Carrot and Chickpea Curry: Meat Free Monday

I nearly called this “Carrot, Chickpea and Coriander Creamy Curry” but that’s quite a mouthful!

I’ve wanted to try a soya/ lactose free single cream for ages but wasn’t sure what to do with it, I originally thought maybe I would make a “Cream of” soup but I’m not really a fan of creamy soups (apart from mushroom mmm) then I thought about a few curry ideas I’d been playing around with and how using a ‘dairy’ cream instead of a coconut cream would work nicely.

I was a bit aprehensive because I have never really liked the taste of cream but with the spices and carrots I think this is not too rich or heavy and it actually works nicely.

Well now I had soup on my mind, specifically carrot and coriander so I based the flavours of this curry on my favourite carrot and coriander soup recipe which includes ginger and spices.

The cream I used was Alpro Soya single cream which is suitable for vegetarians and vegans, plus its got 45% less fat than normal cream so it’s a win win situation! You can find more out about the cream here.

Just for visual impact I would recommend cutting your carrots into rustic looking pieces rather than just slicing them, it just looks prettier and keeps them nice and chunky.

A curry is the sort of recipe that you can throw in vegetables that need using up and easily adjust to your taste so don’t feel like you need to stick rigidly to my recipe, although I can assure you that it is delicious kept simple the way I have made it!

You may notice that I have a collection of spices I rarely deviate from in my recipes, these include mustard seeds, cumin seeds, paprika, smoked paprika, turmeric, curry powder and dried garlic. I think the best way to be economical is to buy a good selection of spices and then mix and match them rather than buying a new flavour every time you cook something new. It shows how versatile the spices are and how mixing them can create different strengths and moods of a dish.

Serves 4

4 Carrots – sliced/ diced
2 Onions – finely chopped
1 Red Chilli – deseeded and sliced
2 Garlic Cloves – chopped into small pieces
thumb sized piece of ginger – peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 Can of cooked Chickpeas
Large bunch spinach (approx 200g)
1 carton Soya cream (around 250ml)
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
Large Bunch Coriander – washed and chopped

Part boil the carrots for 8 minutes, drain and set to one side.

In a pestle and mortar crush the garlic, ginger and chilli untill you have a rough paste, this does not need to be too smooth but just crush it as much as you can.

In a large, deep frying pan or a heavy bottomed saucepan sautee the onions untill softened and then add the turmeric, cumin, mustard seeds and the crushed garlic, ginger and chilli mix. Fry whilst stirring for another 2-3 minutes then add the cream, 1 cup of water, the carrots, chickpeas and spinach. Cover with a lid of a sheet of foil and simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes. Check it and give it a good stir half way through making sure it has not dried up in the pan. If it has add a splash more water but not too much.

Once the cream sauce has reduced add the chopped coriander, stir to wilt it slightly then serve with some naan breads.