Healthy and balanced vegan chickpea curry recipe

Tumeric, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, cloves, and chillies all contain antioxidants which help the liver to remove toxins. These spices (in particular, ginger, coriander, cumin and fennel) also aid digestion, which is important for the removal of toxins from your body. Onions and garlic contain sulphur which also supports detoxification pathways. 

Time: Prep: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 45 minutes  

Serves 4 

Ingredients 

• 3 cardamom pods 
• 3 onions, finely chopped 
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 
• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped 
• 2 fresh green chillies, finely chopped 
• Extra virgin olive oil 
• ½ a cinnamon stick 
• 2 cloves 
• 1 pinch of fennel seeds 
• ½ tsp ground turmeric 
• 1 level tsp chilli powder 
• 1 heaped tsp ground coriander 
• 1 level tsp garam masala 
• 1 heaped tsp tomato purée 
• 4 ripe tomatoes 
• 2 x 400g tins of chickpeas 
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander 
• 200ml coconut milk 
• 100g baby spinach 
• Brown basmati rice to serve 

Method

1. Place a wide pan over a medium heat until hot. 
2. Crush the cardamom pods to release the seeds.  
3. Pour a good drizzle of oil into the pan, then add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and fennel seeds followed by the garlic, ginger and green chillies. 
4. Stirfry for a couple of minutes, then add the onion. Cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes on a low to medium heat, or until soft and golden, stirring occasionally. 
5. Add the turmeric, chilli powder, ground coriander, garam masala, tomato purée and a pinch of sea salt, then stir to coat.
6. Chop and add the tomatoes, then pour in 450ml water. Bring to the boil.  
7. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to the pan. 
8. With the lid on cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
9. Pick and finely chop the coriander leaves, and set aside to garnish. 
10. Reduce the curry to a low heat and pour in the coconut milk. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, until well combined, adding the spinach to wilt for the last couple of minutes. 
11. Season with sea salt and black pepper.  
12. Remove the pan from the heat, scatter with the reserved coriander and serve with some brown basmati rice. 

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Kcal: 656, Total Carbohydrates: 96.6g (of which dietary fibre: 19.3g, of which sugars: 5g). Total Fat: 22.8g (saturated fat: 12.6g, unsaturated fat: 10.2g). Protein: 21.9g.