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Creamy chickpea, spinach and zucchini curry

by Jeanne Horak on January 9, 2014 18 Comments in Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Main course - vegetarian, Pulses, Vegan, Vegetarian

SpinachChickpeaCurryTitle © J Horak-Druiff 2014

Last month, my youngest nephew celebrated his seventh birthday.  On the night before his birthday, his mom was putting him to bed and noticed that he seemed a little subdued.  She asked him what was wrong and he replied:  “I’m sad because it’s my last night of being six”.  Mom responded: “But just think – tomorrow you’ll be seven and that will be so exciting!”.  “But I LIKED six!” wailed David in reply.   How can one conversation be at once so heartwarming and heartbreaking?

I remember the first time I was conscious of being older than before.  Oh sure, I remember receiving nightgowns from my parents each year for a number of consecutive Christmases bearing the logo “I am seven”, “I am eight”, “I am nine” and so forth – but each year felt a whole lot like the last one.  And what changes there were seemed like the excitement of growing up – an interest in boys,  more freedom, getting a driver’s license etc. It was sometime in my mid twenties that a friend and I were chatting and ruefully admitted that, whereas in the past we were able to undo the results of a few days of indulgence in food and drink by simply skipping a couple of lunches, suddenly those extra kilos after Christmas stayed stubbornly put. More radical action was required, in the form of a gym habit and weeks of healthy eating! The burdens of being 25 years old…

 

4.0 from 3 reviews
Creamy chickpea, spinach and zucchini curry
 
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
30 mins
Total time
45 mins
 
This curry is so delicious that you'd never guess it's vegan, low-calorie and packed with healthy vegetables!
Author: Jeanne Horak-Druiff
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 3cm (1¼ inch) piece ginger, grated
  • 6 medium tomatoes (as ripe as you can find)
  • 1.5 teaspoons canola or other neutral oil
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander seed
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • pinch of chilli flakes
  • 2 tsp yeast extract (you can also substitute Marmite)
  • ¼ cup red lentils
  • 2 zucchini/courgettes, diced into cubes
  • 100ml coconut milk
  • 1 x 400g chickpeas, drained
  • 150g spinach leaves, shredded (or use baby spinach leaves instead)
  • handful of fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Put the onion, garlic, ginger and tomatoes in a food processor and blend to a thick purée.
  2. Heat oil in a large pan. Add the spices and fry for a few seconds until they become fragrant, then add the purée and stir in the yeast extract and heat till bubbling.
  3. Add the lentils and coconut milk and cook over medium heat until the lentils are tender. Add the zucchini and simmer for 5-10 minutes until beginning to feel tender.
  4. Stir in the drained chickpeas and spinach leaves and heat through. Check for seasoning; add salt and pepper to taste and stir through the chopped coriander/cilantro leaves.
  5. Serve with boiled basmati rice and more fresh coriander/cilantro leaves.
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SpinachGrowing © J Horak-Druiff 2014

 

In South Africa, it’s not so bad embarking on a salad-based eating plan after the festive season, because Christmas falls squarely in the middle of the African summer. Chilled smoothies, mounds of green crunchy things, and litres of lime cordial and soda seem like a positively appealing prospect! Not so, here in the northern hemisphere.  Just at the moment when the waistline of your jeans tells you that drastic changes in your eating plan are required, the most frigid of the year’s weather blows in from the North Pole and any thoughts of restrained salads fly out of the window as you reach for a large hot chocolate with mini marshmallow topping. Let’s face it – comfort food that we turn to when the mercury plummets is seldom in any way healthy!

 

SpinachPicked © J Horak-Druiff 2014

 

Well, that’s what I thought, until I made this super-easy vegetable curry.  There is something infinitely soothing about lentils and chickpeas, and any curry that contains them gets my vote for comfort. Coconut milk is another ingredient that never fails to comfort – so with those building blocks in place, all I needed was some greenery to up the healthfulness quotient. One of the best things that Nick planted on the allotmet this year, both in terms of being low maintenance and a prolific producer, was perpetual spinach (aka leaf beet or spinach beet chard).  Like the Holy Roman Empire, its name is a misnomer as it is actually neither spinach, not perpetual – it is in fact an heirloom variety of chard bred for minimal stem and maximum leaf growth that isn’t sold much in shops because of its short shelf-life.   It’s not perpetual, but it is resistant to bolting, loves being cut repeatedly and will from a single sowing reliably produce leaves all summer long and right through autumn into winter.  It’s also easy to grow and tolerant of poor soils and some shade (although your crop will be smaller) – it is a plant that I recommend every allotment gardener grows.  In the summer, I used the sweet young leaves in salads but later in the year the leaves become a little tougher: perfect for shredding and adding to this curry.  The recipe is a very slightly tweaked version of this one from BBC Good Food.  It’s so simple, a child could make it and despite being vegan, dairy-free and low-calorie, it is also delicious, deeply satisfying and comforting, even in the depths of winter. My new year’s gift to you!

