Chickpea Curry

By Rachel Manley

Quick and easy chickpea curry

I flat out refuse to buy supermarket canned chickpeas. And let’s be honest, I’m not really going to cook them from scratch. But it’s ok because the chickpeas from Nour, and any other shop in Brixton Market are brilliant. Plump, soft chickpeas, totally different to the pebbly supermarket ones. Honestly, you have to try them.

Chickpeas are the star of this quick and easy curry. You can buy all the other ingredients in Brixton Market too, including the best naans ever and huge bags of rice to eat alongside. I make no claims of authenticity, but it is tasty, comforting and can be on the table in less than 30 minutes. It’s also really versatile – replace a can of chickpeas with diced sweet potato or cauliflower florets or stir in some spinach at the end or top with fried cubes of paneer. I’m going to be honest here – I’ve even eaten this on toast with a poached egg on top too and it was amazing.

Serves 4

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• thumb-sized piece ginger, grated
• 1 chilli, finely chopped (add as much or as little chilli as you like)
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cans chickpeas, drained
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 small can coconut milk
• 1 lime
• Coriander and yoghurt, to serve

Heat a splash of oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli for about 5 minutes, or until softened.
Add the cumin seeds and curry powder and cook for a minute or two.
Add the chickpeas, tomatoes and coconut milk, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Give it a stir every so often so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
Add the juice of half a lime and good pinch of salt, then give it a taste. You might need more salt, chilli or lime juice.
As with most curries, this is better the day after. It also freezes brilliantly.

Rachel’s fantastic cooking can be found at whatrachelate.com and on Twitter @rachelsfood