Quick & Easy Chickpea, Tofu and Spinach Curry

Hey everyone! This is Rita here. We hope you're as excited about this recipe as we are! Let me tell you, as much as we love spending some quality time cooking, sometimes we just haven't got the time to spare and need to either fix something quick for lunch/dinner or rely on something we've got hanging in the freezer. This recipe is one of our favourites because it is super quick to prepare, yields 8 servings and freezes very well. It is safe to say we probably eat this at least once a week (and gladly!). And the best part is — this is no mediocre curry. It is a great-tasting, creamy and warming curry that will do a great job when it comes to impressing your friends and family at dinner parties.

There are a few pointers that help turn this one-pot recipe into one of the most practical we've got up our sleeves without compromising neither taste nor quality. First of all, it only requires cheap ingredients that we always keep as regular basic staples in our home — there is no need to run out the door at the last minute because some quirky ingredient got forgotten at the supermarket! Second, all of them were carefully picked because they require minimum to no preparation at all, they are all pretty much ready to go into the pot. And last but not least, how we chose to prepare the ingredients that actually need it also saved us a lot of time. We recommend using pre-cooked canned chickpeas instead of soaking and cooking them yourself and opting for washed, ready to use organic spinach leaves. For example, since our purpose was to make this as quick and easy as possible, we used the garlic crusher for the garlic and a grater for the fresh ginger instead of chopping them finely. We love putting our kitchen-samurai skills to the practice, but sometimes taking the shortcut pays off.

It is important to note that we try to cook exclusively with natural, organic ingredients as much as we can. No amount of time saved could be worth using highly processed ingredients which not only are super unhealthy but also do not taste like the real deal. It goes without saying that we recommend using organic unsalted canned chickpeas and organic coconut milk with absolutely no additives as some of the ingredients this recipe calls for. Using organic unsulfured dried apricots (and not the fake-looking bright orange ones!) will provide an unexpected, rich sweetness that works really well with the rest of the flavours. These are the small choices that make the simplest of recipes go a long way.

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QUICK & EASY CHICKPEA, Tofu And
 Spinach CURRY

30 minutes  |  yields 8 servings

ingredientS

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
2 fairly large garlic cloves, center germ removed and crushed with a garlic crusher
2 tbsp ( or more! ) fresh ginger, grated
8 dried unsulfured apricots, diced
3 heaped tbsp curry powder
2 400ml. cans coconut milk
1 can 520ml. + 1 can 400ml. chickpeas, drained and rinsed
500 gr. firm tofu, patted dry and cut into cubes
3 cups packed baby spinach
2 tsp coarse sea salt

TO SERVE
a few sprigs of coriander
a squeeze of lime juice
basmati rice

Step by step

Start by gathering, measuring, chopping, crushing, grating, draining, and cubing all of the ingredients. This will improve your dynamic in the kitchen. 

1. Heat up the coconut oil in a wide pot on medium heat.

2. Add onion, garlic, ginger and apricots and sautée for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent and soft.

3. Add curry powder and mix it in well with the rest of the ingredients. Allow the spices to toast for a minute without letting them stick to the bottom of the pan.

4. Add the coconut milk and season with sea salt, mixing well.

5. Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the spinach), let it come to a boil and reduce heat to a low simmer. These are all ingredients that need only 5 to 8 minutes to heat up and absorb the flavours. By then, the coconut milk will also have reduced and become a creamy and velvety sauce.

6. Add the spinach leaves one cup at a time and mix them in right before turning off the heat. They will wilt down in a matter of seconds, and your curry will be ready to serve!

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WE HOPE YOU ENJOY!

PS - A really good, organic curry powder can really make a difference. We buy ours from an indian family at the market, and besides the usual curry ingredients like coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, cumin and chili peppers, it also includes curry leaves, bay leaves, star anise, cinnamon, cloves... and probably a couple more ingredients we can't quite figure out!