On Wednesday I decided to try my hand at making our weekly curry. I usually make chicken curry but when we get take-out curry we usually get two and share them, thus making the meal a little more interesting. So this time I decided to try my hand at a vegetable curry. I chose a Chickpea and Spinach curry recipe that I found:
Serves 3- 4 (I just halved all of the quantities for two of us)
Ingredients:
1 tin (420g) of cooked chick peas, drain and rinse
1 heaped cup of frozen spinach,defrosted (or use about 4 handfuls of fresh spinach)
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tin (420g) of chopped tomatoes
A little bit of ghee or oil for frying
Curry paste:
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder (didn’t have – so didn’t use!)
1/2 tsp garam masala
Small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped (didn’t have, so used dried coriander instead)
1 red chilli, finely sliced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsps oil (vegetable, olive etc)
1/2 tsp salt
Method:
1. First, make your curry paste. Place all of the ingredients in a mortar and work the mixture into a paste.
2. In a large frying pan heat a bit of oil/ghee and fry the sliced onions over a medium heat till soft and golden. Add the garlic and fry for just a minute or two.
3. Add the curry paste to the onions and fry over a gentle heat for approx. 2-3 minutes before adding the chickpeas and tinned tomatoes to the pan.
4. Cover then cook over a medium heat for approx.15 mins, stirring regularly (if it gets too dry add just a dash of water or stock).
5. Add the spinach to the pan and cook for another minute or two. Adjust seasoning if neccesary.
It was good for a first attempt but I think I added a little too much water as it started to look dry on a few occasions and I think it might have benefited from drying out and combining a bit better. I also didn’t soften the onions enough. I’ll let you know how I get on next time – and take a photo of the finished dish – this time I was too hungry to wait!!
Sugar & Spice 