HonieMummy Blog

Slow cooking this chick pea curry with butternut squash, cauliflower and coconut  allows all of the flavours to mingle and come alive. Curry in a hurry can never offer the taste sensation that slow cooking has to offer! If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can still prepare in the same way and allow to cook in a stock pot (or large pan) on a low heat for at least an hour.

This recipe is Vegan, high fibre, high protein, low salt, gluten free and if you are using spinach then you get even more iron than the dish already has (see the nutritional benefits of chick peas in this post).

In case you were wondering and to save you Googling, all rice is gluten free, whether it’s white, brown, basmati, jasmine, etc. But if you want to remove the starch, then pre-soaking and rinsing till clear will make it very fluffy and light.

Whilst it seems easy to buy a packet of ready made curry powder, it’s actually just as easy and much more satisfying to make your own curry blend. The blend I have used is medium heat and full of flavour, but you could increase the depth and flavour as you see fit (experiment every time you cook).

Ingredients

For the Curry:

(curry blend marked with *)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (for frying)
• 1 onion  (finely chopped)
• 2 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger (‘or’  1/2 teaspoon ground ginger *)
• 1 clove of garlic (peeled and finely chopped / crushed)
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder *
• 1/2 teaspoon salt *
• 2 teaspoons turmeric *
• 1 tablespoon coriander *
• 1 tablespoon cumin *
• 2 teaspoon turmeric *
• 1 tablespoon garam masala *
• 400g / 2 cups / 1 tin chickpeas
• 400g / 2 cups / 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 400ml / 2 cups / 1 tin light coconut milk
• 225ml 1 cup vegetable stock or soup
• 2 cups (1 small) cauliflower florets
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 400g / 2 cups / 1 tin baby spinach, chopped

For the Coconut rice:

• 300g / 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown basmati rice
• 400ml / 2 cups / 1 tin light coconut milk
• 120ml / 4 fluid oz / 1/2 cup water 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

For the curry:

Turn on you slow cooker to a high setting. Heat (on medium) a large frying pan/sauté pan and add the olive oil for frying. Add the onions and sauté for approx 3 minutes, until soft. Add freshly found ginger (if using) and garlic and sauté for another minute. Add all of the curry blend  ingredients and allow to mix into a paste in the pan. If it looks like it might burn, turn down the heat a little and add a tablespoon of water. Transfer the onion and curry paste to the slow cooker. Add all of the remaining curry ingredients (except for the spinach) to the slow cooker. Heat on high for four hours or on low for at least 6 hours. Before serving add the spinach, stir in and cook allow to heat through for about 5 more minutes.

For the Coconut Rice:

Remember you can soak the rice to remove most of the starch. This can be done at any time before cooking (whilst the slow cooker is on) for about 30 minutes, then rinse and drain away the water and cook as instructed. Otherwise, simply rinse several times before cooking, to remove some of the starch.

Add the basmati rice, coconut milk, water and salt to a large pan. Using a high heat, bring to the boil, then reduce to a low heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Remove from the heat allow to sit for 10 minutes and serve with the curry.

Enjoy!

Serves 6

Approximately 400 calories per serving

Vegan, gluten free, high fibre, high protein, low salt, low fat