Chickpea Curry

Home grown chillies

Born out of necessity during the long British winter I created this one pot dish to satisfy craving for kale (always an essential in winter) and my all abiding love for chickpeas.  It is a sort of riff on dhal; a mainstay for all veggie/vegan cooks.

Ingredients (serves 3 to 4)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Thumbnail size piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp tumeric

Either 2 dried chillies or 1/2 tbsp chillie flakes, chopped

Tin of chickpeas, drained

Tin of plum tomatoes

3 to 4 handfuls of kale, I tend to strip from stalk, and wash

1/2 tbsp garam masala

Seasoning

1. On a medium heat in a large saucepan sweat the onions until translucent and soft.

2 Add the garlic, ginger and chillies and stir.

3. Add cumin, and tumeric; stir again and combine spices with the onion mixture.

4. Add the tin of tomatoes; I tend to fish out the individual tomatoes and just break apart the tomato into the pan, ensuring that the very end of the tomato does not get into the mixture.  I find that top end does not break down into the sauce.

5. Add the drained chickpeas and kale and stir. Allow to cook for around 10 minutes or until the kale is tender.

6. Sprinkle the garam masala over and stir it in.

7. Serve with some great basmati rice and yoghurt of your choice.

Chickpeas and onions

Adding the kale to the mix