A curry in a hurry: curried chickpeas and spinach

Ragazzi, this is one where you are going to have dinner on the tables in 20 minutes, 30 minutes tops.  Annalena swears by this.  When she made it, it took her 17 minutes and 20 seconds, including a stop to clean some spilled ginger off of her shoes.  She promises.    But you have to make some promises first.


This recipe relies on chickpeas, and the original called for canned.  You all know how Annalena feels about this.  So cook your own.  This recipe is going to start by telling you how, and if there are five minutes worth of work in doing it, Annalena will be shocked.

Also, as you will see from Annalena's many parentheticals , this recipe accommodates a number of different variations , as any curry will. So, let us proceed.  As this one is designed to get right to the table with dinner, Annalena is dispensing with her usual chitchat.


For the chickpeas.  This is how you cook them:  get a pound of chickpeas, dry, and the night before, put them in a pot and cover them with water, so that at least 2 inches of water is over the top.  Go to bed.

When you wake up the next morning, drain the chickpeas in a colander, and put them back in that pot.  Cover them with more water - the same quantity, and put the stove to medium low heat.  Go get ready for work.  Come back in half an hour and taste a chickpea.  If it feels soft enough to your taste, you're done.  If it isn't, give it 15 minutes more time, and come back.  When the peas are to your liking, take a heaping teaspoon of salt, add it to the pot, turn off the heat, and go to work.

Difficult, huh?  Annalena things not.  And during work, if you don't have the ingredients you need, go shopping.  This is what you will need:  a red onion(a big one), about 10-12 ounces of leafy greens.   The recipe was originally for baby spinach, and that is how Annalena made it.  You could substitute other greens:  chard comes to mind, as does kale, especially baby kale,  escarole, etc.  Just keep in mind you need 10-12 ounces of USEFUL greens.  If you buy 12 ounces of swiss chard, you will not get 12 ounces of leaves.  And if you veer from baby spinach, keep in mind that you should tear the leaves to small pieces .

You will also need a 14 ounce can of good quality tomatoes.  Get the whole ones, and be ready to play with them when you get home.    Also get a knob of fresh ginger.  Dried will not do here.

Finally, the spices.  The only essential one is curry powder, and you can get any kind you like.  If you are fortunate to have a vendor who specializes in spices, smell them.  Pick one you like, because you will be using it more in the future.  Garam masala, if you can, and if you like heat, cayenne pepper.  If you don't,  don't.  And if you like heat a little, but not a lot, cut the quantities  Annalena provides here.


Here comes the prep work.  You need half of that onion.  Cut it down the long way, and then cut the half into half moonds.  Cut thinly.  Surgical precision is not necessary, but the more surface area you have, the more likely you will get the full spicy flavor here.  Chop up enough ginger to get two large tablespoons.  You will be surprised how much ginger  you actually need here, but ginger is essential.    Then, combine 2 tablespoons of the curry powder, two teaspoons of the garam masala, and 1/4 teaspoon of the cayenne pepper.    Pour the tomatoes into a bowl, and crush them with your hand.  It won't be hard.  It will actually be fun.  We all like playing with our food.

Now, let's cook.  Put three tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large pan, and add the onions and the spice mixture you put together.  Stir things occasionally, for about 3 minutes.  Take a moment at some point to drain your chickpeas.    After things have cooked for three minutes, add the tomatoes, the ginger, and the chickpeas.  Stir everything together, and  bring the thing to a medium simmer.

Now, get your spinach or other green.  Work with handfuls, and drop them into the hot mix.  Stir, until the greens wilt.  Be a bit patient.  It won't take long, and especially with softer leaves like spinach and chard, the collapse is really dramatic.  Keep up with this until all your greens have gone into the dish and have collapsed. Now, you add salt and, if you are like Annalena, you sprinkle some more grated ginger on the top.


And there you are.  More than enough for four goodly portions, especially if you've had the foresight to make rice ahead of time.  If  , as with Annalena and the Guyman, one of you prefers more heat in her food than the other, have some cooling yogurt ready for the wimpier one.  And then eat it all up.  It keeps well, so you can make this ahead of time, and if you eat it without yogurt, you can feel virtuous about your vegan meal, and even with the yogurt, you can feel virtuous about your vegetarian, low calorie dish.

Next time around, ragazzi, Annalena explains yet another cauliflower pasta, as she plays with a recipe from her galpal Melissa