I totally thought that this cleanse would make me explore my inner legume and grain lover. Not so much. I haven’t made quinoa once. I had visions of chomping down on various grain and bean based salads. Alas it wasn’t meant to be.
The other day I was feeling kind of guilty about my lack of super healthy eats so I decided to make a chickpea curry. I usually go the Indian curry route but it never comes out the way I like it AND it also has tomatoes which is a no-go for the cleanse. This time around I decided to go the West Indian route. My favourite roti from Island Foods (my fave roti spot) is their Channa roti with spinach. I’ve had their doubles and the chickpea filling there is delish as well. Sooo I decided to search for doubles recipes so that I could get a feel for what goes into a Trinidadian chickpea curry.
In my search there was one recipe that came up over and over again. And for good reason apparently because it was great! I played around with the proportions a bit – adding more curry powder and water and I added spinach too. This is definitely one of my fave curry recipes. I really appreciated that the spices were simple. In an Indian curry you can easily use over 6 spices whereas with this recipe it’s just curry powder and cumin. Done! It also makes a difference which brand of curry you use and how fresh it is. That part totally boils down to a matter of preference depending on what type of curry you’re used to.
Curried Channa
1 14 oz channa, tinned
1 tablespoon curry powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tsp ground geera (cumin)
1 tsp Pepper sauce
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1. heat the oil in a heavy skillet, add onion, garlic and 1 heaped tablespoon of curry powder mixed with 1/4 cup water.
2. Sauté for a few minutes. Add the channa, stir to coat well and cook for five minutes.
3. Add 1 cup water, gheera, salt and pepper; cover, lower heat and simmer until the peas are very soft (20-30 minutes).
4. When the channa is finished it should be moist and soft.
5. Add pepper sauce and season to taste with additional salt if desired.
(Recipe from TriniGourmet.com)
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Sounds super tasty and super easy—my kind of dinner! And I’ll bet it would be awesome with kale in place of the spinach . you know, mix it up and walk on the wild side. i’m so impressed with your commitment to the cleanse, too! the last time I was on a super strict diet (david kirsch’s new york body plan) it was all veg and lean protein all the time, and my only motivation was a white bridal gown looming in my near future. now that i’m happily (chubbily) married, i pretty much live off honey nut cheerios.
Sharon Harris Teacher of the Gifted?! Talk about repressed memories…
Ah man, I love chickepeas. This sounds delicious.
What a tasty and easy looking curry. I love chickpea anything!
[…] dough. It’s a Trinidadian street food that is often eaten in the morning. I had made a chickpea curry earlier in the week using this recipe so all I had to do was figure out how to make barra. Luckily the internet was ripe with recipes […]