Chickpea, Spinach and Beets in a Coconut-Tomato Curry

A simple and nourishing creamy chickpea curry with spinach and beets in a fragrant Bengali five-spice coconut milk and tomato sauce.

Ingredients:

For 4 servings.

1 cup dried chickpeas (3 cups cooked or 2 14 oz cans)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon panch phoran (Bengali five-spice)
1-inch piece ginger, grated or minced
pinch of asafetida
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 bunch of fresh spinach or beet green tops, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
2 medium cooked beets, diced (2 cups)

Instructions:

Rinse the chickpeas and soak for 8 hours or overnight in several inches of water. Drain and rinse, then transfer to a medium saucepan and cover with several inches of fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Drain and set aside.


Heat the oil in large saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the panch phoran and stir for a few minutes until the seeds darken a few shades. Toss in the asafetida, let sizzle for a moment, and then add the tomato and curry powder. Cook for 5 minutes until the tomato thickens.


Stir in the coconut milk and chickpeas and simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring often.


Add the spinach or beet tops a few handfuls at a time, until wilted. Stir in the salt and remove from heat.


Serve hot with the diced beets stirred in or scatter on top.

Recipe came from - Foodandspice. This work is licensed under creative commons attribution licenses