Are you a fan of curry? I love curry!
I consider myself very lucky to know how to cook a good curry; I’m not an expert, but I know a good curry when I taste it.
The word curry can mean so many different things to each individual. And that’s part of the reason why it is such an amazing thing, or rather, food. It is far from simple; It’s a complex melange of spices, ingredients, textures, and flavours. You can stick to the traditional curry recipes of Indian cuisine, or you can go for the flavours of Thai curry. But if that’s not what you are craving, then you can give your curry any modern or international spin you’d like. Perhaps best of all is that you can easily personalise the flavours and heat.
Curry is very special, curry can become the meal you envision with minimal effort.
After our recent move, simple yet flavourful meals are exactly what I’m craving and want to prepare. Curry has long been a meal I gravitate to when I don’t have too much time to dedicate to meal preparation. I always have homemade and store-bought curry powders and pastes along with a slew of exotic spices in my cupboard. This of course makes curry preparation a very straightforward process. But even if you don’t have these spices in your kitchen, it’s only a matter of making a stop at the grocery store. Really anyone can prepare a big, scrumptious pot of curry in no time.
This simple chickpea curry is mainly flavoured with store-bought yellow curry powder, and given an extra health boost with swiss chard, ginger, and tomatoes. To give the curry more heat I added Clavo Red chilies that came from my friend John Ford, a chile grower. You may remember the previous interviews and features I did on him. (Read here and here) He’s really the go-to chile grower if you’re looking for seeds and plants — and nope, he’s not paying me to say this. I actually interviewed him again regarding the Clavo Red, that interview can be read here. John was kind enough to educate us on this super spicy and fantastic chile pepper. I highly recommend you add them to your spice collection.
You’ll also notice the title say “corn tortillas”. I opted for this flat bread instead of the usual naan bread. Indian breads are amazingly delicious, but I wanted a Mexican spin in this curry. The tortillas work just a good as the naan and it’s defiantly a different yet fantastic way to eat curry. You should give it a try sometime.
Okay, let’s get to the recipe!
- one regular-sized can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 large Roma tomato, cubed
- 1 large leaf of Swisschard (add more if desired), hard stem removed and sliced
- 3 tablespoons of finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger (or use ¼ teaspoon ground)
- 2 cloves of garlic finely minced
- one (dried) Clavo Red chile or dried chili of choice
- 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder (store-bought)
- ¼ teaspoon black mustard seed
- ½ teaspoon cumin seed
- 1 bay leaf or 3 dried curry leaves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground green cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup of low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil of choice (I used avocado oil)
- Heat the oil, once hot sauté the onion until soft and translucent. Next add the garlic and ginger and sauté for three minutes. Push the onion-garlic-ginger mixture aside and add another splash of oil to the pan. Add the chile pepper, cumin, and mustard seeds to the oil and cook until the seeds begin to pop — about 2 minutes. Next add the bay leaf and cook one minute; Then add the curry powder, cardamom, and ground cinnamon and cook for a minute or just until the spices being releasing their scents. Careful not to burn the spices. Quickly stir all of the pan ingredients together until well combined.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir. Next add the chickpeas and Swisschard, stir until well combined. Slowly pour in the vegetable broth and mix. Add the salt, stir, and allow to simmer under medium-low heat until the liquid has halved. Taste and adjust spices if necessary. Serve warm with steamed rice and/or flat bread. (I served the curry with Mexican tortillas)
Don’t forget to check out the meatless and curry recipe archives. Have a beautiful day!
Scrumptious and comforting! This is a mouthwatering curry.
Cheers,
Rosa
Looks and sounds wonderful and healthy too. Catherine
oo this looks wonderful. my son (3 yrs old) is picky about foods that aren’t bread or cheese, but i think if i cut the spice (sad for mom and dad) he would give this a go. if he won’t i will just eat whatever he doesn’t. :)
I like curry too! Your chickpea curry looks really warming and flavoursome.
Nancy this looks fantastic!!! My son and I are huge fans of curry, but my husband and daughter don’t like it at all. So I tend to avoid making dishes with it and just order it out.
My Squash soup that I make sometimes I’ll use curry, and I recall my sister and I eating the entire pot in almost one sitting, it was crazy. That evening on Nightline they had a special on, and said that Curry has the same addictive qualities as Cocaine. I called my sister at home and told her what I’d heard which confirmed why we couldn’t stop eating it. Go figure!!! I’d never heard that comparison before, have you?
Great recipe and so healthy. Thanks for sharing. Hope you’re doing well, so sorry I haven’t been around much lately.
Love curries too . . . such plethora to chose from: I basically still choose from the Kashmiri, Keralan and Deccan Indian recipes, but love Indonesian, Malaysian Vietnamese and Thai also! And it is wonderful what fusion changes have been wrought in South Africa . . . . but I do not usually use pastes or powers and make my own mixes . .. thank you for this version and have an enjoyable weekend!
G’day! Gorgeous photo and recipe Nancy!
Cheers! Joanne
I would love this dish… I can tell just by the list of ingredients. :)
Hi Nancy!
Made this scrumptious dish again for tonight’s dinner. Added shredded carrots. Yum!
Hi Nancy! Made this scrumptious dish again for dinner tonight! Added carrots! Yum! Thanks again!
Wonderful and delicious curry you have here. Cheers! The dish gives out a very comforting feeling. Thanks for this! :)
Thank you Maureen!