This is the perfect thing to make when you want something healthy, warming, and tasty, but you don’t want to go and get lots of ingredients. I normally make something like this when I have vegetables that are about to go off or I feel like I need a boost of vitamins after one too many Hall fry-ups.
This is also a very, very adaptable recipe—change out the chickpeas for prawns, mushrooms, paneer or anything else you have on hand—this recipe is really just a base for all sorts of stews/curries. The list of spices that I use might seem a little long, but using curry powder along with ginger and garlic would still taste really good, so don’t worry if that’s all you have. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 1 courgette/aubergine/pepper*
- Ginger
- Garlic
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 can chickpeas, drained
- Spices (garam masala, coriander, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric—use what you have)
*most veg will do! Feel free to add more if you have lots of stuff that’s about to go off. Wilting spinach leaves in this would also definitely work too.
Method:
1. Finely chop some garlic (I use about 4 cloves) and a 1.5-2 inch piece of ginger.
2. Put a pan on medium-high heat and add one tablespoon of oil. Allow to heat up.
3. Add the garlic and ginger to the pan, frying until it begins to get a bit golden.
4. At this point, add a little more oil and all of your spices, as well as salt and pepper. Make sure you have enough spices – I used one teaspoon each of cinnamon, turmeric and chilli powder and two teaspoons each of cumin and coriander. Mix these all together in the pan. You want to cook just the spices for long enough for the fragrances to release, but not so long as to let the spices burn (so probably only for about thirty seconds to a minute).
5. At this point, add in your chopped vegetables (not chickpeas yet though) and stir everything together, allowing the courgette to cook for a couple of minutes.
6. Then add your can of chopped tomatoes, combine and let simmer at a medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
7. Add the chickpeas and allow to simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
8. Right before serving add in any spinach and combine until all the leaves have wilted.
9. Serve by itself or with some rice.