Two Potato Vindaloo- changed

I received the cookbook Plenty for Christmas and was very excited to try some of the recipes. Tonight I made the two potato vindaloo. Of course, I changed somethings, one being I'm cooking for only myself so I halved the recipe (maybe a little more than half). The second, I used half of a sweet potato, half of a small red potato and half of a small yellow potato.

I also added 1/4 of a small pumpkin, cut into one inch cubes. I didn't have any cider vinegar so I used pomegranate vinegar. The most amazing aroma wafted throughout my kitchen, when I added this! Last, I used red pepper flakes instead of chili, again just because I didn't have any in the house, about 2 Tablespoons of curry powder instead of the leaves and about a teaspoon of cardamom powder. Remember, when cooking for one person, use about half of the required measurement. These were the only changes I made. Oh, except I added whole wheat naan, not crazy about white rice. LOL! I mean if you want the starch... go for the Naan! The scent of curry and coriander still linger in my house, BTW. How I love that aroma!

Here is the original recipe:

The longer you let this curry sit, the deeper the flavours will become, so it's well worth making it in a larger quantity and refrigerating any excess for a later date. As always, thick, cool yogurt makes an excellent condiment. Serves four.

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
8 cardamom pods
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large shallots (about 150g each)
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek
25 curry leaves
2 tbsp chopped ginger
1 red chilli, finely chopped
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 C cider vinegar
1 3/4 C water
1 tbsp caster sugar
Salt
2 1/2 cups (net weight) waxy potato, peeled and cut into 2.5cm dice
2 small red peppers, cored and cut into 2cm dice
2 1/2 cups (net weight) sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2.5cm dice
Mint or coriander leaves, to serve

Dry-roast the cumin, coriander and cardamom in a small frying pan until they begin to pop. Transfer to a mortar, add the cloves and work with a pestle to a fine powder, discarding the cardamom skins once the seeds are released. Add the turmeric, paprika and cinnamon, and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pot. Add the shallots, mustard seeds and fenugreek, and sauté on high heat for eight minutes, or until the shallots brown. Stir in the curry leaves, ginger, chilli and ground spices, and cook for another three minutes.

Add the tomatoes, vinegar, water, sugar and some salt, bring to a boil and leave to simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes and peppers, and simmer for another 20 minutes. Now add the sweet potatoes, make sure all the vegetables are just immersed in the sauce (add more water if needed) and continue cooking, covered, for about 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove the lid and leave to bubble away for about 10 minutes, to reduce and thicken the sauce.

Serve hot with plain rice and garnished with the herb leaves.

• Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi in London.