What Is Spinach and Chickpea Curry?

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Elena

17/06/2020
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Not a lot of people realize just how many different curry dishes there really are out there. In fact, curry is often a category that is just as broad as stew or soup. There are countless different variations of what you can make into a curry, and there are plenty of ways that people have used this to their advantage.

For example, many vegetarians and a handful of vegans have turned to curried dishes as a great way of getting a filling meal in as well as a meal that packs a flavorful punch. Curries are such a versatile dish that they can easily be adjusted to any dietary requirements that you may have, such as being a vegetarian, vegan, or celiac. If you are looking for a meal that you can tailor to your needs, then you should start out with curry.

When most people think of curry, they will often think of the traditional red curry that comes from Thailand. However, there are so many more curries than this out there. There are yellow curries and green curries in Thailand, and other countries have other dishes to offer. India is known for its variety of spinach curries, sometimes utilizing ingredients such as paneer cheese.

If you want to make a curry dish but you want to keep it as vegetarian friendly as you can, you might not know what kind of ingredients to add to the bulk of the recipe. Thankfully, there are many different ingredients to choose from.

Finding Flavorful Vegetarian-Friendly Dishes

There are many vegetarian-friendly curries out there that you can work with. One of the most well-known curries is green curry from Thailand, although you will need to make sure that the curry paste you use doesn’t have fish or shrimp added for flavoring if you want to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet.

If you are not in the mood to work with green curry, you may want to think about what kinds of vegetables have “meat” to them that you could utilize in a curry. For instance, many people find that both lentils and chickpeas do well in curry, adding a solid texture to replace what would otherwise be meat. One type of nutritious curry you might want to consider is spinach and chickpea curry.

This type of curry relies on chickpeas to make up for the fiber and the “meat” of the dish. In this context, this means that chickpeas provide a relatively solid texture for your mouth and tongue to work with when you take a bite of this curry dish, which many people appreciate. Chickpeas also do well when absorbing the curry around it, adding to the flavor. Not to mention that the spinach not only helps to provide flavor of its own, but it also absorbs the curry sauce as well, turning your dish into a hearty and heavy meal that is not short on flavoring.

Now that you have a good idea of a dish you may want to make, you should begin thinking about the ingredients that you will need to create it.

What Ingredients Should You Be Looking for?

First things first, before you can begin cooking anything, you are first going to need to get the ingredients ready. Thankfully, this type of curry doesn’t usually have a lot of ingredients for you to work with, making it an accessible recipe to people who may not have a lot of experience working with this type of food.

When looking at the ingredients, there are a few areas you will want to pay attention to. There is the bulk of the curry, which often includes the main ingredients that make up the taste of the curry. There is the sauce for the curry, which usually involves either curry paste or tomato paste, depending on the type of curry you are making. Then, there are the seasonings and additional flavoring ingredients.

The first ingredients you will want to look at are obviously going to be chickpeas and spinach. Most chickpea types will do, but you may want to consider getting canned chickpeas as these often work best.

From here, you will want to look at the ingredients for the curry sauce. For this type of curry, you will be using tomato paste as a base and some curry powder to help with the flavor. You will also want to use some olive oil while cooking to ensure that everything goes right. Finally, to season it all, you will want to make use of onions, garlic, ginger, and any other seasonings that you believe will go well with your meal. From here, you can begin cooking your spinach and chickpea curry recipe.

What Additions Can You Make?

The above includes the ingredients for a basic curry recipe, but some people may not want to settle for a basic recipe. Many people will want to be able to make their curry dish tailored to their own tastes, and there are a few ways that you can get this done. Some of the additions you can make will improve the taste drastically, while others will focus on adding more substance to the curry itself.

For the curry, you may want to consider adding vegetable stock alongside the tomato paste. This will help round out the flavor of the curry, allowing you to make the dish closer to the taste that you prefer. If you do not mind adding milk to your curry, you can consider adding this as well to help with the flavoring.

If you want milk, but also adhere to a vegan diet, you can consider adding coconut milk to the mix instead. You can also consider adding more in terms of spices and flavoring. Some people prefer to add many spices including turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper (or chili flakes), salt, sugar, garam masala, and lemon juice. All of these additions will help you out immensely when it comes to creating a flavor that stands out above the rest.

What Goes Well with This Meal?

Now that you are ready to make this dish, you may want to think about what you can serve alongside it. Curry is a dish that is rarely served alone as an entrée, as many places will offer you a variety of additions to the plate to help soak up the delicious curry sauces.

Many people are perfectly fine with adding either white rice or brown rice to the dish, but rice may be too basic for some people. There are many people out there who find that naan bread is the perfect absorbent bread to go alongside a flavorful curry dish, such as a spinach and chickpea one.

If you want to stick with rice, there are also several other types of rice to choose from. These include basmati rice and jasmine rice. No matter what kind of side dish you use to enhance the flavor of your curry, you can rest assured knowing that once everything is all tied together, you will have a vegetarian-friendly curry dish that you won’t be able to forget.

What makes this dish even better is the fact that it can easily be adjusted to meet vegan standards as well, making it truly one of the more versatile dishes that you can make for yourself, friends, or family alike.

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