Chickpea, lentil and spinach curry

Name: Chickpea, lentil and spinach curry
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2 - 4
Ingredients: 1/2 large onion; 1 clove garlic; 1 in ginger (2.5cm ); 1 chili (optional, can also use more if you prefer hotter); 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp ground coriander; 14 oz chickpeas ((1 can) 400g); 14 oz diced tomatoes ((1 can) 400g); 1/4 cup red lentils (50g); 1 cup water (240ml); 2 oz spinach (60g); 2 tbsp cilantro (approx, roughly chopped)

May 8, 2016 by Caroline's Cooking 38 Comments

Chickpea, lentil and spinach curry is an easy and flavorsome vegetarian curry – spice it up or just have it fragrant. It’s hearty, healthy and delicious.

I sometimes find it funny how tastes can change so much. I know there are a few things I like now that I didn’t really as a child, although I was far from picky then. Even my seven month old who is just getting in to eating food has already had a couple things go in and out of favor (and back again).

Thankfully while kids can change their minds, if you make it a habit they can also often be persuaded to give something a try again and they might have changed their mind. True some ages are trickier, and it helps they may not always remember when they had something a while back.

As an example, my eldest used to not like chickpeas at all and these days they are one of the things he actively picks out from a Moroccan-style dish I make. So, I decided to try to combine them into one of his favorite things: curry. This chickpea, lentil and spinach curry is an easy vegetarian curry that can be spiced up or down (my son hasn’t got into chili yet) and so seemed perfect to share for today’s Sunday Supper.

Our love of spice

Today’s theme is ‘spice is nice and some like it hot’ which seems a perfect summary of a lot of our family’s eating. We all like things with spices added, and my fragrant chicken curry is a favorite for all. Then my husband and I are more than happy to enjoy a bit of heat as well, in various forms, from Malaysian fish or veggie laksa to Thai red curry and Indian lamb and paneer to Ethiopian dishes (still to work on spicier ones but this is delicious too).

Often if we are having one of these spicier dishes, I make something slightly different for my son or make a couple dishes so he can enjoy the non-spicy one along with rice. This chickpea, lentil and spinach curry is perfect as one of those two dishes or one for all of us to enjoy.

How to make chickpea, lentil and spinach curry

This curry is also very easy to make and can be made ahead, both of which makes it even better for having as part of a range of dishes that you might be serving. The fact it is also vegan, gluten free and nut-free is also perfect where that’s something you are looking for as well.

To make it, all you need to do is soften the onion and garlic, add your spices then the chickpeas, lentils, tomatoes and water and leave the lentils to cook. Once they are tender, add the spinach and cilantro then that’s it. The flavors, as with most curries, are probably deeper after being left overnight so there’s even more excuse to make it ahead.

This chickpea, lentil and spinach curry is such an easy vegetarian curry that has lots of nice, warming spices in it to give it lots of flavor. As a result, it doesn’t necessarily need to be spicy although you can certainly make it spicy if you like. It’s full of comforting textures and is really healthy as well, so there’s really no excuse not to make it and enjoy.

Looking for more ideas to make an Indian-inspired vegetarian meal? Try these:

Plus try more vegetarian meals.

chickpea, lentil and spinach curry - a delicious, easy warming vegetarian curry

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5 from 7 votes