 

SpinachChickpeaCurryFinal © J Horak-Druiff 2014

 

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  1. Andrew says

    January 10, 2014 at 8:06 am

    Does sound very warming and comforting and not something I would ever consider making to be honest. I wonder if I should give it a go…

    Reply
    • Jeanne says

      January 16, 2014 at 6:13 pm

      It was indeed – and yet you still manage to feel virtuous after eating it! C’mon, step out of your comfort zone and try it 🙂

      Reply
  2. Corina says

    January 10, 2014 at 9:25 am

    It looks really delicious and creamy. It’s funny but your post has brought back memories of when I was little and there were certain ages I just didn’t like the sound of – usually odd numbers.

    Reply
  3. Deena kakaya says

    January 10, 2014 at 2:35 pm

    Oh these are some of the most deep and smooth ingredients for a curry. It looks so lovely and light x

    Reply
  4. Ren behan says

    January 10, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    My boy is six, soon to be seven. I bet he’ll be sad too like your nephew 🙂 I will be! Seven sounds so grown up. Such a lovely, comforting recipe. I do love trying out new curries and I love chickpeas, zucchini and spinach so this looks like a winner! All the best for the new year. PS I can’t tell you how many times I referred myself and other to your blogger school post on choosing the right camera – excellent post with all the different models listed x

    Reply
  5. Rosa says

    January 12, 2014 at 2:23 pm

    A scrumptious dish! So healthy, cramy ans tasty. The kind of food I crave all the time…

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  6. Jamie says

    January 13, 2014 at 11:07 am

    Oy. Yes. I have been struggling with the continual shrinking of the waistband and have promised myself to begin that vegetable-based diet but to little avail. But ooooh I love lentils and chickpeas and this curry looks fabulous, rich and satisfying. I could eat this several meals in a row and be quite happy!

    I watch you post photos of your harvests from your allotment across social media and stand in constant awe. Kudos to you and Nick!

    Reply
  7. Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says

    January 14, 2014 at 7:29 pm

    I love chickpeas in everything. I think you have hit on perfect healthy winter comfort food – warming, full of flavour and full of veggies!

    Reply
  8. Katie Bryson says

    January 16, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    This looks so wholesome and tasty – perfect for this time of year. I’m holding on to the last 6 months of being in my 30s, so I know just how your nephew feels 😉

    Reply
  9. solange says

    January 16, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    Isn’t coconut milk a little on the fattening side? but soooo good, this recipe looks great.
    I felt the same as your nephew when I was 27. Six much better as one can still travel on a youth card.

    Reply
  10. Jeff @ Cheese-burger.net says

    January 19, 2014 at 5:34 am

    This is an excellent comfort and healthy food.

    Reply
  11. LuckyLzzy says

    August 10, 2014 at 8:28 pm

    The idea of this recipe is great but the recipe itself isn’t amazing. The tomatoes in the food processor made it watery and bland. In order to get that rich texture (like in the picture) I would advise using stewed tomatoes. Doubling the spices made it great and had that fragrant curry taste. Overall, this recipe is a great start but needs some adjustments.

    Reply
    • Jeanne says

      August 11, 2014 at 4:09 pm

      Hi and thanks for your comment. I am sorry you did not find the recipe worked as well as you had hoped. However, the rich-textured curry in the photo was made exactly as specified in the recipe, with fresh tomatoes in a blender, so I wonder if the difference was down to the wateriness of the tomatoes – there is such a great variation in tomato quality! I liked the spicing just as it is but obviously palates differ and I am glad you enjoyed a slightly spicier version too. I am always wary of over-spicing a recipe as then I have readers complaining that the recipe was TOO spicy. It’s a fine line 🙂

      Reply
      • i says

        September 28, 2015 at 1:53 am

        The tomatoes, with those spices, actually have to cook down in a non-rushed manner 9and break up on their own in the process) to achieve the best result for a good curry base, from my understanding. I find this recipe inspiring, and I’m going to use larger volumes of vegetables and coconut milk, etc. Thanks for posting it!

        Reply
  12. Daniel says

    May 2, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    Hi!

    My name is Daniel, I’m a Mexican in Australia that loves cooking and I’ll try your recipe tomorrow.

    Sounds delicious!

    Reply
  13. Sharon says

    January 13, 2021 at 10:01 am

    Yummy it’s a keeper , used silverbeet as that was what I had fantastic!

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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