Potato and Chard Curry

The vegetable patch has been loving the current weather and the kale and chard have both really taken off so I needed to get some used. Last weekend I made this potato and chard curry which is slightly modified from the one in the excellent River Cottage Veg Everyday book which I highly recommend. I also made a version of this with kale a couple of years ago.
Serves 4
Ingredients
400g Swiss chard with stalks, I had 9 very large leaves
15 sprays of frylight olive oil
1 onion, halved and finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 green chillis, deseeded and finely chopped
3cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 cardamom pods, bashed
350g miniature potatoes, halved
500ml water
2 tablespoons passata
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Separate the chard leaves from the stalks. Cut the stalks into 2–3cm pieces and roughly chop the leaves. Keep the stalks and leaves separate.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and saute the onion until just golden.
Using a pestle and mortar pound the garlic, chilli, ginger and a pinch of salt into to a paste. - Add the paste to the onion and cook while stirring for a couple of minutes.
- Add the rest of the spices and stir for one minute.
- Add the potatoes and chopped chard *stalks only* and cook for 5 minutes, you might need to add a splash of water to stop it sticking.
- Add the passata and about 500ml water or just enough to cover the potatoes. Bring to a simmer then cover and cook for 12 minutes until the potatoes are just tender.
- Add the chopped chard leaves and cook until they are just wilted.
- Taste and add pepper and salt if required, chard can be quite salty on its own so extra salt might not be needed.