Cheap & Cheerful Chickpea Curry

Everyone loves a curry, right? Getting a curry from a takeaway - whether it be Indian, Chinese or Thai - is one of my favourite ways to indulge and treat myself. I just love the flavour combinations that burst through in a good curry! This is probably why I was drawn to this recipe and simply had to give it a go, and oh boy I was not disappointed.

This chickpea, spinach and tomato curry is one of the most flavourful dishes I think I've ever made, and it's also really quick & easy to whip up, which is always a win. It's one of my go-to dishes if I've not got much time to make dinner (which of course isn't a problem at the moment, but when I was working full-time it really helped).

Not only is it easy, but after doing a few calculations I realised it's actually really cheap to make too! I used Sainsbury's as my price base, not only because it's actually where I most frequently shop but also because it was voted the cheapest supermarket in 2019. After adding and dividing a little (got to keep the mental maths up to scratch!) I worked out that this dish costs about £1.35 per person to make. I think that's pretty cheap, considering you'd pay around £3.50 for a ready-meal curry, and at least double that for a takeaway! WIN.

If you want an overview of the method, check out my YouTube channel below. If you like these easy-to-follow clips please subscribe! Scroll down for a full ingredient list & written recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoons of coconut oil

• Half an onion, chopped

• 1 teaspoon of garlic paste

• 1 teaspoon of ginger paste

• Half a teaspoon of ground turmeric

• 1 teaspoon of garam masala

• 8 to 10 cherry tomatoes - the original recipe uses 2 big salad tomatoes but I prefer cherry tomatoes as they're often sweeter

• 400g tin of chickpeas in water

• 2 to 3 handfuls of baby spinach

• A squeeze of lemon juice (I used bottled in my video purely because the shop didn't have any lemons)

• 1 handful of coriander

• A tablespoon of natural or soya yoghurt

• Salt & pepper

Method:

1. Finely chop your onion into chunks

2. Melt your coconut oil in a saucepan over a medium heat

3. Once melted add your onion to the pan, season with salt & pepper, stir well and leave to soften for around 6 minutes

4. Whilst that's cooking away, grab your tomatoes and chop them roughly - I like to just do them in half if you're using cherry tomatoes!

5. Leave the toms to one side and add your garam masala, turmeric, garlic paste & ginger paste to the onions, making sure to stir well so all the onions are coated

6. Keep stirring for around 2 minutes, then add your tomatoes and chickpeas (and their water!) to the pan and season well with salt & pepper

7. Crank the heat up, mix everything together well and leave to bubble for about 3 minutes

8. Grab your baby spinach, chuck it into the pan and let it wilt before adding a splash (or squeeze if you can get real lemons </3) of lemon juice

9. Let everything simmer and occasionally give it a stir for about 2 minutes

10. Dish up into bowls, add a handful of coriander and a dollop of natural or soya yoghurt into each and enjoy!

Like my other recipes this serves two, although in the cookbook I adapted it from it says one, so I guess it depends how hungry you are! If you're just cooking for yourself and want to keep a batch for the next day, make sure you leave the yoghurt and coriander off as you'll need to reheat it, and I don't think anyone wants warm yoghurt!

As I mentioned above, this dish is not only the perfect substitute for a ready-meal or takeaway curry, but it's also cheap to make. If you're cooking for two, every ingredient (bar the chickpeas) in this recipe should leave you with enough left to use for another batch or a different dish. Many of the ingredients are versatile and can be used for a variety of other meals; garam masala and turmeric are especially handy to have in your cupboard if you like Asian-influenced food.

This curry is also very healthy and a great source of protein without having to include meat! I originally found the recipe in Joe Wicks' VEGGIE LEAN IN 15 which I bought about a year and a half ago as a gift for my mum, only to find out my dad had bought her the same. This was a lovely stroke of luck, as I cannot recommend it enough! It is FILLED with super tasty recipes (most veggie and a fair amount vegan too) that can all be made in 15 minutes. Not only this, but at the beginning of the book Joe explains a whole load of nutritional information including the importance of protein, what a calorie deficit is, and why (and which) carbs are GOOD. At the back there's a range of workouts too. It feels like he went inside my brain and compiled everything I wanted to know in one book. Thanks Joe, really.

So, even if you're not quite convinced to go veggie (I'm not fully, but I try to make at least 50% of my meals veggie or vegan), why not give this recipe a go and see what you think? It opened my mind up to a whole new range of flavours and genuinely changed how I approach cooking. Let me know how you get on!