean Stew

Serve this delicious stew with some flatbread, naan, sourdough, garlic bread, or over rice or quinoa.