RecipesLunch
Lunch
Chickpea and Spinach Curry
Chana saag leaning on frozen spinach, so it's a genuine weeknight batch cook rather than a project. The same onion-tomato-ginger-garlic base as the rest of this curry run, but the spinach melts straight into the sauce so every spoonful carries the greens. Chickpeas hold their bite through the simmer and freeze without turning grainy.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 10min
- Cook
- 35min
- Total
- 45min
Programs: Fat Loss, Muscle Gain, Maintenance, Blood Sugar, Cholesterol
Per serving
- Calories
- 392kcal
- Protein
- 18.5g
- Carbs
- 57.6g
- Fat
- 11.7g
- Fibre
- 15.8g
01
Ingredients
For 4 servings · MetricUS
- 2 x 400gchickpeas, drained and rinsedtwo tins
- 400gfrozen leaf spinachone bag, thawed
- 1½ tbsprapeseed oilstaple
- 1 largeonion, finely diced
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 25gfresh ginger, grated
- 1 tspground cuminstaple
- 1 tspground corianderstaple
- ½ tspground turmericstaple
- ½ tspchilli powderstaple, adjust to taste
- 1½ tspgaram masalastaple
- 400gchopped tomatoesone tin
- 100mlwater
- ¾ tspsaltstaple, to taste
- 2 x 15 oz canschickpeas, drained and rinsedtwo cans
- 14 ozfrozen chopped spinachone bag, thawed
- 1½ tbspcanola oilstaple
- 1 largeonion, finely diced
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1 tbspgrated fresh ginger
- 1 tspground cuminstaple
- 1 tspground corianderstaple
- ½ tspground turmericstaple
- ½ tspchili powderstaple, adjust to taste
- 1½ tspgaram masalastaple
- 14½ ozcrushed tomatoesone can
- 0.4 cupwater
- ¾ tspsaltstaple, to taste
02
Method
Prep the spinach.
Thaw the spinach and squeeze out as much water as you can. Wet spinach dilutes the sauce, so this step is worth the two minutes it takes.
Build the base.
Heat the oil in a large, deep pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until soft and golden.
Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli powder. Stir for 30 seconds to toast the spices, watching closely so they don't catch.
Simmer the sauce.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes and water. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and turns a deep red.
Stir in the drained spinach, breaking it up with the spoon as it goes in. Simmer for 5 minutes so it melts fully into the sauce rather than sitting in clumps.
Finish.
Add the chickpeas and garam masala. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the chickpeas have taken on the colour of the sauce. Taste and adjust the salt.