Spiced coconut chickpeas

 

Last night I had the rare opportunity of  cooking for myself and an empty house for a few hours . So I put on my favourite music which at the moment is music that is making me long for a holiday in the sunshine . With a real shortage of ingredients I decided a store cupboard meal was the only option. I had chickpeas and a can of green lentils and decided to follow the Persiana recipe for the spiced chickpeas but use the lentils as an alternative . I do love a lentil Dahl, I always make too much so I can eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. I usually have fresh spinach leaves in the fridge so I’ll always add a big handful to a dish like this for an extra bit of healthiness . 

Ingredients 

Serves 4 -6 

1 large onion chopped 

6 cloves of garlic thinly sliced 

2 x 400g tins of chick peas 

2 tbsp tomato purée 

400g tin of coconut milk

 1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground ginger 

1 tsp  cinnamon 

1 tsp ground cumin 

½ tsp chilli flakes 

Juice of  ½ lemon 

Generous handful of fresh coriander chopped 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Method 

Place a saucepan over a medium heat and drizzle in enough vegetable oil to coat the base. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent. Then add the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the chickpeas, with all the spices, tomato purée, and a generous amount of salt and pepper, then stir. 

Pour in the coconut milk and stir well, then reduce the heat to low and cook the chickpeas gently for an hour or so stirring occasionally to ensure they aren’t sticking on the bottom, and also checking the liquid volume so that they don’t dry out. If cooked gently, the liquid should reduce down, to just about coat  the chickpeas, which is the ideal result . 

Add the lemon juice, stir, then check the seasoning and adjust to taste. Cook for a few more minutes, then stir and served scattered with the coriander. 

These beautiful roses are giving me so much joy.