Chickpea curry

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Curried chickpeas 🔗

I was looking for a chickpea or potato addition to a curry meal which didn’t involve spinach, and came across this. It looked a bit mild for our tastes, though, so I have beefed it up and changed the way you cook it.

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Serves 4. Heat your (fan) oven to 180°C. Prep time: 30 minutes. Cooking time: 15 minutes. This author has not been identified. If you believe you know who it is, please get in touch so that we can make the right credits.

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp cumin seed
  • 1 tsp coriander seed
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1 clove
  • 1 small stick cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 medium onion | finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic | finely chopped
  • 2 mild red chilis | deseeded and chopped very fine
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 × 400 g can chickpeas
  • 2 small tomatoes | chopped
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp chopped coriander

Method

  1. In a cast-iron pan dry-fry the cumin seed, coriander seed, peppercorns, clove, and cinnamon for a minute or so to release the flavour. Tip them into a mortar and leave to cool. (see tip)

  2. Add the oil to the pan and make it hot, then gently fry the bay leaf for a few seconds each side (it will go paler and blister slightly). Take it out and put it on kitchen towel to drain.

  3. In the hot oil fry the onion for a few minutes until it softens, then turn down the heat and cook it starts to go golden brown, about 10 minutes, then add the garlic and chilis and cook gently for 5 minutes more. (see tip)

  4. While it’s frying, grind the now-cooled cumin seed, coriander seed, peppercorns, clove, and cinnamon finely.

  5. Add to the onion mix with the turmeric and paprika.

  6. In a fireproof covered dish, stir the chickpeas with the spice and onion mix and the tomatoes so the chickpeas are well coated.

  7. Add the water and cook on the hob or in the oven at 180°C until tomatoes are soft and the sauce is thick and pulpy, about 15 minutes.

Serving

  • Sprinkle with the coriander and serve with rice.

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