Das’s chickpea curry

• Because who doesn’t love Jamie and curry?

Photograph by Matt Russell

This is based on a brilliant dish by my mate Das at London’s Rasa. It’s great with grilled meat or fish, or to fill flatbreads. The best bit: it tastes even better the next day.

Serves: 4 to 6

3 cardamom pods
3 onions
4 cloves of garlic
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
2 fresh green chillies
Olive oil
½ a cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 pinch of fennel seeds
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 level tsp chilli powder
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 level tsp garam masala
1 heaped tsp tomato purée
4 ripe tomatoes
2 x 400g tins of chickpeas
1 bunch of fresh coriander
200ml light coconut milk
100g baby spinach

1. Place a wide pan over a medium heat to get hot.

2. Crush the cardamom pods to release the flavour. Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic and ginger, then trim and finely chop the green chillies.

3. Pour a good drizzle of oil into the pan, then add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and fennel seeds. Next, add the garlic, ginger and green chillies.

4. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes, then add the onion. Cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes, or until soft and golden, stirring occasionally.

5. Add the turmeric, chilli powder, ground coriander, garam masala, tomato purée and a pinch of sea salt, then stir to coat.

6. Chop and add the tomatoes, then pour in 450ml water. Bring to the boil. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to the pan.

7. Pop the lid on and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

8. Pick and finely chop the coriander leaves, and set aside to garnish.

9. Reduce the curry to a low heat and pour in the coconut milk. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, until well combined, adding the spinach to wilt for the last couple of minutes.

10. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Remove the pan from the heat, scatter with the reserved coriander and serve up.

This recipe is from Jamie’s magazine Jamie. Click here to subscribe. It’s based on a recipe from Das at London’s wonderful and very veggie-friendly curry house Rasa. Jamie says it tastes even better the next day.