Dear Josee,
I would like to share something very exciting with you. After we spoke on Skype last night I had a revelation of the most beautiful kind.
After years of searching, despairing and disappointing long-suffering loved ones with watery and incoherent offerings I have finally cracked it: the spinach and chickpea curry of my dreams.
Remember how I was muttering to myself and eating spinach and chickpeas from the containers they came in because I was too tired and cross to actually cook? Those days are long gone, sweetcheeks. Achieving something so delicious with such minimal effort made me feel like a proper human-being again, I even managed to put on some trousers.
I would like to apologise first and foremost because I was so overwhelmed with joy that I completely forgot to take any photos of the process. I will endeavour to express the marvellous experience with my drawing skills.
My criteria for a good curry recipe:
Quick (the cooking process only takes about ten minutes)
Simple (I was not in the mood for messing around with marinades, or going back downstairs in minus-zero conditions to seek out obscure ingredients)
Tasty (there was none left for darling boyf when he got home)
This one was all of these and more, it works out pretty cheap too.
And so, without further ado, here's the recipe, it would probably serve 2 people with normal appetites, and is made even better by the addition of naan.
Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
a good lug of olive oil
a knob of butter (These last two could probably be replaced by ghee, but I didn't have any)
1 tin of chickpeas, drained
1 bag (100gish) of baby spinach, or a few lumps of frozen
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1-2 teaspoons of cumin powder
1-2 teaspoons of coriander powder
1-2 teaspoons of turmeric
3 hot dried chillies, crushed
A good-sized knob of ginger (at least 5cm), grated
1 teaspoon garam masala
Rice / naan bread and yoghurt if you're into that sort of thing
Melt the butter with the oil in a saucepan on a medium heat. Add the onion and the garlic and cook, stirring every now and then, until the onion is golden and smells awesome.
Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and chillies to the pan, season and stir for about a minute before adding the tomatoes.
Cook, stirring now and again, until the sauce starts to thicken.
Half-fill the tomato can with water, shake it about a bit and throw that in with the can of chickpeas. Cover the pan and leave it alone for about 5 minutes.
Add the ginger and the garam masala and check the seasoning.
Cook for another minute or two then take the pan off the heat and add the spinach leaves. Stir until they wilt and serve. If you want to be extra naughty you can stir in a bit of extra butter...
Made my evening.
We should totally put this one on our curry buffet.
Love
Ella xxxxx
