Vegetarian Chickpea Curry

Vegetarian Chickpea Curry

Hello and I hope you are having a fine Meatless Monday.

I love using chickpeas for my vegetarian dishes, they are just so easy to cook and are perfect for bulking up and adding texture into your vegetarian dishes, be it stews, patties or curries. Did I mention that they are high in protein too? After using chickpeas as an ingredient in my Hearty Vegetarian Stew two weeks back, I thought I would use them yet again, this time for a curry. As the clocks went back last weekend, signifying official British winter time, I thought a curry would be a marvellous way of marking this event. 

Vegetarian Chickpea Curry

This curry which I found over at Veg Recipes of India called for spices to be dry roasted before being ground to a powder to be used as a spice paste in this dish. No doubt, you will have to use quite a variety of spices but they are all common ones that can be easily obtained and you just know that this will produce a fantastic aroma of spices that will make it worth your while. The end result is a very satisfying albeit a little spicy, curry. I wanted a drier texture, but you can add more water in if you prefer. Serve with rice or chapatis. You will find that this recipe is a sure keeper!

Vegetarian Chickpea Curry Recipe
Prep Time: 25 minutes / Cooking Time: 30 minutes /Serves: 2-3

1 can cooked Chickpeas (240gm drained weight)
2 Red Onions (sliced finely)
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp finely chopped/ground Ginger
1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
1 tsp Salt

Spices (to be dry roasted and blended)

6 Cardamoms 

1" Cinnamon Stick

7-8 Black Peppercorns

2 Bay Leaves

2 tsp Cumin Seeds

2 tsp Coriander Seeds

2 tsp Fennel Seeds

2 dried Red Chillies

Spices

Dry Roasting the Spices

Method

1. Dry roast the spices in a pan over low-medium heat until aromatic, this should take approximately 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn the spices. Leave to cool before grinding into a spice powder.

2. Next, heat cooking oil in the same pan. Once hot, add in the onions and sauté until translucent before adding in the ginger. Continue to saute until fragrant before adding in the tomatoes. Season with some salt.

3. Add in the freshly ground spice powder and the chilli powder, and saute evenly. Then, add in the chickpeas and some water. Allow to simmer for a further 10 minutes. Once cooked, remove from heat and garnish with some freshly sliced onions and coriander if available.