Veg-heavyHigh carbLow fat

Chickpea Curry

A tin of chickpeas turned into something worth eating.

30 min Serves 2 Stove, Frying pan, Saucepan

Per serving

434

kcal

16 g

protein

72.9 g

carbs

9.8 g

fat

3.7 g protein per 100 kcal · 12.5 g fibre. Calculated from the exact weights below using standard food composition data, so they are close estimates rather than lab values.

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Ingredients

For 2 servings.

  • Chickpeas240 g
  • Tomato200 g
  • Onion100 g
  • White rice, dry weight75 g
  • Olive oil12 g
  • Spinach80 g

Method

  1. 1Get the rice on.
  2. 2Soften the onion in the oil, then cook your spices in it for a minute if you have them.
  3. 3Add the tomatoes and chickpeas and simmer for 15 minutes until it thickens.
  4. 4Wilt the spinach through at the end.

New to cooking? Read this first

The techniques and safety points this recipe uses, explained from scratch.

Cooked rice: cool it fast, eat it within a dayShow

Uncooked rice can carry spores (Bacillus cereus) that survive cooking. If cooked rice sits warm, they wake up and make a toxin that reheating does not destroy. The fix is easy: don't let it sit warm.

  1. Eat it straight away, or cool leftovers quickly — spread it out on a plate or tray so it cools within about an hour.
  2. Then put it in the fridge. Eat it within 24 hours.
  3. Reheat it only once, until it is steaming hot all the way through.
Cooking riceShow

Two easy ways: boil it like pasta (hardest to get wrong), or the absorption method (fluffier).

  1. Rinse it in a sieve under the cold tap until the water runs mostly clear.
  2. Like pasta: boil in lots of salted water, 10–12 minutes for white rice (brown takes 25–30), tasting until tender, then drain.
  3. Absorption: 1 mug of rice to 1½ mugs of water and a pinch of salt. Boil uncovered until the water drops below the rice and small holes appear, then lid on, lowest heat, 12–15 minutes. Don't lift the lid.
  4. Take it off the heat and leave it covered for 5–10 minutes, then fluff it up with a fork.

Ready when: Each grain is soft all the way through, with no chalky white centre.

Softening onions (and what 'soft' looks like)Show

Softening cooks the raw sharpness out of onions and turns them sweet. It is the start of most sauces, stews and curries.

  1. Heat the oil over medium heat, add the onion and a pinch of salt (it draws out water and speeds things up).
  2. Stir every minute or so. You want a gentle sizzle, not a loud fry.
  3. After about 5–8 minutes the pieces go glossy, floppy and see-through at the edges. That is 'softened'.
  4. Keep going another few minutes and they start turning golden — sweeter still. Only do that if the recipe says 'golden'.

Ready when: Floppy, shiny and slightly see-through, with no raw crunch when you taste a piece.

Simmer vs boil — what the bubbles tell youShow

A boil is big bubbles rolling hard across the whole surface. A simmer is much gentler: small bubbles rising lazily, a few breaking the surface. Stews, sauces and soups simmer; boiling makes meat tough and sauces catch on the bottom.

  1. Bring it up to the boil on a higher heat, then turn the heat down until the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer.
  2. Check every few minutes and adjust — a lid on makes it hotter, a lid off lets it thicken.
  3. Stir now and then, scraping the bottom, so nothing sticks and burns.

Ready when: Small, steady bubbles — not a still surface, not a rolling boil.

Wilting spinach and leafy greensShow

A huge pile of raw spinach shrinks to a few spoonfuls in under a minute of heat.

  1. Add the leaves on top of the hot food right at the end — it will look like far too much.
  2. Stir and turn them for 30–60 seconds until they go dark green and floppy.
  3. Take it off the heat straight away. Overcooked spinach turns slimy and grey.

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A standard home version of a well-known dish, written for Solviro. Nutrition is estimated from ingredient weights and will vary with brands and portions.