Peanut Butter & Chickpea Curry

So. I am slightly obsessed with peanut butter at the moment and have it with nearly everything I eat; in my porridge, on my toast, as a snack, in my brown rice and now I’ve put it into a curry! It was a TOTAL experiment, I just wanted to know if the creaminess of the PB would add anything to a pretty standard chickpea curry. AND IT DOES! The taste is subtle – but it definitely adds an additional creamy and rich texture to the sauce and works very well with all the other spices. I love it – so give it a bash and let me know what you think!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Rapeseed oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
1 white onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
5cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp hot chilli powder or chilli flakes
½ can (200g) chopped tomatoes
400g tinned chickpeas, drained and washed
1 red pepper, chopped in 1cm pieces
1 baby pak choy, thinly sliced
3 large handfuls of fresh spinach
1 tbsp. organic smooth peanut butter
150ml water
Salt to taste
Finely sliced spring onions and chopped fresh coriander to finish

Method:

Grab a large saucepan and heat a large glug of rapeseed oil. When hot, add the cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Let them sizzle for 30 seconds and then add the chopped onion and cook for 6-7 minutes on a medium heat, until they start to brown.
Then add in the garlic and ginger and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Add to the pan the turmeric, ground cumin, ground coriander, and chilli powder. Give this a good stir and cook for 1 minute. Then add in your chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add the chickpeas, red pepper, pak choy and spinach. Give this all a good stir and then add in the peanut butter, water and salt to taste. Bring to this to a simmer, and then place a lid on the pan, reduce the heat to low and then leave to simmer away for 5 minutes.
Serve in a large bowl and finish with a sprinkle of the spring onions and coriander.