How Do You Prepare Delicious Chickpea Curry?

Chickpea curry, or chana masala, is a typical Indian dish prepared with chickpeas and a mixture of spices. It is an excellent choice for dining with friends or family. It is usually eaten as an appetizer with vegetable croutons or crudités. You can also combine it with rice to make a complete and nutritious dish.

The nutritional value of chickpeas

Chickpeas are legumes that originally come from Turkey. There are different varieties of chickpeas today, depending on the geographic location where they are grown. They are generally larger in South America and smaller and more milky in color in Europe and Asia.

Chickpeas are very interesting from a nutritional point of view. That’s not just because they’re low in fat. Chickpeas are a good source of:

• many vitamins and minerals.
• protein.
• fibers with a high biological value.
• carbohydrates: 25 grams per 100 grams of chickpeas.

As for the vitamins and minerals that chickpeas contain, they are rich in vitamins A and B as well as calcium, iron, magnesium, folic acid, potassium and zinc.

The health benefits of chickpeas

As we explained above, chickpeas have a very healthy nutritional profile, which is why they have numerous health benefits. For example, think of:

• Regulation of blood pressure. Chickpeas promote diuresis (excretion of urine), which is beneficial in cases of hypertension and kidney stones. In addition, the potassium it contains has vasodilating effects.
• Chickpeas help keep the heart healthy. Their high fiber content helps regulate blood cholesterol levels.
• They help regulate intestinal function (link to English article), combat constipation and promote intestinal flora.
• They contain B vitamins and minerals (magnesium, phosphorus) that are essential for muscle contraction and proper functioning of the nervous system.

• Their high content of iron, potassium and magnesium also contribute to the formation and maintenance of bone structure.

Chickpea curry recipe

Chickpea curry is a relatively easy and quick recipe to prepare if you use previously cooked vegetables and prepackaged vegetable stock. Below we show you how to make this recipe step by step.

After the recipe, we also give a short explanation about how to make a homemade vegetable stock, if you prefer to make it yourself. You can use previously cooked and prepared ingredients or make everything from scratch. For example, serve it with rice for a more nutritious (and more filling) result.

Ingredients (for 2 servings)

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 tablespoon ginger powder
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• pinch of cayenne pepper (to taste)
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 100 grams spinach
• 70 grams leek
• 200 grams of cooked chickpeas
• 200 ml vegetable stock

Preparation of your delicious chickpea curry

• First, put the olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
• Then peel and chop the vegetables, except the spinach, and add to the pan along with the cumin, ginger powder, curry powder and cayenne pepper. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
• Add the prepackaged or homemade vegetable stock and the cooked chickpeas. Boil all this for 25 minutes to half an hour.

• Finally, lower the heat, add the spinach and stir well.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. Your chickpea curry is now ready to serve!

Prefer to make your own vegetable stock? Then follow these steps.

• Heat a pan with extra virgin olive oil and add peeled onions cut into julienne strips.
• When you’re done, add whatever vegetables you have lying around in your fridge, peeled and chopped beforehand.
• Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Then add enough water to the pan to cover all the vegetables and bring to a boil.
• Let this cook for a few hours or until the vegetables are soft.
• Remove from the heat and finally strain the stock with a colander.

This is a very versatile basic recipe, because you can prepare various dishes with it. You can also simply add vegetables, noodles or vermicelli to make a stuffed vegetable soup!