Rick Stein’s Cauliflower, Chickpea and Coconut Curry
Rick Stein's creamy, lightly spiced and subtly sweet cauliflower and chickpea curry will be on the table in well under 30 minutes and also happens to be vegan. Serve with fluffy rice and naan for the perfect meat-free Monday feast.
Introduction
This is a dish that Portia Spooner, who works with me on recipes, came up with – living in Totnes, in Devon, she has a lot of vegetarian friends. You may have noticed that Totnes is twinned with Narnia! It’s a sort of korma, using coconut milk instead of yoghurt, but like that wonderfully comforting dish from northern India this is very lightly spiced and ever so slightly sweet.
Ingredients
| 1 | onion, sliced |
| 3 | garlic cloves, chopped |
| 15g | root ginger, peeled and grated |
| 2 tbsp | garam masala |
| 1 tsp | ground cumin |
| 1 tsp | ground turmeric |
| ¼–½ tsp | hot chilli powder |
| 2 x 400g tins of | coconut milk |
| 1 heaped tsp | sugar |
| 400g tin of | chickpeas, drained |
| 1 cauliflower (about 650g) | cut into small florets, tender leaves roughly chopped |
| 2 tbsp | ground almonds |
| 200g | spinach, washed and well drained |
| squeeze of lemon juice (optional) | |
| salt | |
| To serve: | |
|---|---|
| naan | |
| fresh coriander |
Method
Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion, garlic and ginger until light golden brown and softened. Add the spices and fry for a minute, then add the coconut milk, sugar and chickpeas. Season with salt and simmer for 2–3 minutes.
Add the cauliflower and continue to simmer for a further 7–10 minutes until just tender. Stir in the ground almonds and spinach and cook for about 2 minutes until the spinach has wilted.
Add a squeeze of lemon juice, if using, and serve with naan and fresh coriander.
