Chickpea, Potato & Spring Greens Curry

So this is the second of the Nigel Slater pulse recipes taken from the Guardian website, as mentioned recently.  I pretty much followed this to the letter, with the exception of swapping out kale, as in the original for spring greens. I think this may have been an error on my part - I usually tweak recipes, often quite heavily, with regard to spice and herb quantities but on this reason for some reason I didn’t. The result was that I was a little disappointed to be honest. It was quite nice, don’t get me wrong but just not as tasty as I thought it could or would be. Sorry Nigel!

It is however pretty quick and speedy for a week night dinner (and does admittedly improve for being reheated the next day) but if I try it again I will definitely increase the spices and the juice of perhaps half a lemon.


Chickpea, potato and spring greens curry
Serves 3

175g dried chickpeas (or 400g tin, drained and rinsed)
½ tsp cumin seeds, plus a little ­extra to serve
½ tsp coriander seeds
¼ tsp mustard seeds
1 hot, dried red chilli, crumbled
½ tsp ground turmeric
1.5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 ½ tsp groundnut oil
1 medium onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
350ml chicken or vegetable stock
200g potatoes, peeled and cut into 3cm dice
75g spring greens, finely shredded
Yogurt, to serve
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

If using dried chickpeas, soak them overnight or for 8 hours in at least double their volume of cold water. Then, the next day, drain, rinse and simmer them for about an hour and a half in fresh ­water, until tender, then drain.

If using tinned, obviously just drain and rinse

Put a dry frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, toast the cumin, coriander and mustard seeds and the chilli for a couple of minutes ­until they smell ­really fragrant and the mustard starts to pop. Grind to a powder in a spice mill or with a pestle and mortar, and then mix in the turmeric and ginger.

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium low heat, and fry the onion, stirring regularly, until soft and golden brown. About 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and spices, leave to cook for a minute or two, and add the stock.

Simmer for five minutes, then add the chickpeas and potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are tender, and then add the spring greens.

Cook for a few minutes more until the greens are tender, then serve with a dollop of thick yogurt on top, along with a ­sprinkling of toasted cumin seeds and some coriander.