Chick Pea Curry

For my first conscious attempt at preparing a fully Vegan supper, I decided to try a Chick Pea Curry adapted from an old Sainsbury Cookbook by Wendy Godfrey. I had around 8 oz dried Chick Peas already in the cupboard that I wanted to use up, so I soaked these for 3 hours in boiling water left to cool (I know it says you're supposed to soak them overnight but I guessed if I used boiling water and then cooked them for longer later on they'd be ok). Because this didn't really give enough Chick Peas for the recipe, I supplemented them later with a 410g can (drained weight 240g) of Waitrose Essential Chick Peas in Water. Anyway, to make it simpler for others to follow I've just put it down in the recipe as 2 cans of Chick Peas, or 400g/16 oz dried Chick Peas - either should work fine!

The original recipe also didn't seem to have enough stuff in it to make a really satisfying main meal, so I improvised a bit by adding some fried courgette and mushrooms to the mix.

Unfortunately I didn't take pictures, so you'll just have to imagine or wait until you make your own to see!:


Chick Pea Curry Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 Cans of Chick Peas in Water (drained), or 400g/16 oz dried Chick Peas (don't worry if you don't have exactly this amount, it will still work fine)

• 400g/ 16oz Chopped Tomatoes

• 50g/ 2oz Closed Cap Mushrooms (just to give a bit of extra flavour)

• 150g/ 5oz Courgettes (2 Small/Medium or 1 Large one), Sliced

• Juice of 1 Lemon

• 1 Large Onion (150g/ 5oz), Peeled and Quartered

• 3-4 Cloves of Garlic, Peeled

• 1 Small Chilli - dried or fresh - Chopped
  

• 1 tsp/ 5ml Paprika

• 1 tsp/ 5ml Ground Coriander

• 1 tsp/ 5ml Oregano

• A few Cardamoms (I used 5)

• Very small amount of Oil/Vegan Marg/Spray for frying (I use 'Fry Light')
  

• If you're feeling fancy, a sprig of fresh coriander to garnish wouldn't go amis!

Method:

First of all, if using dried Chick Peas, you will need to soak these overnight in a bowl of water (just enough to cover) with a tsp/ 5ml of Baking Soda (you can miss out the soda if you want).

1. Drain and rinse the Chick Peas using a collander, and put them in a large pan with a kettle-full of boiling water (I always use the kettle to boil water for cooking as it's quicker and more efficient).


2. Hard boil the Chick Peas for 10 mins, then turn down the heat to simmer. Put a lid on the pan to keep the heat in and stop the water evapourating too fast.


3. Meanwhile, put the Onion, Garlic, Chopped Tomatoes, Lemon Juice, Ground Coriander, Paprika, Oregano and Cardamoms in a blender. You can blend them straight away or leave that till after the next step.


4. In a non-stick frying pan, put the Chili, sliced Courgette and Mushrooms with a little Vegan marg substitute or spray (I use 'Fry Light') and turn onto a low heat. Meanwhile remember to give the Chick Peas a stir and check they have enough water! I almost burnt mine to the bottom of the pan because I forgot...


5. When the mushrooms and courgette have started to soften, add the blended ingredients to the frying pan and stir in. Leave to bubble on a low heat, maybe with a lid over the pan. (This is a good point to consider throwing together a quick salad or putting on some other veggies to boil as a side-dish - I just steamed some spinach to go with mine). You can switch off the hob under the Chick Peas, as the residual heat of the water should be enough to finish cooking them.


6. Keep stiring the Tomato Sauce/Mushroom/Courgette mix in the frying pan every so often. Then after about 10 - 15 minutes, drain the Chick Peas in a collander over the sink. Return the drained Chick Peas to the saucepan and pour over the Tomato Sauce and veggies from the frying pan, then put back onto a low heat and mix for a couple more minutes. Et Voila!


7. Serve and garnish with sprigs of fresh coriander if so desired.
   

The original recipe said it served 6 but ours went down among 3 with no problem! Although we were pretty stuffed afterwards, so on balance I'd say this makes around 4 good-sized servings. Also bear in mind I served the curry as the main component of a meal with only some spinach, a salad and homemade Herb Scones (recipe to follow) as accompaniments, but if you served it more traditionally with rice it would probably go round a lot more plates!

The whole recipe as given above minus any side-dishes or accompaniments comes in at around 800-900 calories, is very nutritions and full of protein and, depending on which oil/marg you use to fry the veggies, is very low in saturated fat if not practically fat free! Divide by 4 and it gives around 200-250 calories per serving.

Enjoy :)