Chickpea & Mushroom Masala

Indian food is so incredibly flavourful, but many people don’t even attempt to make it at home as they think it’s complicated, or they’re put off by long lists of ingredients. In truth, some dishes ARE a bit tricky, or take a while to prepare, but that could be said for any cuisine.

A few years ago my daughters gave me a wonderful birthday gift – I got to attend an Indian Cook School with the Head Chef from my favourite restaurant. I was literally blown away at how straightforward the preparation of certain dishes was, and couldn’t wait to start replicating some of my restaurant favourites. I did have to invest a little cash into some lesser known spices, but it was money well spent as it tipped the balance towards my dishes tasting more authentic.

Then I was lucky enough to travel to India, and got to take a couple of cooking classes whilst there. One was with the chef of the very first vegan restaurant in Bangalore (it’s called Carrots, in case you’re ever there!), and the second was at a family run hotel, where the kitchen consisted of a single gas burner on a wooden shelf, and we ate our delicious food from banana leaves.

It’s so easy to veganize Indian food, and a ton of it is naturally vegan to begin with, so if you’ve never tried to cook it at home, please do give it a go!

This recipe is for a very ‘dry’ curry – I like to eat this with some soy-yoghurt raita, wrapped in a roti. If you prefer a ‘wetter’ dish, just add a splash of stock or water and adjust your seasonings accordingly.

Recipe

Flavourless oil or coconut oil

1 onion, chopped

3 heaped tsp ginger & garlic paste

1-2tbs tomato puree (depending on personal taste)

1 heaped tsp garam masala

1 heaped teaspoon cumin powder

1 tsp mild chilli powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

250g mushrooms (baby chestnut would be my choice)

pinch dark sugar

1 tin chickpeas

salt & pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon

splash of hot water or stock 9or more for wetter curry)

1/2 bag baby spinach

handful chopped fresh coriander

• Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and soften onions until they are starting to brown (don’t let them get too dark).
• Add the ginger and garlic paste, and cook for a minute or two, then add the spices and keep stirring them to release the flavour (definitely don’t let them burn or your whole dish will be bitter).
• Stir through the tomato puree and add the mushrooms. At this stage it’s going to look like it’ll never come together, but the mushrooms release so much moisture during cooking that you may not need to add any water or stock at all.
• Once the mushrooms have cooked down, add the sugar and tip in the chickpeas. Keep stirring to avoid anything catching on the bottom of the pan.
• add the spinach leaves, and maybe a splash of water to help create a steamy environment for them to wilt down.
• Season with salt & pepper, squeeze over the lemon juice and stir through the coriander.
• At this stage you can add more water or stock if you want it wetter, or you can ramp up the heat by stirring through some chilli flakes.

Super easy, super quick, and most definitely super delicious!!