Curried Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach
This is a super easy, convenient and flavourful Indian-spiced curried chickpeas with tomatoes and spinach. It is hearty, filling and makes a great one-dish meatless meal when served with bread or rice. The main ingredients are all foodstuff that is kept in the pantry cupboard (canned chickpeas + tomatoes as well as powdered spices) and freezer (frozen spinach). So this makes a good meal to whip up especially on days when the kitchen is low on fresh foods.
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I like to cook dishes like this, since I get to adjust the amount and consistency of the sauce to my liking. My version is slightly soupy. You can serve it dry (in which case you don’t need to top up with water after simmering), saucy soupy (like mine) or with a thicker consistency. STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS
Saute onions and garlic until the onions are soft. Note: In this recipe, I bruised the garlic as I’m treating this more like a stew and also (mainly this reason) because I’m lazy :p You can chop, mince or slice the garlic as you like.
Add drained chickpeas and scatter spices over them. Stir fry briefly until aromatic and well-coated.
Add canned chopped tomatoes, bay leaf, ginger and water. Simmer for 15 minutes.
After simmering, the sauce is greatly reduced. You can serve it as it is if you like this drier version with a thickened baked beans gravy consistency.
I like mine slightly more soupy, so I added hot water and then thicken the sauce slightly with cornstarch slurry. Regardless of the consistency, add spinach during the last 2 minutes of simmering. Season to taste with salt or mushroom seasoning powder.
Serve with bread or rice. Enjoy!~
Curried Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Spinach Recipe
You can tweak the consistency of the dish by adding hot water and/or cornstarch slurry to suit your personal preference.
Check out the step-by-step photos on the previous page.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 small yellow onion sliced thinly across the grain
- 1 x 400 grams canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 x 400 grams canned diced/chopped tomato undrained
- 3 garlic cloves peeled & bruised
- 1 tsp grated ginger or ginger juice
- 250 ml water
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 200 grams frozen spinach thawed in microwave
- hot water optional; to top up the stew later, only if needed
- cornstarch slurry stir optional; dissolve 1 tsp cornstarch in 1 tbsp water
- 1/2 to 1 tsp mushroom seasoning powder optional; to taste
* frozen spinach can be substituted with baby spinach leaves. Stir in the baby spinach immediately after turning off the stove while the dish is still piping hot.
(A) Spices
combine in a small bowl or add directly to the pan:
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder for the heat; omit or adjust to taste
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Directions:
- Cook onions. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed casserole or wokpan. Sauté onions and garlic on medium low heat until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Stir-fry chickpeas with spices. Add chickpeas one layer in the pan and scatter spices at (A) evenly over them. Stir-fry briefly until aromatic and the chickpeas evenly coated in the spices.
- Make the stew. Add tomatoes, sugar, bay leaf & water. Stir through, cover casserole with lid and simmer for 15 minutes, adding thawed spinach during the last 2 minutes of simmering.
- Tweak the consistency and serve. Serve this dish as it is if you like it dry. If you prefer it to be saucy, top up with appropriate amount of hot water and stir in cornstarch slurry slowly to thicken the stew. Season to taste with salt or mushroom seasoning powder. Serve with bread (such as Indian chapatti, roti or naan) and/or steamed rice.