Spiced sweet potato, chickpea and chicken bake recipe

Perfect for a week-night supper, this Indian-inspired spiced sweet potato, chickpea and chicken bake is delightfully easy to make.

Chicken thighs are cheap, versatile and act as a delicious vehicle for flavour, as our spiced sweet potato, chickpea and chicken bake proves. It’s easy to prepare ahead and leftovers can be shredded into rice or served in pitta bread with salad. This is a lovely budget-friendly dinner the whole family will enjoy. If you’re worried about the chilli, you could use less or omit it altogether. You could also serve with a dollop of yogurt or homemade raita, which is balance the spice. We recommend marinating the chicken for a minimum of two hours, ideally over night. If you’d prefer a meat-free option, try using tofu, paneer or just use more veggies.

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs
• 3 sweet potatoes (about 600g), roughly chopped into 2-3cm pieces
• 400g can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2tsp hot paprika
• 2tsp olive oil
• 2tbsp roasted flaked almonds
• 2tbsp chopped fresh coriander

for the marinade:

• ½tsp cumin seeds
• 1tsp coriander seeds
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, cut in half and the green centre removed
• ½ chilli, roughly chopped
• 1 small thumb of ginger, peeled and grated
• 3tbsp natural yogurt
• 1tbsp tomato paste
• 3tsp ground almonds

Method

1. For the marinade, toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a pan over a low heat for 5 mins. Remove from the heat and put into a food processor with ½tsp salt and the other marinade ingredients, excluding the almonds. Blitz, then stir in the almonds. Coat the chicken in the marinade and leave to marinate for 2 hrs, or overnight.
2. Heat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Toss the sweet potatoes and chickpeas in the paprika and oil, and season well. Tip into a roasting tin and put the chicken on top. Pile any leftover marinade on top of each thigh.
3. Cook for 40 mins or until the chicken is cooked through and the sweet potatoes are tender. Top with flaked almonds and coriander before serving.